Walter Gómez Pardal (12 December 1927 – 4 March 2004) 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 as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the 1940s and 1950s. Throughout his career, he played for

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

and

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez, Buenos Aires, Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city ...

. Gomez was a member of the outstanding Nacional side of the late 1940s, and he scored more than 100 goals for the club before moving to River Plate. That meant the end of his international career with

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 ...

as only players within the domestic league could be picked for the Celestes. Gomez had made his international debut in 1945, at the age of just 18, but despite his talent he played only four times for the national team and never scored in international football. At River he went on to win three league titles, and formed a new

La Máquina ''La Máquina'' (Spanish for "the Machine") is a nickname given to the River Plate football team from 1941 to 1947, commonly referred by the media as the best Argentine team of its era and one of the best teams worldwide.

side following the great team of the early 1940s. Gomez played as a "media-punta" (second striker) at River alongside

Ángel Labruna Ángel Amadeo Labruna (28 September 1918 – 19 September 1983) was an Argentine footballer and coach who played as a forward. With 323 goals scored in official matches, which include 294 league goals, Labruna is the 2nd all-time top scorer of ...

and

Félix Loustau Félix Loustau () (25 December 1922 – 5 January 2003) was an Argentine footballer who was a key player on the River Plate squad known as La Máquina. La Maquina is considered to be one of the greatest team ever assembled in the history of Sout ...

. At the end of his career at River he played with

Omar Sívori Enrique Omar Sívori (, ; 2 October 1935 – 17 February 2005) was an Italian-Argentine football player and manager who played as a forward. At club level, he is known for his successful time with Italian side Juventus during the late 1950s and ...

. Such was the widespread admiration of the Uruguayan inside forward that in those times the saying "La gente ya no come para ver a Walter Gómez" became a popular theme in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Walter 1927 births 2004 deaths Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguay men's international footballers Uruguayan Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Serie A players Serie B players Categoría Primera A players Club Nacional de Football players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Palermo FC players Cúcuta Deportivo footballers Once Caldas footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Venezuela Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Men's association football inside forwards