Juan José Rithner (1889 – c.1950) was an Argentine

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

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 ...

for

Club Atlético Porteño Club Atlético Porteño is an Argentine rugby union club sited in San Vicente, Buenos Aires. The club was founded on July 28, 1895 by Irish immigrants as a football team, which participated in tournaments organized by the Argentine Football As ...

and the Argentina national team. Rithner had a long tenure on Porteño, with 200 matches played for the club during his 13 years there. He was also one of the first scoring goalkeepers in Argentine football, having scored a total of 11 during his career. With Porteño, Rithner won four titles, two Primera División championships and two national cups.

Career

Rithner was born in

Baradero Baradero is the oldest town of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, being founded in 1615. It is the administrative centre for Baradero Partido. Geography It is located on the bank of the Baradero River which is a tributary of the Paraná River ...

, a town in

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 ...

, son of a family of Irish roots. His career as a footballer in Primera División started in C.A. Porteño. He played the championship playoff game against

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 ...

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, which Porteño lost 2–1. And in the following year he was champion with Porteño. His great performances in Porteño, earned him a place in the Argentina national team. On May 27, 1914, Rithner scored two goals against

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 ...

, the match was played in

Córdoba, Argentina Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province a ...

. He played in the first America's Cup, held in 1916. After his retirement from football, in 1919 Rithner served as

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

in a

Copa Premier Honor Argentino The Copa Premier Honor Argentino or the Copa Honor Argentino was an international football friendly competition contested by Argentina and Uruguay national teams. All games were played in Buenos Aires. It was held in ten occasions between 1908 an ...

match held in Gimnasia y Esgrima Stadium. Argentina thrashed

6–1, before a huge attendance of 18,000.El jugador que se pasó de bando
by Maximiliano Santini, 28 Sep 2017

Titles

;

Porteño In Spanish, the term (feminine: ''Porteña'') means "port city person". It is used to refer to residents of port cities such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and Tamp ...

* Primera División (2):

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

Copa de Competencia Jockey Club The Copa de Competencia Jockey Club was an official Argentine football cup competition contested between 1907 and 1933. The winner of this Cup was allowed to play the Tie Cup against the Uruguayan champion of Copa de Competencia. History The Cop ...

(2): 1915, 1918

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rithner, Juan Jose Argentine footballers Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentina men's international footballers Argentine people of Irish descent Men's association football goalkeepers Río de la Plata