Matías Ezequiel Abaldo Menyou

Abaldo came through the Defensor Sporting academy and made his professional debut in December 2021. In August 2023 he joined Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata on loan, and the Argentine club made the deal permanent the following year, exercising an option to buy half his economic rights for US$1,600,000 and tying him to a contract until December 2027. His career was interrupted in late 2024, when he took a leave of absence for psychiatric treatment.

He returned to Defensor Sporting in February 2025, signing a new contract until December 2027, before Independiente took him on a one-year loan from the Uruguayan club in August 2025, with an option to purchase 80 per cent of his rights. He scored his first goal for Independiente on 1 November 2025, in a 3-0 win over Atlético Tucumán.

He was capped 22 times for the U-20s and five times for the U-23s. In October 2024 he received his first senior call-up, named by Marcelo Bielsa for World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Ecuador, though he did not feature in either match. At club level, he had already won the Copa AUF Uruguay with Defensor Sporting in 2022 and was named Best Young Player of the Uruguayan Segunda División in 2021.