Ricardo Roberto Infante (21 June 1924 – 14 December 2008) was an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager who played as a striker. He was the second-highest-scoring player in the history of

Estudiantes de La Plata Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...

and the sixth-highest-scoring player in the professional era of the

Primera División Argentina Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

Career

Infante made his professional debut in 1942 for Estudiantes, he scored his first goal for the club on 1 August 1943 in a 2–2 draw with Chacarita Juniors. Infante went on to score 180 goals for the club in 328 games. One of Infante's greatest moments came on 19 September 1948 in a game against Rosario Central, with Estudiantes already winning 2–0 Infante scored a goal with a right-footed

rabona In association football, the rabona is the technique of kicking the football where the kicking leg is crossed behind the back of the standing leg. There are several reasons why a player might opt to strike the ball this way: for example, a right ...

from 35 metres out. Infante left the club in 1953 after their relegation from the Primera División, he joined

Club Atlético Huracán Club Atlético Huracán () is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is notable for its football team, that currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football ...

where he played until 1956. He then returned to Estudiantes for a second spell with the club. In 1958 Infante was part of the Argentina squad that played in the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

. In 1960 Estudiantes refused to renew his contract after he suffered a knee injury, prompting him to join fierce local rivals Gimnasia de La Plata. He retired later that year and went on to work as a youth coach in

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...

. Infante currently occupies sixth place on the list of the Primera División Argentina all-time topscorers with 217 goals in 439 games.

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Obituary
in El Patagonico 1924 births 2008 deaths Footballers from La Plata Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players Association football forwards Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Argentine football managers Estudiantes de La Plata managers Argentine Primera División players {{Argentina-footy-forward-stub