Ergilio Pedro Hato (7 November 1926 – 18 December 2013), also known as Pantera Negra (Black Panther), was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

from

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

in the former

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

. He was well known in the Caribbean and his reputation achieved beyond the boundaries of the region. He received offers to large teams including

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

Rotterdam and

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club ...

. However, he turned down the offers because he chose not to play professionally.

History

His mother's last name was Hatot, but the Civil Registry couldn't place the name, so they decided to spell Ergilio's last name “Hato”. Hato was always an avid soccer player. Back in the day, school yards were set up as soccer fields and monks encouraged playing before school, during breaks, and after school. Hato (19 in 1945) would have been drafted for military service had the Curaçao Soccer Federation not hosted a large international competition with teams from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1945. Curaçao's “Dream Team” delivered a clean sweep.

came in second. A huge disappointment for the Dutch, and a testament to Curaçao's innate talent despite its small size and limited resources. Hato became known as the best goalkeeper in Latin America and the Caribbean. He took the Netherlands Antilles team to the Olympics in 1952 (they lost against Turkey) and led Curaçao's team to a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in 1955. Hato's international notoriety awarded him several lucrative offers to play professional soccer internationally, rejecting offers from teams from South America and Europe including

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

and

. He pursued a career at the

ALM Antillean Airlines ALM Antillean Airlines ( nl, Antilliaanse Luchtvaart Maatschappij) was the main airline of the Netherlands Antilles between its foundation in 1964 and its shut-down in 2001, operating out of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. History ALM Antillean ...

, raised a family, and played in his local club, CRKSV Jong Holland. He lived up to his many nicknames on the field: Pantera Negra (Black Panter), Vliegende Vogel (Flying Bird) and Man van Elastiek (Elastic Man).

Footnotes

The Dutch publishers SWP have released a book about Mister Hato and his life. More to be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20070929134838/http://www.sportgericht.nl/489.html this publishing is to be considered the only publication in book form about Hato, in Dutch and Antilian language.

Honours

* The

Ergilio Hato Stadium Stadion Ergilio Hato ( nl, Ergilio Hatostadion, also in Papiamento: ''Sentro Deportivo Korsou SDK'') is a multi-purpose stadium in Willemstad, Curaçao. It is also known as Sentro Deportivo Korsou (SDK) and is the island's largest stadium, with a ...

Willemstad, Curaçao Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William I of the Netherlands, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdo ...

was named after him. * Central American and Caribbean Games Bronze Medal (1):

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 ...

* Central American and Caribbean Games Gold Medal (1):

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

* Pan American Games Bronze Medal (1):

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 ...

* CCCF Championship Silver Medal (1):

International goals

Source: RSSSF

References

External links

http://www.soccer-db.info/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Hato, Ergilio 1926 births 2003 deaths Dutch Antillean footballers Curaçao footballers Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for the Netherlands Antilles Pan American Games bronze medalists for the Netherlands Antilles Footballers from Willemstad Men's association football goalkeepers Pan American Games medalists in football Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for the Netherlands Antilles Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for the Netherlands Antilles Competitors at the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games Footballers at the 1955 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in football Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games