Américo Miguel Tesoriere, sometimes nicknamed ''Mérico'' (

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 ...

, March 18, 1899 – December 30, 1977), 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 ...

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who spent most of his career in

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

, where he became an early idol and remaining as a legend of the club.Américo Tesoriere, el hombre que fue barrio
/ref> Tesoriere is also regarded as one of the best Argentine goalkeepers ever.Américo de América
on Revista ''Un Caño'' (archived, 21 Nov 2016) Tesoriere was the third goalkeeper in the history of the Argentina national team after

José Buruca Laforia José María Buruca, also known as José Buruca Laforia ( Atalaya, Spain, 16 May 1884 - Buenos Aires, Argentina, 6 Jun 1957) was an Argentine association football goalkeeper. Nicknamed ''El Vasco'', Buruca Laforia is considered the first great g ...

and Carlos Wilson, winning two

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 ...

with the squad and keeping his goal unbeaten in both competitions. At club level, Tesoriere won 13 titles with Boca Juniors, being one of the most winning players in the history of the club behind

Sebastián Battaglia Sebastián Alejandro Battaglia (born 8 November 1980) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a midfielder and manager. He spent most of his career with Argentine club Boca Juniors, but also had a brief spell with Spanish side Villar ...

Biography

Born in Barracas as Américo Miguel Tesoriero in 1899, he "established" a club with his boyhood friends, "Coronel Brandsen", named after the street where they used to play football, just in front of a butcher shop. They paid the butcher 10 cents a month to play there. When he was ten, Tesoriere went to a Boca Juniors match with his friends, becoming a strong club supporter since then. In those times Boca Juniors was not the mass phenomenon that the club would become in successive years so most of the supporters knew each other. Tesoriere started his career as goalkeeper in Club Aurora of

La Boca La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the Matanza River) is a neighborhood (''barrio'') of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It retains a strong Italian flavour, many of its early settlers having originated in the city of Genoa. Geography L ...

. In 1916 a representative of

, Antonio Buccelli, offered Tesoriere to play for the club in the second division. Bucceli discovered Tesoriere while he was playing on a vacant land next to BA&ER rail tracks, just on Brandsen on Del Crucero streets, where the Boca Juniors stadium would start to be built in 1922. After a meeting between Tesoriere and the executives of the club, some of them did not show interest in the goalkeeper (they considered he was not physically fit to play football) but Buccelli convinced them and Tesoriere joined Boca Juniors. Tesoriere bought his first

football boot Football boots, called cleats or soccer shoes in North America, are an item of footwear worn when playing association football. Those designed for grass pitches have studs on the outsole to aid grip. From simple and humble beginnings football ...

s to former

Alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

's legend

Jorge Brown Jorge Gibson Brown (3 April 1880 – 3 January 1936) was an Argentine footballer of Scottish ancestry, who was one of the most important figures in the early years of the sport in that country.1917 Primera División championship on July 22, when Boca Juniors played v Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA). Tesoriere replaced Nicolás Fabbiani, who had been seriously injured in the previous match v Tigre. Tesoriere played for Boca Juniors until 1927, except for the 1921 season when he played for Sportivo del Norte. Tesoriere muttis lagarto

Nicknamed ''La Gloria'',Américo Tesoriere, el poeta del arco de Boca
on Diario Popular, 5 Jan 2017 Tesoriere soon gained the attention of media and fans for his skills and good performances, being called up for the Argentina national team in 1920. With Argentina he played the

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and

(then called "Campeonato Sudamericano"), keeping his goal unbeaten in both occasions. At the end of the Argentina v. Uruguay match for the 1924 South American Championship, Tesoriere was carried aloft by the Uruguayan supporters as a recognition for his outstanding performance during the game.EL DÍA QUE AMÉRICO TESORIERE FUE LLEVADO EN ANDAS POR LOS HINCHAS URUGUAYOS
on DeporTV, 2 Nov 2015 The crowd said to President of Uruguay, José Serrato (who had attended the match): "Sir, this man did not allow us to defeat the Argentine team".Idolos de la Selección: Américo Tesoriere
on El Gráfico, 30 Apr 2014 Tesoriere was also the first footballer to appear on the cover of '' El Gráfico'', the most famous sports magazine of Argentina, in July 1922. Tesoriere octavio diaz

He was part of the Boca Juniors team that toured on Europe in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

, receiving only 16 goals in 19 matches played. With Boca Juniors, Tesoriere played 184 matches, winning a total of 14 titles, including five Primera División championships and seven National cups and two international cups. With the Argentina national team, he won two

s in 32 matches played. On 31 December 1927, Tesoriere played his last official match for Boca Juniors, when the squad beat

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

2–1 at

Estadio Gasómetro The San Lorenzo de Almagro Stadium (popularly known as Estadio Gasómetro)1927 Primera División championship. Nevertheless, Tesoriere played nine friendly pre-season matches in 1928, the last on August 4. Manuel Merello (who had debuted in the club in 1924) replaced Tesoriere since the

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

season. After leaving the club, Tesoriere returned to Boca Juniors ten years later in an administrative role and stayed with the club as groundsman until 1953. On May 25, 1940, Tesoriere raised the

Argentine flag The national flag of the Argentine Republic is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by Manuel Belgran ...

at the inauguration of ''

La Bombonera The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Widely known as La Bombonera (; en, The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands rou ...

''. When he was answered about his retirement at a short age, Tesoriere stated: "I decided to retire because of the internal problems in Boca Juniors. I was part of the elections, but always in the loser side, of course".''Siete Días'' magazine n° 389, 18 November 1974 Tesoriere died on December 30, 1977, at the age of 78.Américo Tesoriere, "La Gloria"
on AFA website The famous song "We have a goalkeeper who is a marvel himself; He stops penalty shots sitting on a chair" was composed by the Boca Juniors supporters in honor of Tesoriere.

Titles

Club

;

* Primera División (5):

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

* Copa Competencia Jockey Club (3):

Copa Ibarguren The Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, also called Campeonato Argentino
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the RSSSF or simply Copa Ibarguren was an offic ...

(3):

Copa Estímulo The Copa Estímulo was an official Argentine football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association and first held in 1920. The tournament was contested twice between 1920 and 1926.1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

Tie Cup The Tie Cup Competition (also known as Copa de Competencia Chevallier Boutell) is a defunct international football tournament played between representatives of the Argentina and Uruguay Associations. It was one of the earliest international footbal ...

(1):

Copa de Honor Cousenier The Copa de Honor Cusenier was an international football club competition which was played 13 times between representatives of the Argentina and Uruguay associations between 1905 and 1920. History The trophy was donated by "E. Cusenier Fils Auné ...

(1):

National team

;

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(2):

Writing

Tesoriere was very fond of poetry, having written several poems that were compiled by his son Eduardo and edited on the book ''Américo, el poeta del arco'', published in 2017. The book also contained Tesoriere's memories, written as chronicles for magazines and newspapers in the 1960s. The poems depicted some of the most characteristics landscapes of

, describing its carnivals, the first matches of Boca Juniors, the bars, and streets of the neighborhood. The moon was one of the favorite topics to write his poems. The book also mentioned people from La Boca (including notable painter

Benito Quinquela Martín Benito Quinquela Martín (March 1, 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters. His paintings of port scenes show the activit ...

) and John Diggs (''Jonedick''), player of River Plate during the 1910s, when the club was still located in La Boca. Diggs was the field keeper of the club and allowed children to play there.

In his own words

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tesoriere, Americo 1899 births 1977 deaths Argentine people of Italian descent Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Boca Juniors footballers Argentine Primera División players Association football goalkeepers Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery