Matías Urbano, a Fish Out of Water.

By: Mauro | April 14th, 2008

There are a few ways Matias Urbano stood out from the crowd here in the group stage of this year’s Copa Libertadores. One could say that it’s his pace on the ball. You could also say it’s his coolness under defensive pressure when entering the penalty area. You could also say it’s the tattoo of Maradona’s head he has on the left side of his chest. I think, aside from all this, it’s his ability to come out of nowhere with a strike that breaks hearts and decides matches.

He’s an unassuming guy at only 5′ 7″, weighs 150 pounds and doesn’t look much like a footballer but lob a ball into space for him and watch him light up. He’s fast and it always seems that he is in the right place at the right time, and if for some reason he’s not, he finds a way to get there. He’s scored five goals so far in the Libertadores, eight in all competitions.

Contrasting this success from his humble beginnings back in the Rio Negro Province of Argentina. South of the Province of Buenos Aires, Rio Negro is home to a local 4th division side, Cipoletti, the team where Urbano started his career. His first coach Jorge Garcia was not convinced of Urbano’s abilities but was won over by the pace and precision this young man showed.

He debuted and played in the Argentine Primera with Talleres de Cordoba for two short seasons (2001-2002) and was then sent on a whirlwind tour of South America playing on one Colombian side and two Ecuadorian sides in the same year (2003) and was on the verge of a transfer to a 2nd division side in Spain (Racing de Ferrol) but his Italian passport took so long to process that he ended up back in Argentina with San Lorenzo in 2004. Unfortunately, he was not the chosen by then San Lorenzo coach, Nestor Gorosito, and was mostly relegated to playing with the Reserve team where he did score but not regularly enough to earn him a spot with the first team.

He jumped to Mexico in late 2004, signing for Léon in the second division and earned a transfer to Cruz Azul in 2005 based on his excellent form. Despite that, shortly thereafter he was transferred to La Serena in Chile in 2006 and then transferred yet again to Everton one year later (2007). In 2008, Urbano arrived at Cúcuta as a big signing to only then have the coach who signed him replaced by Pedro Sarmiento. But Sarmiento was no fool and found a place in his squad for Urbano. Hard to believe he is still only 26 years old with so many miles on him already.

When a team like Cúcuta play a counterattacking style based on a good defense, you need a hard running, fast striker who is cold, precise and not afraid to fight for the ball if necessary. This is exactly what Urbano is. Fast, stalky, gifted with the ball and precise. His play is less Thierry Henry and more Carlos Tevez, not pretty but effective. It also helps to have another player to help set you up and in the last three matches, he’s found that partner in Macnelly Torres. Cúcuta’s main creative midfielder, Torres is able to run at defenses and make some inspired passes to a streaking Urbano.

In the Copa Libertadores this year, Urbano has scored the two goals with which Cúcuta was able to beat Chivas at home and away and he also scored a hat trick against San José in the looming high altitude stadium in Oruro, Bolivia.

After having traveled from Argentina to Mexico and many points in between, it seems that Urbano has found, in Cúcuta, a place where he is appreciated and is given the service he needs to truly flourish. The fact that he’s had trouble fitting in at so many clubs and has been traded around must have made him feel like he’s never truly belonged anywhere, which is why I believe his goal celebrations are so appropriate to his experience. On his back, flopping around, like a fish out of water.