Rubén Navarro (30 March 1933 – 14 July 2003) was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

association football player. He is mainly remembered for winning two consecutive

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

titles with Independiente (1964, 1965).

Club career

Born in

La Banda La Banda is a city in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It has about 95,000 inhabitants as per the , making it the second largest in the province. It is the head town of the Banda Department. La Banda is located only 8 km away ...

in the

Santiago del Estero Province Santiago del Estero (), also known simply as Santiago, is a province in the north of Argentina. Neighboring provinces, clockwise from the north, are Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán. History The indigenous inhabitant ...

in northern Argentina, Navarro joined the Buenos Aires side Independiente in 1952 and had his professional debut for the club in 1954. He first played as a forward but made a name for himself playing as defender. With Independiente Navarro won the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and 1963 Argentine Primera División. He played for the club in their first appearance in the

in 1961 when they were knocked out in the first round by Brazilian side

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

. However, their later appearances in the competition proved to be much more successful as Independiente with Navarro went on to win the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

and 1965 Copa Libertadores titles, beating Uruguay's

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

and

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

in the finals. Navarro played at Independiente until 1966 and appeared in a total of 209 games for the Buenos Aires club. In 1967, he left for 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 ...

to join the

Philadelphia Spartans The Philadelphia Spartans were a soccer team that was a charter member of the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania they played their home games at Temple Stadium in North P ...

of the NPSL, one of two start-up leagues in America. The Spartans finished the year tied for the best record in the Eastern Division, but missed the chance to play in the finals on goals. That season he was voted a first team all-star and MVP of the league by ''

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''. In December 1967 the NPSL and the

USA 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 territori ...

merged to form one league, the NASL. The Philadelphia franchise folded before the start of the 1968 season and several of their top players, including Navarro, were picked up by the

Cleveland Stokers The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium. History United Soccer Association ...

. Cleveland won the Lakes Division of the Eastern Conference, but fell to eventual champion

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in the league semi-finals. In 1968, he was again named a first team all-star and retired after the season ended.http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1968.html#NASL

International career

Navarro was capped 32 times for

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 ...

between 1960 and 1963. He was member of the country's

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place bet ...

squad and appeared in two matches at the tournament, captaining the side against England and Bulgaria. The following year he also appeared for Argentina in the

1963 South American Championship The 1963 South American Championship was held in Bolivia between 10 and 31 March 1963. It was won by Bolivia with Paraguay second. This is, so far, Bolivia's only Copa America title. Squads For a complete list of participating squads see: ''1 ...

in which Argentina came in third behind hosts Bolivia and Paraguay. Navarro played in all six matches in the tournament.

Honors

Club

;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 ...

(2):

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

(2):

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

;Philadelphia Spartans * Eastern Division (runner-up):

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

;Cleveland Stokers * Lakes Division (1):

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

* Eastern Conference (runner-up):

International

;Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifier:

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

(3rd place):

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

Individual

*NPSL Most Valuable Player (1):

*NPSL First Team All-Star (1):

*NASL First Team All-Star (1):

*FIFA World Cup captain:

''(2 matches)''

References

External links

*
Rubén Marino Navarro
at BDFA.com.ar

NASL stats {{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro, Ruben 1933 births 2003 deaths Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Independiente footballers Copa Libertadores-winning players Philadelphia Spartans players Cleveland Stokers players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Men's association football defenders People from La Banda Sportspeople from Santiago del Estero Province Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States