Sebastián Coates/import

Sebastián Coates Nion (born 7 October 1990) is a Uruguayan footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League side Liverpool and the Uruguay national team.

Early life
Coates was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He is of Scottish ancestry.

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 El País. He subsequently started every game for Nacional, notwithstanding suspension and national duty.

Liverpool
In August 2011, Coates was the subject of substantial interest from English 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. Liverpool officially announced that Coates would wear the number 16 shirt, last worn by Sotirios Kyrgiakos who had recently departed to Wolfsburg.

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. Coates went on to make his first start for the club on 21 September against Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup. 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 magnificent scissor kick from the edge of the box. On 20 September 2012 he scored against BSC Young Boys in the Europa League, his second Liverpool goal in 14 games.

Coates suffered a knee injury playing for Uruguay in a friendly match against Japan in August 2013. The injury is expected to keep the player sidelined for much of the remainder of the 2013-14 season, while Coates himself is keen to return in time to secure a place in Uruguay's World Cup team.

International career
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 where he was an unused substitute.

He made his full international debut against Chile in the 2011 Copa América. Coates went on to win the award for the Best Young Player at the end of the tournament.

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, United Kingdom. However Uruguay ultimately failed to qualify for the knockout round. Although ravaged by injury which saw Coates missing out the entire 2013/14 English Premier League season, he made full recovery in time to be selected in the final 23 men squad for the 2014 World Cup. He featured as a second half substitute coming in for Luis Suarez in the 88th minute in the 2-1 victory over England in the group stage.

Club

 * Nacional
 * Primera División Uruguaya (2): 2008–09, 2010–11


 * Liverpool
 * Football League Cup (1): 2011–12

International

 * Uruguay
 * Copa América (1): 2011

Individual

 * Copa América Best Young Player (1): 2011