 He was selected for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where he appeared three times as a substitute; in the quarter-finals against Ghana he scored the decisive penalty shootout attempt (1–1 after 120 minutes) sending Uruguay to the semi-finals for the first time in 40 years.On 26 April 2019, Abreu was announced as the interim manager of Santa Tecla on an initial one-and-a-half month spell, with the parties holding the option open of keeping him as a player-coach or just as a player afterwards.He won the Copa El Salvador four days later, defeating C.D.