Who is Andrés Matonte, the referee who directed the Argentine National Team vs. Chili

The 36-year-old Uruguayan served justice for the first time in an Albiceleste match, although he already had experience in several important matches for Argentine teams.

The Argentina team beat Chile 1-0 in his second match for the Copa América in the United States, after what was the 2-0 victory against Canada in the debut and one of the great protagonists of the night was the referee Andres Matontewho refereed both teams for the first time, but already had experience dispensing justice in important matches of the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana.

In the first minutes of the match, the Uruguayan was already in the eye of criticism for some decisions in split plays in which he was fouled. Furthermore, at the end of the first half it was the cause of a challenge from the La Roja coach, Ricardo Gareca, to his players, who demanded that they speak to the judge as the Argentines did.

Already in the second half the tension focused on him in the 43rd minute after Lautaro Martínez’s goal in an action after a corner that had to be reviewed by the VAR for possible offside. Finally, from the cabin they told him that everything was in order and the judge validated the Toro’s goal that gave the victory to Lionel Scaloni’s team.

Originally from Montevideo and trained as a physical education teacher, he made his professional debut on April 15, 2017 in a match between Villa Española and Club Oriental, for the Uruguayan second division. His good performance quickly placed him in the highest category and Starting in 2019, he began to be a FIFA referee.

He is very well considered by the authorities of the mother body of South American football, since they gave him the opportunity to direct the final of the Copa Sudamericana 2021 between Athletico Paranaense and RB Bragantino, and the final of the Recopa Sudamericana the following yearbetween Flamengo and Independiente del Valle.

In addition, he refereed important matches for Argentine teams in the continental competition: he coached Boca in the second leg of the quarterfinals against Racing, and in the second leg of the semifinals against Palmeiras, where he sent off Marcos Rojo for a second yellow card. He was also present in River’s elimination on penalties against Internacional in Porto Alegre. A year before he had a controversial antecedent with Estudiantes and Paranaensewhen, at the request of the VAR, a goal was annulled by toLuciano Lollo and validated Vitor Roque’s agonizing goal after an alleged handball.

This is his first Copa América, although he has already directed four South American Qualifying matches. Three of them to Paraguay -against Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru- and the remaining one was Colombia’s 2-1 victory against Brazil in November 2023. He had a single experience in the World Cup in Qatar; It was in the match between Croatia and Canada, which ended with victory for the European team.

Although he had never coached the Argentine Senior National Team, he did have experiences with the youth teams, since in 2018 he coached a U-20 friendly against Uruguay. The particularity of that day? Lionel Scaloni was the coach. The match ended 1-0 in favor of the Albiceleste with a goal from Tomás Chancalay. A year earlier he had delivered justice in a 1-1 draw against Peru for the South American category played in Ecuador. In the Venezuelan Olympic Qualifiers earlier this year, he was a VAR referee in the match between the Albiceleste and the locals. That day Valentín Barco saw the red for throwing the ball at a rival and starting a brawl on the field of play.