Herminio Masantonio (5 August 1910 – 11 September 1956) 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, ...

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 ...

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He played most of his career for

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating hu ...

and represented

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

at international level. Masantonio is one of Huracán's legends, being the all-time top scorer of the club. Besides, he is placed 3rd. in the list of Argentine Primera División top scorers with 253 goals in 358 matches.Herminio Masantonio – Goals in Argentina League
/ref> Despite those outstanding marks, Masantonio was never top scorer of an individual season. He didn't win any official title with Huracán, either.

Biography

Born in Ensenada in 1910, Masantonio started his career in Villa Albino Sportivo,Herminio Masantonio
on Fútbol Factory (archived) that was affiliated to

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 ...

football league, where he debuted in the fourth division in 1926. Three years later, Masantonio moved to Club Platense of the same league, where he started to show his scoring skills.Herminio Masantonio: la historia del Mortero de Parque Patricios
by Carlos Aira on Radio Gráfica, 1 Jun 2021 Apart from football, Masantonio was a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

enthusiast and wished to make a career in the sport. Nevertheless, Lieutenant Tomás Ducó, member of C.A. Huracán (he would be later president of club) had been informed about Masantonio's potential for football so he convinced him to play for the club.Herminio Masantonio biography
on Soy Quemero Masantonio signed his first contract for Huracán, starting his career at the very dawn of the professional era of Argentine football in 1931. He scored two goals to

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the eponymous county. With a population of 230,810, it is located south of the ...

in his debut for Huracán, which thrashed the ''Cervecero'' 5–1. Herminio y el Charro

In his inaugural season in Primera División, Masantonio scored 23 goals. He was a skilled centreforward but sometimes he tended to abuse

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

. A journalist stated that Masantonio "was a centroforward that is

Bernabé Ferreyra Bernabé Ferreyra (12 February 1909 – 22 May 1972) was an Argentine association football forward. He was one of the first professional players in Argentine football to reach great popularity, to the point that he had a movie biography. Ferrey ...

when he is 40 metres to the goal, and Nolo Ferreira when he is three metres", making a word name with both stars' surnames and comparing their different styles of playing. By 1939, Masantonio used to switch positions on the field, sometimes ocupping defensive positions or placing as centrehalf. That caused him to be punished by Huracán executives, alleging that "they have hired him to score goals". In 1941, Masantonio was seconded by prominent players such as Norberto Méndez,

Llamil Simes Llamil Simes (died 20 February 1980) was an Argentine football striker. Simes began his career with Club Atlético Huracán in 1943. He played for the club through 1947, then he joined Racing Club de Avellaneda from 1948 to 1955, before finish ...

, and Delfín Unzué. In 1937, 1939 and 1940 were the years when Masantonio scored most goals (28 each). Herminio Masantonio

Masantonio stayed with Huracán until 1943 when he left the club as a free agent, joining

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 club

Defensor Defensor (Latin, 'one who defends') may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Defensor (comics), a character in ''Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions'' * Defensor (''Transformers''), a character in the media franchise People *Defensor, a ...

at 34 years old. He soon returned to Argentina to play for Banfield in 1944 (only one match in Primera División, where he scored two goals) before retiring after one last season with Huracán (having played 5 matches, with 5 goals scored). Masantonio scored 246 goals for Huracán making him the club's highest scoring player. He scored a total of 259 goals in 369 games for all of his club teams. Masantonio represented Argentina at the

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

and

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

South American Championships South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. He was topscorer in both competitions as Argentina finished second in both tournaments; his 11 goals in the competition leave him in 13th place in the list of Copa América topscorers. Masantonio scored a total of 21 goals for Argentina in only 19 games, putting him in 11th place in the table of Argentina's top goalscorers. At only 46 years old, Masantonio died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on September 11, 1956 at the Hospital Rawson. The funeral was held in Club Huracán. Since then, Masantonio has received several tributes, including a monument (inaugurated in March 1996 in front of the club headquarters on Avenida Caseros) and a street with his name in

Parque Patricios Parque Patricios is a ''barrio'' located on the southern side of Buenos Aires, Argentina belonging to the fourth ''comuna''. Parque Patricios underwent a transformation during the beginning of the 1900s. The government moved the main slaughterhou ...

. Masantonio was the inspiration for an

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

titled ''El Mortero del Globito'', written by Miguel Padula (music) and Francisco García Jiménez. recorded on 9 May 1933 by the Orquesta Típica Victor, featuring Alberto Gómez on vocals. Another song dedicated to Masantonio was ''El Pampero de Patricios''.

Titles

;Argentina *

Copa Lipton The Copa Lipton or Copa de Caridad Lipton was a football friendly competition contested between Argentina and Uruguay national teams. The competition was held 29 times between 1905 and 1992. History The trophy was donated by the Scottish tea ...

: 1937

Individual

* Copa América Top-scorer:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masantonio, Heminio 1910 births 1956 deaths Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Association football forwards Club Atlético Huracán footballers Defensor Sporting players Club Atlético Banfield footballers Argentine Primera División players Uruguayan Primera División players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Argentina international footballers Copa América-winning players Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery