Alberto Maximo Zozaya (13 April 1908 – 17 February 1981) was an Argentine football striker who played most of his career for Estudiantes de La Plata and represented the Argentina national team.

Playing career

Alberto "Don Padilla" Zozaya started his career in the early 1930s with Estudiantes. He was the first player to score a goal in the professional era of Argentine football, which began in 1931. Zozaya became an integral part of the Estudiantes team of the 1930s nicknamed "Los Profesores" (The Professors). In 1931 he scored 33 goals in the league to become the top scorer in the Primera División Argentina and the whole of South America. In 1937 Zozaya played in the South American Championship 1937 helping Argentina to win the title with a contribution of 5 goals.RSSSF South American Championship 1937
/ref> In 1939 Zozaya moved to

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

but he only played 2 games before moving to Bella Vista in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

but he did not settle there either and retired at the end of the 1940 season.

Titles as a player

Managerial career

After retiring as a player Zozaya went into management, he was manager of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

side Benfica from 1952 to 1953. He was also manager of Gimnasia de La Plata.

References

1908 births 1981 deaths Sportspeople from Entre Ríos Province Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers C.A. Bella Vista players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Argentine football managers Estudiantes de La Plata managers S.L. Benfica managers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Copa América-winning players {{Argentina-footy-forward-stub