Gregorio ''Goyo'' Carrizo (born 1960; Buenos Aires) is an Argentine former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and youth coach. He is best known for his close friendship and partnership with

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

at the Cebollitas youth team in the early 1970s. Carrizo who played as

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

is considered one of the greatest talents of all time who did not fullfil their potential and has been dubbed as ''el otro Maradona'' (the other Maradona) due to their football rivalry during childhood.

Biography

Carrizo started off with

street football The terms street football and street soccer (American and Canadian English) encompass a number of informal varieties of association football. These informal pick up games do not necessarily follow the requirements of a formal game of footbal ...

Villa Fiorito Villa Fiorito is a city in the Lomas de Zamora Partido of Buenos Aires Province, to the south of central Buenos Aires, Argentina. It forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban conurbation. Many Italian and Spanish descendants live there. In rece ...

, a southern suburb of

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 ...

, leading his own team called ''Tres Banderas'' with

's team his main rival. In March 1969, he joined a trial for 9 year-old boys hosted by Cebollitas and under youth coach Francis Gregorio Cornejo who was managing them since 1953. He was the only one picked out of 40 boys and soon recommended Maradona to his coach.
He was integral part of the Cebollitas squad which was owned by

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

and went undefeated for 141 matches in a row, between 1973 and 1974, winning the ''Evita tournament'' twice and he played alongside Adrian Domenech, Claudio Rodríguez and Diego Maradona. In 1978 Carrizo was promoted to the reserve team of

and he was called to the Argentinos squad for one match, but remained on the bench missing the chance to feature in the Primera División.
After suffering a torn

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

during a match for the Argentinos Juniors reserves in 1980 he underwent an operation, but he never fully recovered. He was released by Argentinos Juniors and subsequently joined third-division club San Telmo Sud Dock. Just after one season, he had a short spell

All Boys Club Atlético All Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Floresta, Buenos Aires. The institution is mostly known by its football team, which currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league s ...

, in the Buernos Aires second division alongside midfielder Rubén Galván and he later signed for

Independiente Rivadavia Club Sportivo Independiente Rivadavia (mostly known simply as Independiente Rivadavia) is a football club from Mendoza, Argentina. The team currently plays in Primera B Nacional, the second major league in Argentine Football league system. In ...

, his last club. His severe knee pain forced him to retire in his early 20s. After his retirement Carrizo has worked as a youth coach for local

clubs.
A documentary called ''el otro Maradona'' was released in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrizo, Gregorio 1960 births Living people Argentine footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Sportspeople from Buenos Aires