Héctor Casimiro Yazalde (29 May 1946 – 18 June 1997) was an Argentine professional

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 ...

who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''Chirola'', Yazalde scored 46 goals in one single season with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, being awarded that season's

European Golden Shoe The European Golden Shoe, also known as European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture of a football boot. ...

Club career

Born 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 ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, Yazalde's beginnings in football were fortuitous: he was visiting a friend who played with

Club Atlético Piraña Club Atlético Piraña is a sports club from Parque Patricios, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The institution was founded on September 4, 1942 and is mostly known for its football team, which played in the Primera D Metropolitana until the club disaffi ...

, an amateur club in the Argentine capital. He asked to join the training session, immediately causing a stirring impression and signing the very day; from there, he moved to

Club Atlético Independiente Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentina, Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda in Greater Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, wh ...

, going on to help the team win two Primera División championships. Yazalde signed with

ahead of the 1971–72 season, helping the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

side to the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

by scoring 46 goals in just 29 games, both a

domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes c ...

and European record. The following campaign, with the ''Lions'' finishing third, he netted 30 times, league's best and Europe's second. As a prize for the European Golden Shoe, Yazalde received a

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

car which he sold, then sharing the money with his teammates. After his Portuguese spell, he successively represented

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

and

Club Atlético Huracán Club Atlético Huracán () is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is notable for its football team, that currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football ...

, retiring in 1981 and becoming a player's agent in his country.

International career

Yazalde earned ten

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

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 ...

, appearing at the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

where he scored twice in three matches (both against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, 4–1 win).

Personal life

Yazalde married Portuguese model/actress Maria do Carmo de Deus on 16 July 1973. In addition to modeling, Carmen – as he referred to her in Spanish, which stuck – had a brief career in acting in European cult films under the name ''Britt Nichols'', but rarely spoke about this stage of her life since marrying the player. Carmen came with him to Argentina to settle down, but the couple separated 14 years later though they never got legally divorced. They had one son, Gonçalo.

Death

Yazalde died in Buenos Aires on 18 June 1997, from

hemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...

and

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

. He was aged 51.

Honours

Independiente *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

: 1967–68, 1969–70 Sporting CP *

: 1973–74 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 1972–73, 1973–74 Marseille *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 1975–76 Individual * Argentine Footballer of the Year: 1970 * Primeira Liga top scorer: 1973–74, 1974–75 *

European Golden Boot The European Golden Shoe, also known as European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture of a football boot. ...

: 1974

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yazalde, Hector 1946 births 1997 deaths Sportspeople from Avellaneda Argentine footballers Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Independiente footballers Newell's Old Boys footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Primeira Liga players Sporting CP footballers Ligue 1 players Olympique de Marseille players Argentina international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine football managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery