Matias Emanuel Lequi was born in Rosario, Argentina on May 13, 1981.
His youth career was spent with his hometown club Rosario Central and in 1999 he joined the first team squad. The club has an interesting history and was formed by English railway workers as the Central Argentine Railway Club in 1889.
He played two seasons for the "Canallas" (The Scoundrels), playing 22 league games with 1 goal.
In 2001 he joined River Plate and stayed two seasons. He won 2 Clausura league titles (2002, 2003), under Ramon Diaz and Manuel Pellegrini. Lequi played 39 league games for "Los Millonarios" and scored 1 goal.
In 2003 he went to Europe and signed for Atlético Madrid in Spain. He had a good season playing 34 league games with 2 goals. The Colchoneros however had a mediocre season finishing 7th under Gregorio Manzano. Lequi's team mates included former Lazio Scudetto hero, Diego Pablo Simeone (1999-2003).
In 2004 Lequi joined Lazio. The club had new ownership and huge debts so the team was renewed but with very little expenditure. Lequi came on a free transfer with some other lesser-known players including Oscar Lopez, Leonardo Talamonti, Esteban Gonzalez, Miguel Mea Vitali and Braian Robert. Fortunately, some solid players arrived too including Sebastiano Siviglia, Paolo Di Canio, Goran Pandev and Tommaso Rocchi.
It was predictably a difficult season for Lazio. Former player Domenico Caso started as manager but was replaced in January by another former player, Giuseppe Papadopulo. Lazio were struggling in joint 15th position, only four from relegation. Then, on January 6, Lazio won an epic derby 3-1 and eventually finished 10th (but still only two points from relegation). Lequi only played 6 league games, 1 in Coppa Italia and 3 in the Intertoto Cup.
In 2005 he left and joined Celta Vigo in Spain. Here he stayed three seasons and played more regularly. He made 81 league appearances and scored 5 goals (including Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid). "Los Celtiñas" (The Celts) finished 6th, 18th (relegated) and 16th. His managers were first Fernando Vásquez, then Hristo Stoichkov and finally Juan Ramón López Caro.
In 2009 he went to Greece and signed for Īraklīs. He stayed a season and a half but made only 14 league appearances for the club from Thessalonikis.
In January 2011 he returned to Spain, to the Canary Islands and Las Palmas in the Segunda Division. The Amarillos finished 15th and Lequi played 17 league games.
Lequi then returned to Argentina, to his boyhood club Rosario Central. He played 33 league games and scored 2 goals.
He then stayed in Argentina and in the following four years played for All Boys, Sporting Luqueño, Aldosivi and Sarmiento before retiring in 2016. He played a total of another 87 league games with 11 goals.
Lequi was a central defender. He was a left footed and tall player at 1.91. He had good technique and was an elegant player but lacked speed. He won 8 caps for Argentina U20's with 1 goal.
At Lazio he only stayed one season. It was a problematic one with so many new players coming in and fighting against relegation. Unfortunately, his experience in Rome was not positive, he started some games at the beginning of the campaign but despite looking quite classy he was lumbersome and often hesitant and soon lost his place. He will be remembered, along with the various Vitali, Oscar Lopez, Robert, Gonzalez as the ones who did not make it in Rome.
He had more success in Argentina and Spain. The highlight of his career was probably scoring for Celta Vigo in a 3-0 win over Atlético Madrid.
Lazio career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Intertoto Cup |
2004-05 | 7 | 6 | 1 | - |
2005-06 | 3 | - | - | 3 |
Total | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
Sources
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