Francisco Olazar (10 July 1885 – 21 September 1958) was an Argentine

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 and coach. He played as a

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 ...

. At club level, Olazar spent his entire career playing for Racing Club, where he won eight Primera División league titles and eight National cups. He also played for and coached the Argentina national team, being the team coach at the 1930 FIFA World Cup.

Career

Olazar was born in

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Río de la Plata, Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the Quilmes Partido, eponymous county. With a population of 230 ...

. He first played at Club Mariano Moreno, a small institution in Avellaneda,

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 ...

. In 1908 he joined Racing Club, where he started playing at 4th. division.Ídolos: Francisco Olazar
on Racing Club website Playing as

("number 5") Olazar was part of the Racing Club team that became legendary for their playing style and success, winning seven consecutive Primera División titles from 1913 to 1919, a landmark that still is a record in Argentine football and originated the ''Academy'' nickname for Racing Club that has identified the institution since then. Racing Club is considered successor of another legendary team,

Alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

(dissolved in 1911), the most winning team of the first years of organised football in the country. Olazar was one of the Racing Club most notable players because of his technique and his strength to recover the ball. He also captained the team during all those successful years. He scored a total of 37 goals playing for Racing Club. As a key player of the Racing Club that won seven consecutive Primera División championships, Olazar was regarded as the best Argentine centre-half in those years. He was idolised by Racing Club supporters, and often compared with Uruguayan star

José Piendibene José Miguel Piendibene Ferrari (5 June 1890 – 12 November 1969) was a Uruguayan footballer. His position on the field was centre forward, being regarded by many as one of the best Uruguayan football players of all time. Piendibene was praised ...

, with whom he shared mutual respect.FRANCISCO OLAZAR, EL CENTRE HALF ARGENTINO QUE AÚN NO HA SIDO SUPERADO
by Ricardo L. Rodríguez (''Borocotó'') on ''El Gráfico'' (originally published in 1927) He played for the Argentina national team on 18 occasions including appearances at the first two

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 ...

tournaments in 1916 and 1917. After retiring as a player Olazar turned to coaching, and managed the Argentina team that won a Copa América trophy in 1929. He was also the coach of the team that took part of the first

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 ...

in 1930, where he and technical director

Juan José Tramutola Juan José Tramutola (21 October 1902 — 30 November 1968) was an Argentine football coach. He defended Argentina to bring home a gold medal from the 1929 Copa América and a silver medal from the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay. Along with ma ...

managed the ''albicelestes'' to second-place behind hosts

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 ...

.95 historias de la selección en los mundiales
''El Gráfico'', 30 May 2014

Honours

Player

Racing Club * Primera División: 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1921 * Copa de Honor: 1912, 1913, 1915, 1917 *

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

: 1913, 1916, 1917, 1918

Coach

Argentina *

: 1929 * 1930 FIFA World Cup: runner-up

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olazar, Francisco 1885 births 1958 deaths Footballers from Quilmes Men's association football midfielders Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine Primera División players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Argentine football managers 1930 FIFA World Cup managers