Sebastián Coates

Sebastián Coates Nion (Spanish pronunciation: [seβasˈtjan koˈates ˈnjon]; born 7 October 1990) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Sporting CP and the Uruguay national team.

Sebastián Coates

Coates in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Sebastián Coates Nion[1]
Date of birth	7 October 1990
Place of birth	Montevideo, Uruguay
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s)	Centre Back
Club information
Current team	Sporting CP
Number	4
Youth career
2001–2009	Nacional
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2011	Nacional	60	(8)
2011–2015	Liverpool	12	(1)
2014–2015	→ Sunderland (loan)	10	(0)
2015–2017	Sunderland	16	(0)
2016–2017	→ Sporting CP (loan)	46	(3)
2017–	Sporting CP	108	(8)
National team^‡
2007	Uruguay U17	4	(0)
2008–2009	Uruguay U20	17	(2)
2012	Uruguay U23	5	(0)
2011–	Uruguay	40	(1)
Honours Representing  Uruguay Association football Copa América Winner 2011 Argentina
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 January 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 October 2020

Having begun his career at Nacional, where he was a regular from his debut in 2009, Coates joined Liverpool in 2011. He spent time out on loan, back at Nacional, and at Sunderland, and then joined the latter permanently in 2015. In January 2016, he moved to Sporting, initially on loan before signing permanently in February 2017.

Coates made his international debut at the 2011 Copa América, and was voted Young Player of the Tournament after Uruguay won it. He also represented the country at the 2012 Olympics, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the 2015 and 2019 Copa América.

Early life

Coates was born in Montevideo. On his paternal side, he is of Scottish ancestry, although his family does not speak English.[3]

Club career

Nacional

Coates joined Nacional at 11, and worked his way up through the age groups, appearing as captain at every level. In 2009, aged 18, he signed a contract and began playing for the first team. His first appearance came against Bella Vista, a performance for which he was named man of the match by Uruguay's El País.[4] He subsequently started every game for Nacional, notwithstanding suspension and national duty.[5]

Liverpool

Coates playing alongside Martin Kelly against Fulham in 2012.

In August 2011, Coates was the subject of substantial interest from Premier League club Liverpool. He was given permission to have a medical at Melwood ahead of his proposed move on 26 August, and the following day watched Liverpool's match against Bolton Wanderers. On 30 August, after receiving a work permit, Liverpool announced that they had signed Coates on "a long-term contract" for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £7 million.[6][7][8]

On 18 September, Coates made his debut for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur, replacing the injured Daniel Agger in the 27th minute, in a 4–0 defeat.[9] Coates went on to make his first start for the club on 21 September against Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup.[10] Liverpool won the match 2–1 and Coates started the next match in this competition against Stoke City which Liverpool also won 2–1. Liverpool progressed through all stages to win the tournament resulting in Coates winning his first medal as a Liverpool player. On 21 March 2012, he scored his first goal for Liverpool against Queens Park Rangers, with a scissor kick from the edge of the box in the 3–2 loss at Loftus Road.[11]

Coates suffered a knee injury playing for Uruguay in a friendly match against Japan in August 2013.[12] The injury sidelined the player for much of the 2013–14 season. The second half of the season saw Coates return to Nacional on loan, helping him to secure a place in Uruguay's World Cup team.[13]

Sunderland

Coates playing for Sunderland against Chelsea in May 2015

On 1 September 2014, Coates was loaned out to fellow Premier League side Sunderland on a season-long loan, joining up with fellow Uruguayan manager Gus Poyet.[14] He made his debut as a starter on the 23rd in the third round of the League Cup, against Stoke City at the Stadium of Light. At half-time, he was substituted for Patrick van Aanholt and Sunderland lost 1–2.[15] His first league match of his loan was on 3 December, playing the entirety of a 1–4 home defeat against Manchester City.[16] Coates had to fill in at left back in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle on 21 December after Anthony Réveillère suffered an injury in the warm up, but coped well as Sunderland won 1–0.[17] However, after Sunderland were beaten 1–3 by Hull in the next game,[18] Coates fell out of favour and failed to make another Premier League start under Poyet. After the manager was sacked and replaced by Dick Advocaat, Coates became more involved. He played every minute of Sunderland's run of five unbeaten games that kept them from relegation with a game to spare.

On 1 July 2015, Sunderland announced that they had signed Coates on a permanent four-year deal for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £2 million.[19][20] He scored an own goal on 1 November as the team lost 6–2 away to Everton.[21]

Sporting CP

On 28 January 2016, Coates signed for Sporting CP on loan until the end of the season, as new Black Cats manager Sam Allardyce sought to balance the books.[22] He made his debut on 8 February in a goalless home draw with Rio Ave,[23] and totalled 13 matches (all starts) over the season as the Lisbon-based club came second. On 10 May, his loan was extended for the following campaign.[24]

On the first day of the 2016–17 season, at home to Marítimo, Coates scored his first goal for the Leões to open a 2–0 win by heading in João Mário's corner kick.[25]

He joined Sporting on a permanent basis on 2 February 2017.[26]

In the Taça da Liga final on 26 January 2019, Coates missed his spot-kick but Sporting prevailed over FC Porto 3–1 in the penalty shoot-out to win their second straight league cup title.[27] Four months later in the final of the Taça de Portugal on 25 May, Sporting and Porto again required a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner after the match ended 2–2; Coates converted his kick to help Sporting to a 5–4 win.[28]

On 31 August 2019, Coates conceded three penalties and was sent off as Sporting fell 2–3 to Rio Ave. All three fouls were against Iranian forward Mehdi Taremi.[29]

International career

Coates playing for Uruguay at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

After playing for the Uruguay under-20s he was called up for Uruguay's first leg match in the CONMEBOL–CONCACAF playoff against Costa Rica in qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he was an unused substitute.[30]

He made his full international debut against Chile in the 2011 Copa América second group match, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, Argentina.[31] He played the remainder of the tournament, apart from being suspended for their quarter-final win over the hosts, and Coates went on to win the award for the Best Young Player at the end of the tournament, and his nation won the competition.[32]

He was called up by Óscar Tabárez for the Uruguay Olympic football team that played at the 2012 Summer Olympics which were held in London.[33] He played every minute of their campaign, however Uruguay ultimately failed to qualify for the knockout round. At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, he made one brief substitute appearance in a 2–1 victory against Nigeria and a start in an 8–0 win against Tahiti in the group, as Uruguay finished the tournament in fourth place.

Although injury saw Coates miss out the entire Premier League season, he made a full recovery in time to be selected in the final 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He made one appearance as the side reached the last 16, playing two minutes as a substitute for his Liverpool teammate Luis Suárez in the 2–1 group stage victory over England.[34] The following year at the 2015 Copa América in Chile, Coates played Uruguay's final group match, a 1–1 draw against Paraguay, due to the suspension of captain Diego Godín; Uruguay were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the hosts.[35]

In May 2018, he was named in Uruguay's 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[36]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 January 2021[37]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nacional	2008–09	Primera División	11	3	–				5[lower-alpha 1]	1	—		16	4
	2009–10		36	2	–				8[lower-alpha 1]	1	—		44	3
	2010–11		27	1	–				5[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		32	1
	Nacional total		74	6	0	0	—		18	2	0	0	92	8
Liverpool	2011–12	Premier League	7	1	2	0	3	0	—		—		12	1
	2012–13		5	0	2	0	2	0	3[lower-alpha 2]	1	—		12	1
	Liverpool total		12	1	4	0	5	0	3	1	0	0	24	2
Nacional (loan)	2013–14	Primera División	5	0	–				1[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		6	0
Sunderland (loan)	2014–15	Premier League	10	0	2	0	1	0	—		—		13	0
Sunderland	2015–16		16	0	1	0	2	0	—		—		19	0
	Sunderland total		26	0	3	0	3	0	—		0	0	32	0
Sporting CP (loan)	2015–16	Primeira Liga	13	0	0	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	—		14	0
	2016–17		33	3	2	0	2	0	6[lower-alpha 3]	0	—		43	3
Sporting CP	2017–18		34	2	5	2	4	1	11[lower-alpha 3]	0	—		54	5
	2018–19		31	1	6	0	4	1	8[lower-alpha 2]	0	—		49	2
	2019–20		29	4	0	0	3	0	7[lower-alpha 2]	2	1[lower-alpha 4]	0	40	6
	2020–21		14	1	3	2	2	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	—		21	3
	Sporting total		154	11	16	4	15	2	35	2	1	0	220	19
Career total			271	18	23	4	23	2	57	5	1	0	375	29

1. Appearance(s) in the Copa Libertadores
2. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Europa League
3. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Champions League
4. Appearance in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

International

As of 8 October 2020[38]

Uruguay
Year	Apps	Goals
2011	7	0
2012	2	0
2013	4	0
2014	3	0
2015	4	0
2016	6	1
2017	3	0
2018	4	0
2019	6	0
2020	1	0
Total	40	1

International goals

Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first.[38]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	10 November 2016	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	Ecuador	1–0	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Coates with the Best Young Player of the Copa América award in 2011.

Club

Nacional

• Primera División Uruguaya: 2009, 2011

Sporting CP

• Taça de Portugal: 2018–19[39]
• Taça da Liga: 2017–18, 2018–19,[40] 2020–21

International

Uruguay

• Copa América: 2011
• China Cup: 2018, 2019

Individual

• Copa América Best Young Player: 2011
• SJPF Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2016,[41][42] 2017[43]
• Sporting CP Player of the Year: 2020

References

1. "Clubs submit retained and released lists". Premier League. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
2. Kerr, Chris. "Player Profile". LFC.TV. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
3. "Seba: My roots are actually in Scotland". Liverpool F.C. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
4. Sebastian Coates biography. (Spanish) sebacoates.com.uy Retrieved 23 August 2011.
5. "Our new boy in 10 facts". Liverpool FC. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
6. Coates joins Liverpool, liverpoolfc.tv, 30 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011. Archived 28 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Sebastian Coates set to sign for Liverpool". bbc.co.uk/sport. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
8. "'Historic' Sebastian Coates transfer a coup for Liverpool". The Independent. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
9. Wilkinson, Kerry. "BBC Sport - Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
10. McNulty, Phil (21 September 2011). "BBC Sport - Brighton 1-2 Liverpool". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
11. Sanghera, Mandeep (21 March 2012). "BBC Sport - QPR 3-2 Liverpool". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
12. Liverpool's Sebastián Coates to miss 'most of the season' with knee injury - The Guardian, 22 August 2013
13. Dan Kay (27 November 2013). "Liverpool FC defender Sebastian Coates making injury progress and eyeing Uruguay World Cup slot". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
14. "Transfer deadline day: Sunderland sign Liverpool's Sebastian Coates". BBC Sport. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
15. "Sunderland 1-2 Stoke". BBC Sport. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
16. Johnston, Neil (3 December 2014). "Sunderland 1-4 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
17. Hunter, James (22 December 2014). "Sunderland's Sebastian Coates ranks Tyne-Wear derby display as his best yet". nechronicle.
18. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30544234
19. "Sebastian Coates: Sunderland sign Liverpool defender". BBC. 1 July 2015.
20. "Sunderland sign Sebastian Coates from Liverpool on four-year deal". ESPN FC. 1 July 2015.
21. Magowan, Alistair (1 November 2015). "Everton 6-2 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
22. "Sunderland defender Sebastián Coates joins Sporting Lisbon on loan". The Guardian. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
23. "Coates e Barcos estreiam-se nos convocados do Sporting" [Coates and Barcos debut in Sporting's selection] (in Portuguese). Sapo. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
24. "Sunderland defender Sebastian Coates extends loan at Sporting Lisbon until summer 2017". Sky Sports. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
25. Hunter, James (15 August 2016). "Sunderland loanwatch: Sebastian Coates helps Sporting Lisbon get off to a winning start". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
26. "Sebastian Coates: Sunderland defender joins Sporting Lisbon on permanent deal". BBC Sport. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
27. "FC Porto 1 : 1 Sporting CP" (in Portuguese). Liga Portugal. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
28. "Taça Portugal Placard" (PDF) (in Portuguese). FPF. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
29. "Sporting defender concedes 3 pens, sent off". ESPN. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
30. "Match Report: Costa Rica 0 – Uruguay 1". FIFA. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
31. "Match Report: Uruguay 1–1 Chile". Copa America. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2001.
32. "Sebastian Coates receives the Trophy Claro – Best Young Player of the Copa America". Awazsports.com. 25 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
33. "Convocatoria Uruguay Fútbol Juegos Olímpicos Londres 2012" [Uruguay Football Squad London 2012 Olympic Games] (in Spanish). lovingfutbol.com. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
34. McNulty, Phil (19 June 2014). "Uruguay 2-1 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
35. https://ws.sportsmole.co.uk/football/uruguay/copa-america/live-commentary/live-commentary-uruguay-vs-paraguay_229317.html
36. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists - Goal.com". www.goal.com.
37. "Statistics". Soccerbase.
38. Sebastián Coates at National-Football-Teams.com
39. "Sporting complete cup-double over Porto and secure Taça de Portugal". PortuGOAL.net. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
40. "Penalties smile on Sporting again as Lions retain Taça da Liga crown". PortuGOAL.net. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
41. Jogadores, Sindicato dos. "SJPF revela os melhores 11 de 2016". SJPF - Sindicato dos Jogadores Profissionais de Futebol. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
42. "Ronaldo eleito o melhor jogador português de 2016; Renato Sanches bateu Gelson e André Silva; Ricardo Soares venceu o prémio de Treinador revelação - Visão de Mercado". Visão de Mercado (in Portuguese). 20 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
43. "Três águias no Melhor Onze do Ano". www.slbenfica.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 March 2018.

External links

• Sebastián Coates at Soccerbase
• Sebastián Coates – FIFA competition record
• Liverpool F.C. profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-01-16)