The 18-year-old shines in the Madrid derby, and Real Madrid's illustrious history has a deep connection with Uruguayan players

18-year-old Alvaro Rodríguez became the brightest protagonist of the Madrid derby. The Uruguayan, born in 2004, came off the bench in the 77th minute to make his second Real Madrid first-team appearance, equalising eight minutes later to win La Liga's official Player of the Match. Valverde, who comes from Uruguay like him, is the best player of the game on the rating website with a rating of 7.9. Real Madrid were able to get one point in the Madrid derby, and two Uruguayan players made a big contribution.

In fact, Uruguay has always been a reliable talent supply base for Real Madrid, from José Santamaría, a five-time winner in the fifties and sixties, to Valverde today, Uruguayan players have always played an important role in Real Madrid.

18-year-old young general, famous in World War I

Alvaro, who made his famous name in this game, only made his Real Madrid first-team debut in January's Copa del Rey and currently has made two appearances in La Liga, contributing one goal and one assist. Born in Spain, Alvaro is a professional footballer to a professional father and uncle who won two Copa Libertadores titles for Peñarol and the 1982 Continental Cup, and four times with the team to the top of the Uruguayan First Division. Alvaro 's uncle was a member of the Uruguayan national team.

Alvaro grew up in Spain and joined Real Madrid from Girona's academy, but he made a recent appearance for Uruguay in the Under-20s and scored five goals. In the summer of 2022, Alvaro also represented Spain at the Mediterranean Games, but at the end of the year he officially announced his decision: to represent Uruguay in international competitions.

After the Madrid derby, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said Alvaro would be promoted to the first team next season. In time, the young and famous Alvaro is likely to become a bridgehead in the Real Madrid squad, and as Benzema ages, the 1.93-meter-tall Alvaro will take over his mantle and destroy the city for Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, and continue the tradition of Uruguayan players playing well in Madrid.

Ancient gods, experienced splendor

In 1953, Sergio Rodriguez moved from Malaga to Real Madrid, becoming the first Uruguayan player to play for Real Madrid on record. He moved to Hercules after a year in the game, leaving behind a hasty experience that became the beginning of a Uruguayan player's illustrious career at Real Madrid. The player who joined Sergio was also Giulio Cesar, who also left the team quickly.

In 1957, central defender José Santa Maria joined Real Madrid and began a legendary journey. Before joining Real Madrid, Santamaria's performance in the 1954 World Cup was particularly good, and he was the anchor of the Uruguayan team, which attracted the attention of Real Madrid. At Real Madrid, Santa Maria won 4 Champions League titles and 6 La Liga titles, and was the absolute core of the team's back line, making more than 200 appearances for Real Madrid in 9 years until 1966 when he officially hung up his boots at the age of 37.

It is worth mentioning that Santa Maria became a player of the Spanish national team after moving to Real Madrid. He had already represented Uruguay in the World Cup, and after moving to Spain, he competed in the 1962 World Cup. Santamara also coached the Spanish national team from 1980 to 1982, after declining an offer from the Uruguayan Football Federation. In the 1982 World Cup, Spain, as the host, stopped the second stage under the leadership of Santa Maria, and the results were mediocre, and the team's performance did not meet people's expectations.

Since then, Uruguayan players have joined Real Madrid, although they have all left the team after a short stay. Juan Acosta, who joined in 1982, and Federico Magalanes, who joined in 1998, both played for Real Madrid for one year, and Pablo Garcia, who played for AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, began frequent loan loans shortly after joining in 2005. It wasn't until 2018, when Federico Valverde was born, that the Uruguayan player finally became the protagonist of the Bernabeu again.

New people are emerging, and the future is promising

In 2016, the 18-year-old Valverde moved to Real Madrid from Penarol and officially joined the first team after a one-year loan spell loan spell in Deportivo Deportivoña. In the 2019-20 season, Valverde began to become a regular at Real Madrid, contributing 2 goals and 5 assists in a single season. Valverde has become one of Real Madrid's most indispensable midfielders this season, scoring seven goals and providing two assists in 23 league appearances, and three goals in two Club World Cup games.

Valverde made his debut at the age of 19 with the Uruguayan national team and represented the team in competitions such as the China Cup and the Qatar World Cup. It is worth mentioning that Valverde contributed 8 games and 7 goals in the 2015 South American Under-17 Championship, and now his successor Alvaro has a very similar experience and has also played well in the South American U20 Championship. In the future, Valverde provides assists and Alvaro completes the goalscoring scene, which may often appear at the Bernabeu, and in the Uruguayan national team, the connection between the two will make up for the gap in the offensive line after Suarez, Cavani and others fade out.

Alvaro got off to a good start at Real Madrid after the Madrid derby, but it wasn't enough, he still needed to find his right place in the fierce competition. However, he is already well continuing the tradition of Uruguayan players playing important roles at Real Madrid. So far, there are 10 Uruguayan players who have played for Real Madrid, who will wear a pure white shirt and appear at the Bernabeu in the future? Let's wait and see!

(Supine Push-ups/Yin Chongzeng)