Vicente de la Mata (born 2 July 1944) is 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 ...

former

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 ...

midfielder. He played most of his club career for Independiente and played for the Argentina national team between 1965 and 1966.

Playing career

Born in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

, De la Mata emerged from the youth team of

Club Atlético Independiente Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentina, Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda in Greater Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, wh ...

. He won three

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 ...

titles in nine seasons with Independiente. He also helped Independiente win the

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 ...

twice. In 1970, De la Mata moved abroad to play for

Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club in Liga MX based in the city of Aguascalientes. It plays in the Estadio Victoria. History Foundation (Light and Power Company ...

in the

Primera División de México The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and amo ...

. He played one season with Necaxa, and then joined

Deportivo Veracruz Club Deportivo Veracruz, commonly known as Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, was a Mexican professional football club based in the city of Veracruz. ''El Aston'' was founded in 1943, and played in the Liga MX of Mexico. Their nickname, "Tiburones Ro ...

for five seasons. At the end of his career, he passed through Chile and then played one season in the

Primera B Metropolitana Primera B Metropolitana is one of two professional leagues that form the third level of the Argentine football league system. The division is made up of 17 clubs mainly from the city of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, Greater Buenos Aires. ...

with

Argentino de Quilmes Club Atlético Argentino de Quilmes, simply known as Argentino de Quilmes, is an Argentina, Argentine association football, football club from Quilmes, Buenos Aires. The team currently plays in Primera B Metropolitana, Primera B, the third divis ...

. De la Mata made six appearances 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 ...

, including one

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

qualifier.

Personal

De la Mata's father, Vicente, was also an Argentine international footballer.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mata, Vicente de la 1944 births Living people Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Necaxa footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers O'Higgins F.C. footballers Chilean Primera División players Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe