Luis Oruezábal López (13 May 1952 – 31 December 2014) 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 a

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 ...

Football career

Born in

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 ...

to Spanish parents that emigrated from

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

in the 1940s, Oruezábal played for

Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield () is an Argentine sports club based in Liniers, Buenos Aires. Its football team plays in Primera División, the highest level of the Argentine league system. Founded in 1910, the club has spent most of its histo ...

in his country, returning to the land of his ancestors in early 1974 after signing for

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

and also representing

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

neighbours

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF, holding home matches at ''Nuevo Estadio de La Victoria'', with a capacit ...

, retiring in 1980 at only 28 due to a serious injury. Oruezábal made his debut in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

on 28 April 1974, playing 60 minutes in a 0–2 away loss against

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 ...

Post-retirement / Death

After retiring settled in

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, going on to manage a restaurant alongside fellow footballer

Ladislao Mazurkiewicz Ladislao Mazurkiewicz Iglesias (; 14 February 1945 – 2 January 2013) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Mazurkiewicz helped the Uruguay national team qualify for the semifinals of the 1970 World Cup, where the ''ch ...

named Chikito. On 31 December 2014, emergency crews were called to his residence where four people, including himself, were found unconscious. Three were resuscitated and taken to hospital, but he eventually died at the age of 62. The house contained

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

coming from a wood-burning fireplace, installed in the basement of the house with improper ventilation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oruezabal, Luis 1952 births 2014 deaths Argentine people of Basque descent Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Granada CF footballers Real Jaén footballers Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning Footballers at the 1971 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games