Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia Pereyra (; 22 December 1926 – 16 July 2015) was a
Uruguayan-Italian football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player, who played as a right
winger. He achieved lasting fame for his decisive role in the
final match of the 1950 World Cup, and at the time of his death exactly 65 years later, he was also the last surviving player from that game.
Career
Ghiggia's family was of
Ticinese descent originally from
Sonvico
Sonvico (''Sonvìch'' in the Lombard language) is a quarter of the city of Lugano and former municipality of the Lugano district in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 14 April 2013 the municipality of Sonvico merged into the municipality of ...
. He played for the national sides of both
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 ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
during his career. He also played for
Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...
and
Danubio
Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División.
Founded in 1932, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo, which has a capacity o ...
in Uruguay and
A.S. Roma
' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...
and
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
in Italy.
In 1950, Ghiggia, then playing for Uruguay, scored the winning goal against
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 ...
in the
final match of that year's
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
. Roberto Muylaert compares the black and white film of the goal with
Abraham Zapruder
Abraham Zapruder (May 15, 1905 – August 30, 1970) was a Ukrainian-born American clothing manufacturer who witnessed the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. He unexpectedly captured ...
's chance images of the
assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
: he says that the goal and the shot that killed the U.S. president have "the same dramatic pattern ... the same movement ... the same precision of an unstoppable trajectory. They even have the dust in common that was stirred up, here by a rifle and there by Ghiggia's left foot." The match is considered one of the biggest upsets in football history; Ghiggia would later remark that "only three people managed to silence the
Maracanã:
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
,
the Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
, and me."
He managed Peñarol in 1980.
On 29 December 2009, Brazil honoured Ghiggia by celebrating his decisive goal in the 1950 World Cup. Ghiggia returned to Maracanã Stadium almost 60 years later for this honour and planted his feet in a mould to take his place alongside greats including Brazil's
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
, Portugal's
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...
and Germany's
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...
on the Maracanã's walk of fame. Ghiggia was very emotional and thanked Brazil for the warm reception and recognition he received even when the game is considered the most disappointing in Brazilian football history.
Later years
Ghiggia lived out his last years at his home in
Las Piedras, Uruguay
Las Piedras is a city in the Canelones Department of Uruguay. As of the census of 2011, it is the seventh most populated city of the country.
Las Piedras is also the name of the municipality to which the city belongs.
Location
The city is locate ...
. He died on 16 July 2015 in a private hospital in Montevideo at the age of 88. Coincidentally, it was the 65th anniversary of the ''Maracanazo''. At the time of his death, Ghiggia was the oldest living World Cup champion.
Ghiggia was the last surviving member from either the Brazilian or Uruguayan squads involved in the historic 1950 World Cup game.
Honours
Club
;Peñarol
*
Primera División:
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – Luis ...
,
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
;Roma
*
Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...
:
1960–61
; Milan
*
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
:
1961–62
International
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
:
1950
Individual
*
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game.
Awards
*There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...
:
1950
*
Golden Foot
The Golden Foot award is an international football award, given to players who stand out for their athletic achievements (both as individuals and team players) and for their personality. The award is only given to active players of at least 28 yea ...
: 2006 (as a
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
)
*
A.S. Roma Hall of Fame
This is a list of List of A.S. Roma players, A.S. Roma players who have been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.
A.S. Roma's Hall of Fame has been launched in 2012 as part of the initiatives for the club's 85th anniversary.
Exceptionally for t ...
: 2014
References
External links
!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;",
World Cup-winners status
, -
, style="width:25%; text-align:center;", Preceded by
Pietro Rava
Pietro Rava (; 21 January 1916 – 5 November 2006) was an Italian football defender and coach, who played as a full-back. He won the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 1938 FIFA World Cup with the Italian national team.
Club career
Rava, born in ...
, style="width:50%; text-align:center;", Oldest Living Player
22 February 2004 – 16 July 2015
, style="width:25; text-align:center;", Succeeded by
Hans Schäfer
Hans Schäfer (19 October 1927 – 7 November 2017) was a German footballer who played as an outside left.
Career
Schäfer was born in Zollstock, Cologne. He played for 1. FC Köln between 1948 and 1965, and for the West Germany national team, e ...
*
*
*
futbol.com.uy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghiggia, Alcides
1926 births
2015 deaths
Uruguayan footballers
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Italian footballers
Italy international footballers
Uruguayan Primera División players
Serie A players
Peñarol players
Danubio F.C. players
A.S. Roma players
A.C. Milan players
Uruguay international footballers
FIFA World Cup-winning players
1950 FIFA World Cup players
Dual internationalists (football)
Uruguayan emigrants to Italy
Uruguayan people of Italian descent
Uruguayan people of Swiss-Italian descent
Citizens of Italy through descent
Uruguayan football managers
Peñarol managers
Footballers from Montevideo
Association football wingers
Burials at Cementerio del Buceo, Montevideo