Ángel Amadeo Labruna (28 September 1918 – 19 September 1983) was an Argentine

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and coach who played as a forward. With 323 goals scored in official matches, which include 294 league goals, Labruna is the 2nd all-time top scorer of

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

after

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Arsenio Erico Arsenio Pastor Erico Martínez (30 March 1915 – 23 July 1977) was a Paraguayan football striker. He is the all-time highest goalscorer in the Argentine first division, with 295 goals according to Argentine Football Association. Previously ...

. Labruna was also part of the celebrated River Plate offense, nicknamed ''

La Máquina ''La Máquina'' ( Spanish for "the Machine") is a nickname given to the River Plate football team from 1941 to 1947, commonly referred by the media as the best Argentine team of its era and one of the best teams worldwide.

'' (''The Machine''), and he was considered one of the best South-American footballers of his generation. In his career, Labruna scored 564 goals.

Biography

Labruna was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

Career

Playing career

Labruna's debut in the

was in replacement of

José Manuel Moreno José Manuel Moreno Fernández (3 August 1916 — 26 August 1978), nicknamed "''El Charro''", was an Argentine footballer who played as an inside forward for several clubs in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia; for many who saw him play, he ...

who had been suspended by the club, wearing the

number 10 shirt Squad numbers are used in association football to identify and distinguish players that are on the field. Numbers very soon became a way to also indicate position, with starting players being assigned numbers 1–11, although in the modern ga ...

. The match disputed on 18 June 1939 in La Plata against Estudiantes, which defeated River by 1–0. His goals scored and outstanding performances caused that Moreno had to play on the right side of the field when he was allowed to play again. Labruna played in River for 20 years, winning 9 domestic championships with the team (1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957) and being the top scorer twice (1943 with 23 goals and 1945 with 25). He was part of his club's legendary team along with Juan Carlos Muñoz,

Adolfo Pedernera Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995) was an Argentine football player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" ("The Teacher"), he was widely considered to be one of the best world football players in the 1940s and one of the g ...

, and Félix Loustau, where he played as an inside-left forward. Although this attacking line only disputed 18 games with those players, they were regarded as one of the best forward line in the history of Argentine football. They were nicknamed ''

'' (''The Machine'') due to their skills with the ball and synchronized play. Coach and former player Carlos Peucelle said that his team was formed by "A goalkeeper and 10 forwards", using an imaginary "1–10". Labruna holds a number of records for River Plate, including his record of 16 goals in the superclásico derby with fierce rival

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

. In 1959, Labruna left River Plate having defended club's colors in 515 matches and scoring 317 goals, 293 in goals what made him the all-time highest goalscorer in the Argentine first division along with

, a record that remains nowadays. He later played two seasons in the Chilean

C.S.D. Rangers Club Social de Deportes Rangers is a Chilean football club based in the city of Talca. The club was founded November 2, 1902 and plays in the second level of the Chilean football system. Their home games are played at the Fiscal stadium, which ha ...

, and Uruguayan team

Rampla Juniors Rampla Juniors Fútbol Club, commonly known as Rampla Juniors, is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The team was actively playing the 2021 season by January 2021. In their home stadium, Rampla won the Uruguayan championship in 1927. ...

of Montevideo, before returning to Argentina to finish his career at Platense, when he was 43 years old. Labruna played 37 matches for the Argentina national team, scoring 17 goals. He also won two

South American Championships South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sun� ...

(1946 and 1955) and as a nearly 40-year-old he played in the final phase of

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil ...

held in Sweden. As other great players of his generation, Labruna could not participate in other World Cups due to the event's suspension during World War II and later for the decision taken by the Argentine Football Association, which did not compete in the World Cups of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and Switzerland.

Coaching career

After ending his career as a player he became Assistant Coach and Coach in River Plate,

Defensores de Belgrano Club Atlético Defensores de Belgrano (usually known as Defensores de Belgrano) is an Argentine sports club from Nuñez, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in Primera Nacional, the regionalised se ...

, Platense,

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the English ...

(where he won his first

Nacional championship The Campeonato Nacional was one of the two football tournaments that formed the Primera División season (along with the Metropolitano championship) since 1967. The Nacional championship was played annually until its last edition in 1985. The Na ...

, in 1971),

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; (lit. Workshops Athletic Club) mostly known simply as Talleres (lit. Workshops) or Talleres de Córdoba ) (Córdoba Workshops) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba. The institution is mostly known for ...

Racing Club Racing Club may refer to: Football * Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast * K.R.C. Genk, Belgium * Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon * Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon * Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina * Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti * Racing Club Port ...

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

, Chacarita and

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of th ...

. In 1975 River called Labruna to offer him work as coach. Labruna won two championships that same year, breaking a "curse" of 18 years without titles. Labruna's period in charge of River Plate brought the club much domestic success, a side endowed with players such as

Daniel Passarella Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength ...

Norberto Alonso Norberto Osvaldo Alonso (born 4 January 1953), known colloquially as "Beto" Alonso, is an Argentine former football midfielder, who played the majority of his career for the Argentine club River Plate, where he won 9 titles. He remains one of ...

and Leopoldo Luque.

Personal life

Labruna had two sons, Daniel (died in 1969) and Omar, who worked with Ramón Díaz in River Plate and then coached Olimpo de Bahía Blanca and other teams. Labruna died on September 19, 1983 from a heart attack, at 64 years old. He is buried at

La Chacarita Cemetery Cementerio de la Chacarita in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is known as the National Cemetery and is the largest in Argentina. Location The cemetery is in the barrio or district of Chacarita, in the western part of Buenos Aires. Its main entrance i ...

. Every September 28, River Plate's fans celebrate the "International River Plate Fan's Day" as a tribute to one of the club's greatest idols.

Honours

Player

Club

;River Plate *

: 1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957 *

Copa Ibarguren The Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, also called Campeonato Argentino
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the RSSSF or simply Copa Ibarguren was an offic ...

: 1937, 1941, 1942 * Copa Adrián C. Escobar: 1941 * Copa Aldao: 1941, 1945, 1947

International

;Argentina * Campeonato Sudamericano: 1946,

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yiji ...

Manager

;Rosario Central *

: Nacional 1971 ;River Plate *

: Metropolitano 1975, Nacional 1975, Metropolitano 1977, Nacional 1979, Metropolitano 1979, Metropolitano 1980

References

External links

El Feo Labruna – Tribute webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Labruna, Angel 1918 births 1983 deaths Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Italian descent Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Argentine footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Atlético Platense footballers Rampla Juniors players Rangers de Talca footballers Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Uruguay 1958 FIFA World Cup players Argentina international footballers Argentine football managers Club Atlético River Plate managers Club Atlético Platense managers Rosario Central managers Talleres de Córdoba managers Racing Club de Avellaneda managers Club Atlético Lanús managers Chacarita Juniors managers Argentinos Juniors managers Copa América-winning players Association football forwards