Marcos Francisco Croce (6 March 1894 – 10 July 1978) 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 ...

. Croce spent most of his career at Racing Club, but he also played in

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 ...

, Estudiantes BA, and

Sportivo Palermo Club Sportivo Palermo was an Argentine football club that played in the Primera División during the 1920s. After being relegated in the 1930s and having played at lower divisions, the club was finally disbanded in the 1980s. History On May 18 ...

. Croce is regarded not only as the first great goalkeeper for Racing Club but one of the best in the history of the club.TOP 5: LOS MEJORES ARQUEROS DE RACING CLUB
by Por Federico Dotti on Balón Latino, 12 octubre, 2020

Biography

Croce debuted in Alumni with only 16 years old, then moving to C.A. Estudiantes. In 1917 he was transferred to Racing Club, where he had a long tenure also winning 10 titles with the club between 1917 and 1925.Marcos Croce
on El Primer Grande Besides, Croce also was one of the first Argentine goalkeeper to kick

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, scoring several goals.Idolos: Marcos Croce
on Racing Club Between 1920 and 1921, Croce set a record of 1,077 minutes keeping his goal unbeaten (for more than 11 consecutive matches). This record still remains for Argentine Primera División matches. Croce broke the record set by another Racing goalkeeper, Syla Arduino, who had remained 891 minutes unbeaten.
by Oscar Barnade on Clarín, 17 Feb 2015 In 1928, Croce (who was playing for

) was part of the Capital Federal Combined that played two friendly matches v Scottish side

Motherwell F.C. Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have l ...

in Buenos Aires. Those exhibition games were scheduled as part of Motherwell tour of South America. Croce's good performances gained him recognition by the press, even appearing on the cover of sports magazine '' El Gráfico''. Croce retired from football in 1931 playing for

. He died on 10 July 1978 at 84 years old. Internationally, Croce played seven matches for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...

. He was also part of Argentina's squad for the

1917 South American Championship The 1917 South American Championship of Nations was the second edition of the continental tournament now known as the Copa América. It was held in Montevideo, Uruguay from 30 September to 14 October 1917. Hosts Uruguay retained the title afte ...

, sharing duties with River Plate goalkeeper

Carlos Isola Carlos Isola (6 March 1896 – 8 February 1964) was an Argentine football goalkeeper. He played for River Plate from 1913 to 1925, and in four matches for the Argentina national football team in 1916. He was also part of Argentina's squad for th ...

Titles

* Primera División (5):

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

* Copa Honor MCBA (4):

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 ...

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

Copa Ibarguren The Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, also called Campeonato Argentino
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the RSSSF or simply Copa Ibarguren was an offic ...

(2):

Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao (English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA- AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions of ...

(2):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croce, Marcos 1894 births 1978 deaths Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Place of birth missing Men's association football goalkeepers