Paolo Montero

Paolo Montero (born September 3, 1971 in Montevideo) is a central defender with Penarol of Uruguay and the Uruguayan national team. He is well known for his poor disciplinary record and rough tackles, and he can also play at the position of fullback. On the positive side, he is one of the most respected and experienced defenders in the world.

Prior to joining Juventus in 1996, Montero played for Peñarol and Atalanta. He had won threwwscudetti with the Turin club, which whom he left in 2005. Montero has been capped over 50 times for his country and played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

After ending his tenure at Juventus, he moved to Argentinian club San Lorenzo. His time at San Lorenzo was short lived as he constantly missed games due injuries from practices and sometimes even warm ups before big games. However, the few games that he did play, he would even surpass expectations by becoming "man of the match" in numerous big victories vs. Boca Juniors and Racing Club.

In 2005 Montero captained his country in their bid to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in an intercontinental playoff against Australia, the country the Uruguayans defeated on route to qualify for the 2002 tournament four years before. Sadly for Montero he limped off with a hamstring injury during the second game in Sydney, and Australia qualified for the World Cup winning 4-2 on penalties. Heartbroken in defeat, Montero immediately announced his international retirement after the game.

He would go on and stay several weeks in Uruguay instead of going back to train with San Lorenzo. This angered his coaches in San Lorenzo, which more than ever hinted his final exit from the club.

In 2006, offers came in from clubs such as Inter de Porto Alegre (Brasilian club that would go on to win the Copa Libertadores) a multi million dollar sale to a club in Quatar (similar to what Batistuta did years ago) and a rumoured sell to the now 2nd division Juventus of Turin. But Paolo chose to go to his personal childhood club (and where he began his career), Uruguayan and South American giants, Penarol (who just had their worst few years in the club's ilustrious history, coming in last place in last year's Uruguayan championship).

He was described by Zinedine Zidane as his best friend during the pair's time together at Juventus.