Uruguay Gustavo Graffigna Banhoffer, also known as Uri Banhoffer or Yuri Banhoffer (14 January 1948 – 12 March 2021) was a Uruguayan
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 for clubs in Uruguay, Chile, the Netherlands and the United States. He died from
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
The worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 () severely affected Chile. The virus was confirmed to have reached Chile on 3 March 2020. Initial cases had been imported from Sou ...
and
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
.
Career
Born in
Montevideo, Uruguay
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, Graffigna moved to
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
in 1968 after playing for
Defensor Sporting
Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievemen ...
in his homeland. He helped
Unión San Felipe
Unión San Felipe is a Chilean Football club, their hometown is San Felipe in the V Región of Valparaíso. They play in the second level of the Chilean football league, the Primera B.
They were the Copa Chile champions, and played the 2010 Co ...
win the
1971 Primera División title and after a spell with Antofagasta, he moved to Mexico to play for
C.F. Pachuca
Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was on ...
.
Graffigna played two seasons in the
NASL for the
Los Angeles Aztecs
The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tour ...
and won the championship in 1974. He next moved to the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
where he joined
Eerste Divisie
The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...
club
PEC Zwolle
PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...
. Graffigna spent three seasons with PEC, and had a goal disallowed as the club lost the
1976–77 KNVB Cup
The 59th edition of the KNVB Cup started on October 10, 1976. The final was played on May 19, 1977: FC Twente beat PEC Zwolle 3–0 (after extra time) and won the cup for the first time.
Teams
* All 18 participants of the Eredivisie 1976-77, en ...
final to
FC Twente
Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...
.
In 1978 he clinched promotion to Holland's top level after winning the
Eerste Divisie
The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...
league title. He left for Chile in 1979 after his father died there and to be close to his mother.
Personal life
He naturalized
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an in 2015, keeping the
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
an nationality.
In 1968 he came to Chile to join
Unión La Calera
Unión La Calera is a Chilean football club based in La Calera and competes the Primera División de Chile.
It was founded as Club de Deportes La Calera on 26 January 1954, after the merger of three teams from the city: ''Condor'', ''Calera Come ...
where his older brother, Pedro Graffigna,
played since 1966.
He lived in
Quillota
Quillota is a city located in the Aconcagua River valley in central Chile's Valparaíso Region. It is the capital and largest city of Quillota Province, where many inhabitants live in the outlying farming areas of San Isidro, La Palma, Pocochay ...
, Chile.
References
External links
Uri Banhofferat North American Soccer League Players
at North American Soccer League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graffigna, Uruguay
1948 births
2021 deaths
Footballers from Montevideo
Association football forwards
Uruguayan footballers
El Tanque Sisley players
San Luis de Quillota footballers
Unión San Felipe footballers
Unión Española footballers
C.F. Pachuca players
Atlético Español footballers
C.D. Aviación footballers
Los Angeles Aztecs players
PEC Zwolle players
Santiago Morning footballers
Deportes Iberia footballers
Uruguayan Segunda División players
Chilean Primera División players
Primera B de Chile players
Liga MX players
Eerste Divisie players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
Uruguayan expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Chile
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile
Expatriate footballers in Mexico
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Uruguayan emigrants to Chile
Naturalized citizens of Chile
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile