Arsenio Pastor Erico Martínez (30 March 1915 – 23 July 1977) was a

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 ...

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 ...

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He is the all-time highest goalscorer in the Argentine first division, with 295 goals according to Argentine Football Association. Previously it had been affirmed that Erico's record was 293 goals, sharing the record with

Angel Labruna In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

All the goals in Erico's career in Primera División were scored playing for Independiente. Erico is also considered the best Paraguayan footballer of all time and for some is the best player in history, including

Alfredo Di Stefano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...

. A striker noted for his technique, finishing and aerial ability, Erico was regarded one of the finest players of the 1930s and one of greatest players to have played in the Argentinean league.

Career

As a player

Erico, born in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

, began his career in

Club Nacional Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico. Inte ...

of Paraguay and made his debut in the club's first-team squad at the age of 15. During the early 1930s, Erico was part of the Paraguayan Red Cross football team that was on tour in Argentina in order to gather funds for the Chaco War. Because of his good performances during the friendly matches in the mentioned tour, Club Atlético Independiente of Argentina signed him. He made his debut for Independiente on 5 May 1936 and began to demonstrate why he had acquired the nickname 'red jumper'. Before the 1938 FIFA World Cup Erico was offered an extravagant amount of money to play for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...

but he rejected it, gaining the praise in the general Argentine public for remaining loyal to his country of origin. Soon after this, however, Erico caught an infection which led to a long period out on the sidelines. Then, in 1937, he broke his leg. After he recovered, however, he reminded everyone of his talent by taking Independiente to the league title in 1938 and 1939. Later, he joined Huracán where he only played 7 games in 1947 before retiring.

After retirement

After retiring from football, Erico decided to live in Argentina, although he often visited his country of origin. He had a brief career as a coach, managing the club where he started his career as a footballer,

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

and also had a brief stint in Club Sol de América where he led the team to a second-place finish in the 1957 Paraguayan Primera División. In 1960, he got married with Aurelia Blanco. They had no children. In 1970 Erico was honored in Asunción, Paraguay during a friendly match between

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

national sides in the Estadio Defensores del Chaco that was at its full capacity. In 1977 his left leg had to be cut off, and he finally died of a heart attack on 23 July 1977. While the match between River and Independiente (played the day following his death at Tomas Adolfo Duco Palace) was being played, the crowd acclaimed Erico singing "Se siente, se siente, Erico está presente (We feel it, we feel it, Erico is with us)". Erico was buried in the Cemetery of Morón in

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

. Independiente paid the costs of burial expenses and funeral.

Legacy

Erico was an inspiration to Argentine player Alfredo Di Stéfano, who considered him one of the greatest players ever. Other figures like

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 ...

ian striker

Leônidas da Silva Leônidas da Silva (; 6 September 1913 – 24 January 2004) was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. He is regarded as one of the most important players of the first half of the 20th century. Leônidas played for Braz ...

and Paraguayan

Delfín Benítez Cáceres Delfín Benítez Cáceres (24 September 1910 – 8 January 2004) was a Paraguayan football striker. Benítez started his career in Libertad of his native country. As one of the key players of the Paraguay national football team in the early ...

also consider Erico as one of the best players in history. Argentine striker Francisco Varallo remembers Erico as a "

phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

" that would excel in scoring headers due to his high jumps. Club Nacional stadium is named after him, and sections of the

Defensores del Chaco Estadio Defensores del Chaco is a multi-purpose stadium in Asunción, Paraguay. It is currently used mostly for association football, football matches. The stadium once had a 50,000+ capacity, however over the years the stadium has undergone rem ...

stadium in Paraguay and the Libertadores de América stadium in

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, and is connected ...

also carry Arsenio Erico's name. He died on 23 July 1977.

Career statistics

"Erico, el paraguayo de oro"
Arsenio Erico

Titles

Club

; Independiente *

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 ...

(2):

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

* Copa Dr. Ibarguren (1):

Copa Adrián Escobar Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

(1): 1939 *

Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao (English language, English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official Argentine Football Association, AFA-Uruguayan Football Association, AUF Association footb ...

(2):

;

* Paraguayan Primera División (1):

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erico, Arsenio 1915 births 1977 deaths Paraguayan footballers Club Nacional footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Argentine Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Argentina Paraguayan expatriate footballers Paraguayan football managers Association football forwards Sportspeople from Asunción 20th-century Paraguayan people