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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. With 323 goals scored in official matches, which include 294 league goals, Labruna is the 2nd all-time top scorer of Primera División 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 and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Career

Playing career

Labruna's debut in the Primera División 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. 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, and

Félix Loustau Félix Loustau () (25 December 1922 – 5 January 2003) was an Argentine footballer who was a key player on the River Plate squad known as La Máquina. La Maquina is considered to be one of the greatest team ever assembled in the history of Sout ...

, 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 Carlos Desiderio Peucelle (13 September 1908 – 1 April 1990) was an Argentine football player who played as an inside forward or as a right winger and is considered one of Argentina's finest wingers in their history. He is also known for being ...

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 Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish language, Spanish (Grammatical gender, masculine) or (Grammatical gender, feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be resident ...

along with

, a record that remains nowadays. He later played two seasons in the Chilean C.S.D. Rangers, and Uruguayan team Rampla Juniors 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 (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 be ...

held in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. 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 ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

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 sec ...

, 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 f ...

, Racing Club,

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 the ...

. 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 Leopoldo Jacinto Luque (; (3 May 1949 – 15 February 2021) was an Argentine footballer who played as a striker. Club career In a career spanning from 1972 to 1984 he played for Unión de Santa Fe, Rosario Central, River Plate, Racing Club de ...

Personal life

Labruna had two sons, Daniel (died in 1969) and Omar, who worked with

Ramón Díaz Ramón Ángel Díaz (born 29 August 1959) is a former Argentine Association football, footballer and the current manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Hilal SFC, Al Hilal. He played for Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate as a Forw ...

in River Plate and then coached

Olimpo de Bahía Blanca Club Olimpo, usually referred to as Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club was founded October 15th, 1910. Its primary activity is soccer. The club is recognized i ...

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 * Primera División: 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 The Copa Adrián C. Escobar was an official List of Argentine football national cups, Argentine football cup competition contested by clubs of Argentina, organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) from 1939 to 1949. The trophy of the to ...

: 1941 *

Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao (English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA- AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions of ...

: 1941, 1945, 1947

International

;Argentina * Campeonato Sudamericano:

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

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 Yijian ...

Manager

;Rosario Central * Primera División: Nacional 1971 ;River Plate * Primera División: 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