Nelson Vivas

Nelson David Vivas (born 18 October 1969) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He is assistant coach of La Liga club Atlético Madrid.

Vivas played for Quilmes, Boca Juniors and River Plate in his native Argentina, Swiss club Lugano, Arsenal in the Premier League, Spanish outfit Celta Vigo and Italian Serie A side Inter Milan. He also played for the Argentina national team.

Vivas has gone on to manage sides Quilmes, Estudiantes and Defensa y Justicia.

Vivas was at first used as backup for established full-backs Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn while at Arsenal. He started 18 games and played as a substitute for another 18 matches during his debut season at Highbury. Vivas scored his first and only goal for the Gunners against Derby County in the League Cup.

Vivas was loaned out to the La Liga outfit Celta Vigo halfway through the 1999–00 season. As Arsenal had signed Oleh Luzhnyi and Sylvinho in the summer of 1999, he went on to mainly appear as a substitute at the club. With him being unable to attain regular playing time, Vivas left Arsenal at the end of the 2000–01 season. Altogether he played 69 games for Arsenal, with 40 as a substitute, scoring one goal. Vivas then joined Serie A team Inter Milan on a free transfer. At Inter, Vivas found it hard to break into the first team. After two seasons with the Nerazzurri, he left European football to return to his native Argentina.

International career As a solid defender, Vivas was a regular for the Argentina national team. He went on to play for La Albiceleste at the 1995 and 1997 Copa America together with the 1998 World Cup. Vivas played 39 games and scored on one occasion for Argentina altogether.

Honours

Player Arsenal FA Charity Shield: 1998, 1999 Premier League runner-up: 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01 FA Cup runner-up: 2000-01

Celta Vigo UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000

River Plate Primera División: 2003

Manager Argentina Manager of the Year: 2017