Enzo Francescoli member of sports team Montevideo Wanderers Fútbol Club
Club career
Montevideo Wanderers
As a young fan of Peñarol, Francescoli passed a try-out but did not join, unimpressed by the lack of playing time. Despite another successful try-out with South American powerhouse River Plate, which he would later join in 1983, he chose to stay at his high school football team while completing his studies, winning five championships.In his last year of high school, he received an offer from his hometown club Montevideo Wanderers and joined after graduating. In 1980, he debuted with the Wanderers first team, achieving their best position since their fourth and last national title in 1931, a second-place finish. His elegant behaviour and playing style earned him the nickname "El Príncipe" ("The Prince"), a nickname inherited from Hannibal Ciocca, a former Wanderers player. He developed the habit of chewing gum during games in order to avoid dryness in his mouth. He stated he became so dependent on the habit that he did not feel right when he did not have any gum before games.In the Uruguayan Primera División in 1981, Francescoli performed well for the team, which finished only behind Peñarol and Nacional. In February 1982, he made his debut for the Uruguay national team. Later that year, he made his Copa Libertadores debut, ironically after his worst result with the Wanderers in the national championship, a fifth-place finish.Vying for a place with his team in the 1983 Copa Libertadores, Francescoli and his team, which included other notable players such as Jorge Barrios, Luis Alberto Acosta, Raúl Esnal and Ariel Krasouski, had a respectable season, finishing first in their group, tied with  Nacional, and were only eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinal play-off match.
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