Ernesto Lazzatti (25 September 1915 - 30 December 1988) was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

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 ...

midfielder and sports journalist. As a player, he won 10 titles with

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 ...

, the only Argentine team where he played. Lazzatti's position on the field was

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, being notable for his skills with the ball and elegant style of playing. In 503 official matches played, Lazzatti was never sent off. Nicknamed ''El Pibe de Oro (The Golden Kid)'', Lazzatti is considered one of Boca Juniors's greatest idols, having raised from the youth divisions with a long career in the club. Lazzatti also won a title as manager in 1954.Ernesto Lazzatti, el Pibe de Oro
by Matías Rodríguez on ''El Gráfico'', 23 May 2016

Biography

Lazzatti was born in

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 3 ...

but he grew up in neighbor city Ingeniero White, where he played in local club Puerto Comercial as right inside forward. Santos Ursino was the central midfielder and captain of that team and then became his adviser.Ernesto Lazzatti, un ídolo de Boca
''Clarín'', 31 Dec 1998 After a representative of

(who was also Lazzatti's uncle) wrote a letter to the club recommending Ernesto,Ernesto Lazzatti
on Informe Xeneize the club decided to cost the travel to bring Lazzatti to

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 ...

by train. With 18 years old, the young promise arrived to the club and played three matches (a friendly one and two in the reserve team) before debuting in the senior squad in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

when Boca beat

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Greater Buenos Aires. ...

by 3–2 on April 8. In the year of his debut, Boca Juniors (managed by

Mario Fortunato Mario Francisco Fortunato (1904 – 10 January 1970) was an Argentine football player and manager. Fortunato won three championships as a player with Boca Juniors and went on to lead the club to four Primera División and twp domestic cups as man ...

) was champion, with 101 goals scored in 39 games.Argentina 1934
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on RSSSF Lazzatti was the central midfielder alongside Enrique Vernieres and

Pedro Arico Suárez Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Galician language, Galician name for ''Peter (given name), Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic fo ...

. In

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

Boca won another championship. Lazzatti played only four matches for the Argentina national team between 1936 and 1937. He was part of the squad that won the

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

when Argentina beat

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 ...

by 2–0 in the final at

Estadio Gasómetro The San Lorenzo de Almagro Stadium (popularly known as Estadio Gasómetro)Antonio Sastre Antonio Sastre (27 April 1911 – 23 November 1987) was an Argentine footballer who played most of his career for Club Atlético Independiente and São Paulo of Brazil. He is one of the 24 players inducted into the Argentine Football Associatio ...

and Celestino Martínez. In Boca Juniors, Lazzatti formed a memorable midfield line with Carlos Sosa and

Natalio Pescia Natalio Agustín Pescia (January 1, 1922 – November 11, 1989) was an Argentine football midfielder, born in Dock Sud district of Avellaneda Partido. He played his entire club career for Boca Juniors in Argentina. Pescia played a total of 364 g ...

in the squad that won the

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

championships. That team overshadowed River Plate ''

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.

'', being regarded as one of the best Boca Juniors teams ever. Lazzatti played a total of 14 seasons in Boca Juniors, totalizing 503 matches and 7 goals scored. He was never sent off in his whole career. When he became a free agent at the age of 32, Lazzatti refused to play for other team in Argentina, so Uruguayan player and former teammate

Severino Varela Severino Varela Puente (14 September 1913 – 29 July 1995) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as a striker. With 15 goals, he is Uruguay's all-time top scorer at the Copa América. Career Varela started his playing career in 1932 with ...

offered him to play at

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 ...

. Lazzatti accepted and joined the club, playing there until his retirement in 1948 with 33 years old. His performances were praised by Uruguayan media, remarking that "his quality is as expected". After his tenure on Uruguay, Lazzatti returned to Argentina becoming manager of Boca Juniors in 1950. The team was runner-up to

Racing Club Racing Club may refer to: Football * Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast * K.R.C. Genk, Belgium * Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon * Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon * Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina * Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti * Racing Club Port ...

but he resigned after a conflict with an executive of the club. Far from football environment, Lazzatti opened a

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

Temperley Temperley is a district in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the south of Lomas de Zamora Partido. History In 1854 the industrial and textile merchant George Temperley (born in 1823 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England) bought from the M ...

, working there until Boca Juniors called him to take over the team in

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. With Lazzatti as manager, Boca Juniors won a title after a decade without league championships. With players such as

Julio Musimessi Julio Elías Musimessi (9 July 1924 in Resistencia, Chaco – 4 September 1996 in Morón) was an Argentine football goalkeeper who played for Newell's Old Boys, Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. Musimessi started his playing ...

Eliseo Mouriño Eliseo Víctor Mouriño Oyarbide (3 June 1927 – 3 April 1961) was an Argentine footballer. He began his career at Club Atlético Banfield before moving to join Boca Juniors with whom he won an Argentine league title in 1954. He played as a hol ...

, Pescia,

José Borello José Borello (24 November 1929 – 14 October 2013) was an Argentine footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in Argentina and Chile. He also represented the Argentina national team in 1954 and 1955. Honours * Argentine Prime ...

, Boca set a record of attendance, with an average of 30,000 spectators per match, selling a total of 900,000 tickets during the tournament, which remains as the highest record in Primera División.Argentina Primera División 1954
by José Carluccio Despite that success, he never returned to management, pursuing a career in sport journalism, working in '' El Gráfico'' when the magazine was directed by

Dante Panzeri Dante Panzeri (November 5, 1921 in Las Varillas, Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba – April 14, 1978 in Buenos Aires) was a Sports journalism, sports journalist and columnist who was notable for the influence of his opinions and analysis abou ...

. When Panzeri left in 1962, Lazzatti followed him. Nevertheless, Lazzatti continued his career as journalist writing for newspaper ''La Prensa'' and in the TV show ''Deporte con Opinión'' in Canal 7.

Titles

Player

;

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 ...

(5):

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

Copa Ibarguren The Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, also called Campeonato Argentino
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the RSSSF or simply Copa Ibarguren was an offic ...

(2):

Copa de Competencia Británica The Copa de Competencia Británica George VI was an official Argentine football cup competition, played from 1944 to 1948. It was contested by teams participating in Primera División. The format was a single-elimination tournament and the first ...

(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 ...

Copa Escobar-Gerona The Copa de Confraternidad Rioplatense Escobar-Gerona was an official football competition organized by both bodies, the Argentine and Uruguayan football association, being first held in 1941. The Cup was played between the Primera División runne ...

(2):

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

;

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 ...

(1):

Manager

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Quotes

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazzati, Ernesto 1915 births 1988 deaths Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine footballers Argentina men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Boca Juniors footballers Danubio F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Argentine football managers Boca Juniors managers