Ignacio María González

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is González and the second or maternal family name is Gatti.

Nacho González

Personal information
Full name	Ignacio María González Gatti
Date of birth	14 May 1982 (1982-05-14) (age 29)
Place of birth	Montevideo, Uruguay
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Standard Liège
Number	14
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2008	Danubio	156	(46)
2008	→ Monaco (loan)	5	(1)
2008–2011	Valencia	0	(0)
2008–2009	→ Newcastle United (loan)	2	(0)
2010	→ Levadiakos (loan)	13	(2)
2010–2011	→ Levante (loan)	3	(0)
2011–	Standard Liège	3	(1)
National team‡
2006–	Uruguay	18	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 21 July 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 00:00, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Ignacio 'Nacho' María González Gatti (Spanish pronunciation: [iɣˈna.sjo maˈɾi.a ɣonˈsa.les]; born 14 May 1982 in Montevideo) is an Uruguayan footballer who plays for Standard Liège in Belgium, as a midfielder.

Club career

González's professional career began at Danubio FC, where he appeared in a total of 170 games, scoring more than 50 official goals for the Montevideo-based club. During his time at Danubio, he won the Uruguayan League twice, in 2004 and 2007.

After his performances for Danubio, González eventually moved to France with AS Monaco FC in January 2008, being scarcely used during his six-month loan spell. On 27 April, he netted in a 2–3 Ligue 1 home loss against Olympique de Marseille.

González was then snapped by Valencia CF of La Liga. However, on 1 September 2008, he joined Newcastle United on loan until the end of the season.^[1] This move was now infamously the final straw for then manager Kevin Keegan, who claimed he was forced to sign the player by the club's executive director, Dennis Wise, after only seeing him play on YouTube, and believing the player was not good enough for the team.^[2]

González picked up a serious achilles tendon injury early into the season (with only two appearances under his belt), ruling him out of playing action for four months.^[3] Team coach Chris Hughton was quoted on the team's official website, in February 2009, as saying that González was recovering well, and was certain the player would feature again before his return to Valencia. However he did not, and returned to the Che in July 2009. A Premier League tribunal confirmed in October 2009 that the loan singing of González had been against manager Keegan's wishes, and was in breach of his contract, resulting in a compensation payout to Keegan. The deal was reportedly done by Wise and Mike Ashley, as a 'favour' for two South American agents.^[4]

After not having appeared once during 2009–10, González was loaned by Valencia to Greece's Levadiakos FC,^[5] in a deal running until the end of the season. Subsequently, he returned to Spain in the same predicament, signing with newly-promoted Levante UD; after suffering a serious knee ligament injury in September, in a 0–0 home draw against Real Madrid, he failed to appeared again for the club, and returned to Valencia in the following transfer window.

In late July 2011, González rescinded his link with Valencia and joined Belgian club Standard Liège.

International career

González made his debut for the Uruguayan national team in a 1–2 defeat to England on 1 March 2006, coming on as a late substitute at Anfield.

Subsequently, he was part of the 2007 Copa América squad which finished fourth. In the semifinal against Brazil, González was brought on at halftime, as the nation fought back to 2–2 to take the game into extra time. He then scored in the penalty shootout, but Uruguay were eliminated.

González scored his first international goal in a 3–1 friendly win over Japan on 20 August 2008, at the Sapporo Dome. He was picked for the national team squad which appeared at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, playing 63 minutes of the group stage opener against France (0–0 draw), as the Charrúas reached the semifinals.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	August 20, 2008	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan	Japan	0–1	1–3	Friendly

Honours

Danubio

• Uruguayan League: 2004
• Uruguayan League: 2006–07

References

1. ^ "United net Nacho". Newcastle United. 1 September 2008. http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1382169,00.html. Retrieved 2 September 2008. 
2. ^ Gonzalez signed after being watched on YouTube
3. ^ Gonzalez facing four months out
4. ^ Keegan wins £2m Newcastle damages
5. ^ Nacho González no viene a Peñarol (Nacho González does not come to Peñarol) (Spanish)

External links

• L'Équipe stats (French)
• Ignacio María González French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• Ignacio María González career stats at Soccerbase
• BDFutbol profile
• Ignacio María González at National-Football-Teams.com
• National team data (Spanish)

Persondata
Name	Gonzalez, Ignacio Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 May 1982
Place of birth	Montevideo, Uruguay
Date of death
Place of death