| Diego Abreu | |
| Fullname: | Diego Fernando Abreu Firenze |
| Birth Date: | 27 August 2003 |
| Birth Place: | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Height: | 1.86 m |
| Currentclub: | Toluca (on loan from Defensor Sporting) |
| Clubnumber: | 213 |
| Position: | Forward |
| Youthclubs1: | Rincón del Carrasco |
| Youthclubs2: | Carrasco Polo |
| Youthclubs3: | Defensor Sporting |
| Youthyears4: | 2023 |
| Youthclubs4: | → Botafogo (youth loan) |
| Years1: | 2024– |
| Clubs1: | Defensor Sporting |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2024– |
| Clubs2: | → Toluca (loan) |
| Caps2: | 0 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2019 |
| Nationalteam1: | Mexico U17 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 4 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2020 |
| Nationalteam2: | Mexico U18 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2021 |
| Nationalteam3: | Mexico U20 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 1 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2021– |
| Nationalteam4: | Uruguay U20 |
| Nationalcaps4: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 2 |
| Pcupdate: | 5 April 2023 |
Diego Fernando Abreu Firenze (born 27 August 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Toluca. Born in Mexico, he is currently a youth international for Uruguay.
Abreu was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to former Uruguayan international footballer Sebastián Abreu and Paola Firenze.[1] He has one older sister, Valentina, and two younger brothers, Facundo and Franco. As a child, he lived in Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Greece, Uruguay, and Brazil, following his father's footballing career as he moved to different clubs.[2] Following his father's move to Nacional, Diego's family decided he would stay in Uruguay from 2014 onwards, though he visited his father occasionally as he continued his career abroad.[2] Abreu holds a Mexican passport via jus soli, along with a Uruguayan passport and an Italian passport, as his mother is of Italian descent.[3]
Abreu first started playing football at the request of his father, though he stated in an interview with ESPN Deportes that he "only went [in order] to drink Gatorade at halftime".[2] While living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he played futsal, before returning to Uruguay to play organized football at the youth level.[2] He initially played for Rincón del Carrasco in the Canelones Department of Uruguay, but after not being selected to play very often, he moved to Carrasco Polo in Montevideo.[2]
He joined Defensor Sporting in his last year of baby fútbol and recalled in another interview with ESPN Deportes that his first major involvement with the club was in a youth tournament in Brazil, where he missed a penalty against Internacional; chipping a Panenka shot that did not even reach the goal.[2] [4] He continued to progress through the academy and made his unofficial debut in a 2–1 friendly loss against Argentinian opposition Vélez Sarsfield on 14 January 2023.[5] A few days later, on 17 January, he scored his first goal for the club, the consolation in another 2–1 loss, this time to Montevideo Wanderers of Uruguay.[1]
On 31 March 2023, it was announced that Abreu would join Brazilian side Botafogo, where his father had also played, on a season-long loan deal.[6] On signing, he recalled that he had watched Botafogo games live as a child, during his father's spell with the club.[6]
Eligible to represent Italy, Mexico, and Uruguay, Abreu represented Mexico from under-17 to under-20 level.[1] In February 2021, he stated that he had not yet decided who he wanted to play for, also expressing his desire to represent Uruguay at international level.[7] He received his first call-up to the Uruguay under-20 side for a training camp in September of the same year, before featuring for Mexico's under-20s in two friendlies against France and England in October, scoring against the former.
In December 2021, he was called up to the Uruguay under-20 side again by coach Gustavo Ferreyra and scored in a friendly against Chile in a 1–1 friendly draw.[7] He played in a second friendly game against Colombia but suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the game, which required surgery in February 2022, before he returned in September of the same year.[8] In December 2022, he scored another goal against Chile at under-20 level in a 2–0 win.[8]