Luis De La Fuente (footballer, Born 1914)
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Luis de la Fuente y Hoyos (January 17, 1914 – May 28, 1972), nicknamed "The Pirate", was a Mexican 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 ...
, playing mostly on
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 ...
position. De la Fuente is considered one of the finest
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
—and thus
North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...
—midfielders of all time, being named to the
IFFHS World Team The IFFHS World Team is a football award given annually since 2017. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). Men's winners List of winners In 2017, IFFHS started to nominate a world team ...
for
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...
in 2021.


Early life

Born in
Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
in 1914, de la Fuente was the first of four children of a father from
Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...
and a mother from Santander Province,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. Shortly after he was born, de la Fuente's parents fled Veracruz after the United States seized the port city. The family would return to Veracruz but de la Fuente's father died when he was still young. His mother sent him to live with relatives in Santander for his primary education, but at age 10 he returned to his mother who sent him to study in
Tacubaya Tacubaya is a working-class area of west-central Mexico City, in the borough of Miguel Hidalgo, consisting of the '' colonia'' Tacubaya proper and adjacent areas in other colonias, with San Miguel Chapultepec sección II, Observatorio, Daniel Ga ...
,
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
where he would first play organized football. The director of local side
C.F. Aurrerá Club de Fútbol Aurrerá was a football club from Mexico City that played in the Liga Mexicana de Futbol Amateur Association, the first organised league in that country. History Aurrerá was founded in 1919, by a group of Spanish (Basque and ...
noticed de la Fuente's emerging football talent and eventually he dropped out of school to sign with the club.


Career

At the age of 15, De la Fuente made his competitive debut for Aurrerá in a 1929 cup match against
Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club in Liga MX based in the city of Aguascalientes. It plays in the Estadio Victoria. History Foundation (Light and Power Company ...
. He played for the club in the
Primera Fuerza The Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Amateur Association, known as the Primera Fuerza, was an amateur football league founded in Mexico in 1902 with five clubs: " Orizaba A.C.", " Pachuca A.C.", " Reforma A.C.", "Mexico Cricket Club" and " British Club". ...
for two seasons, then joined
Real Club España Real Club España is a Mexican sports club located in Mexico City. The club hosted a large variety of sports and other activities such as aerobics, basque pelota, billiards, canoeing, climbing wall, football, gymnastics, jai alai, mountaineering ...
for the 1932–33 season. The following season, De la Fuente helped España win the championship. De la Fuente's performances earned him a place on the
Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...
at the
1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...
qualification rounds. The team was eliminated after losing to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the last round of qualifiers, after which it embarked on a European tour where de la Fuente started in a set of club friendlies. His performance with the national team attracted the interested of
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
club
Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...
, who ended up signing him in 1934. After the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
broke out, he returned to Mexico to play for RC España and then
Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...
. In 1939, the
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
an team
Atlético Corrales Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...
embarked on a
Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
tour and visited Mexico with a squad composed of great players and, during their exhibition games in Mexico, they decided to sign De La Fuente. He played for Atlético Corrales for over a year and then signed for Vélez Sarsfield from
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 ...
before returning to Mexico to play for Marte. Finally, in 1943, he signed with his native state team ''Tiburones Rojos'' of
CD Veracruz Club Deportivo Veracruz, commonly known as Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, was a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the city of Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz. ''El Aston'' was founded in 1943, and played in the Liga M ...
. At CD Veracruz he was part of the team that won two
Primera División de México The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and amo ...
championships in 1945 and 1949. De la Fuente was the first Mexico-born person to play in four countries (Mexico, Spain, Paraguay and Argentina). De La Fuente retired on June 13, 1954.


Honours

Individual * IFFHS CONCACAF Men's Team of All Time: 2021


Personal life and death

De la Fuente died in 1972 of a heart attack and is buried in
Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
, facing the Luis "Pirata" Fuente Stadium which carries his name.


References


External links

*
More about "The Pirate"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuente, Luis de la 1914 births 1972 deaths Footballers from Veracruz Association football midfielders Mexican footballers Mexico international footballers Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico Competitors at the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games Real Club España footballers Racing de Santander players Club América footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers La Liga players Mexican expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Paraguay Expatriate footballers in Argentina Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in football