Darwin Núñez

Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro (born 24 June 1999) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Portuguese club Benfica and the Uruguay national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Núñez and the second or maternal family name is Ribeiro.
Darwin Núñez
Personal information
Full name Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro
Date of birth (1999-06-24) 24 June 1999
Place of birth Artigas, Uruguay
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Benfica
Number 9
Youth career
La Luz
San Miguel de Artigas
Peñarol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Peñarol 14 (4)
2019–2020 Almería 30 (16)
2020– Benfica 15 (3)
National team‡
2018–2019 Uruguay U20 14 (4)
2019 Uruguay U22 4 (1)
2019– Uruguay 4 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2020

Club career

Peñarol

Núñez was born in Artigas, Núñez joined Peñarol's youth setup in 2013, aged 14. His first stay lasted only months, but he subsequently rejoined the club in 2014, and finished his formation.[1]

Núñez spent the first months of 2017 nursing a knee injury.[2] He made his first team – and Primera División – debut on 22 November 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in a 2–1 away loss against River Plate Montevideo,[3] but had another knee surgery the following month.[2]

Núñez scored his first professional goal on 13 October 2018, netting the opener in a 2–0 home defeat of Fénix.[4] On 14 July 2019, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 routing of Boston River.[5]

Almería

On 29 August 2019, Spanish Segunda División side UD Almería announced the signing of Núñez on a five-year deal,[6] for a rumoured fee of US$4.5 million plus $1.5 million in variables.[7] He made his debut for Andalusian side on 3 October 2019, coming on as a 46th minute substitute for Lucien Owona in 4–2 league defeat against Sporting de Gijón.[8]

On 27 October 2019, Núñez scored first goal for his new club in a 3–2 league win against Extremadura UD.[9]

Benfica

On 4 September 2020, Núñez signed a five-year contract with Portuguese club Benfica for a transfer fee of €24 million (£21,8 million), the highest fee for a paid for a player joining the domestic league, this was also Almeria's and Spanish Segunda División biggest transfer and Benfica's most expensive signing ever, with Almeria also receiving 20% of a future transfer.[10] He made his club debut on 15 September 2020 in a 2–1 loss against PAOK for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round replacing Pedrinho on the 65th minute of the game. He scored his first club goal on 22 October 2020 by scoring a hat-trick against Lech Poznań on a 2–4 victory at the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage.[11]

International career

Núñez is a former Uruguay youth international and was part of under-20 team squad which finished third in 2019 South American U-20 Championship and reached pre-quarters of 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He was also part of under-22 team squad which finished fourth at 2019 Pan American Games.

His performance with youth teams earned him a call-up to senior team for friendlies against Costa Rica and the United States in September 2019. He made his international debut following month on 16 October in a 1–1 draw against Peru. He replaced Brian Lozano on 75th minute of the game and scored his team's only goal five minutes later.[12]

Career statistics

Club
As of 1 February 2021[13]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Peñarol 2017 Primera División 10——000010
2018 Primera División 101——2[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 2]0131
2019 Primera División 33——5[lower-alpha 3]00083
Total 14400007010224
Almería 2019–20 Segunda División 301600——2[lower-alpha 4]03216
Benfica 2020–21 Primeira Liga 15321205[lower-alpha 5]52[lower-alpha 6]0269
Career total 59232120125508029
  1. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana.
  2. Appearance in championship play-off.
  3. Appearances in Copa Libertadores.
  4. Appearances in Segunda División play-offs.
  5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League.
  6. One appearance each in Champions League qualifiers and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

International
As of 17 November 2020
Uruguay
YearAppsGoals
201911
202031
Total42

International goals
Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first.[14]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
1.16 October 2019Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru Peru1–11–1Friendly[15]
2.13 November 2020Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia Colombia3–03–02022 FIFA World Cup qualifcation

References
  1. "Darwin Núñez se fue al Almería: "voy a poder comprarle la casa a mis padres en Artigas"" [Darwin Núñez moved to Almería: "I will be able to buy a house for my parents in Artigas"] (in Spanish). Subrayado. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  2. "Darwin Núñez: De estar a punto de "dejar de jugar" a un presente que promete en Peñarol" [Darwin Núñez: from being close to "quit football" to a present who promises at Peñarol] (in Spanish). Fútbol.com.uy. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  3. "Clausura: River Plate derrotó 2–1 a Peñarol en el Saroldi y le quitó el invicto" [Clausura: River Plate defeated Peñarol by 2–1 and removed their unbeaten status] (in Spanish). Fútbol.com.uy. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  4. "Clausura: Peñarol le ganó 2–0 a Fénix con goles de Darwin Núñez y Giovanni González" [Clausura: Peñarol defeated Fénix by 2–0 with goals from Darwin Núñez and Giovanni González] (in Spanish). Fútbol.com.uy. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  5. "Peñarol le ganó 4–0 a Boston River por la primera fecha del Torneo Intermedio 2019" [Peñarol thrashed Boston River by 4–0 for the first round of the 2019 Torneo Intermedio] (in Spanish). Teledoce. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  6. "Darwin Núñez, un delantero de garantías para el nuevo proyecto" [Darwin Núñez, a guarantee forward for the new project] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  7. "Última hora: la directiva de Peñarol aprueba la venta de Darwin al Almería" [Breaking news: Peñarol's board approves the sale of Darwin to Almería] (in Spanish). La Voz de Almería. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  8. "Sporting Gijón vs. Almería - 3 October 2019". Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  9. "Almería vs. Extremadura UD - 27 October 2019". Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  10. "El Almería y el Benfica firman el traspaso definitivo de Darwin Núñez". Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  11. "Darwin e mais 10!". www.slbenfica.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  12. "Peru vs. Uruguay - 16 October 2019". Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  13. "Darwin Núñez » Club matches". Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  14. "Darwin Núñez". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. Sánchez, Guillermo (16 October 2019). "El debut soñado de Darwin Núñez con Uruguay". Marca (in Spanish). Almería: Unidad Editorial Información Deportiva, S.L.U. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
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