José Manuel Moreno Fernández (3 August 1916 — 26 August 1978), nicknamed "''El Charro''", 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, ...

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, rugb ...

who played as an

inside 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 ...

for several

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

in Argentina,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

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 eas ...

, and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

; for many who saw him play, he is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, even among

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...

and

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Fil ...

, and was the first footballer ever to have won first division league titles in four countries (later players to emulate the feat include

Jiri Jarosik Jiri ( ne, जिरी) is a municipality in Dolakha District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 13,638 people.. Jiri, which lies about 190 kilometers from Kathmandu, is the m ...

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a ...

, George Weah and Zlatan Ibrahimović). Moreno was part of the River Plate team known as ''

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.

'' ("The Machine") which dominated Argentine football in the 1940s, and was also a member of the Argentina national team that won the

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' ...

in 1941 and 1947, being chosen in the latter tournament as the best player of the tournament. He was regarded by many as a complete player.Argentina's twinkle-toed maestro: Jose MORENO
FIFA.com In 1999, he was ranked as the 5th best South American player in the 20th Century (behind Pelé, Maradona, Di Stéfano and

Garrincha Manuel Francisco dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983), nicknamed Mané Garrincha, best known as simply Garrincha (, "little bird"), was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a right winger. He is widely regarded as one o ...

), and among the 25 best players in the world through a poll by the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

. He was known as a player of great technique, great vision, and lethal in the penalty area. Despite his reputation for drinking, smoking and not going to training, Moreno was also known for his formidable heading ability, scoring 75 with his head, he also had fine physical qualities. Throughout his illustrious career he played 950 matches, scoring 850 goals.

Club career

Moreno was born in the neighbourhood 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

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 ...

, and grew up in the surroundings of the club

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 th ...

' stadium,

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 ro ...

. At the age of 15, he tried out for the lower divisions of Boca Juniors, but did not make the selection. According to the

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Tor ...

archives, he said, frustrated: "''some time you will regret it''". Moreno then became part of the lower divisions of River Plate, Boca Junior's arch-rival, in 1933, having been recommended by

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 ...

, a notable forward for River Plate.

River Plate (1935–1944)

At the age of 18, Moreno was selected along with other young players from the club by manager Emérico Hirschl to make a tour in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. His first competitive appearance was against Brazilian side

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills o ...

. He debuted in '' Primera División'' on March 17, 1935, in a 2–1 win against C.A. Platense, scoring one goal. Quickly become the greatest figure of Argentine soccer, he was part of the squad that won league titles in 1936 and 1937, and went on to become a key player among

Adolfo Pedernera Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995) was an Argentine football player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" ("The Teacher"), he was widely considered to be one of the best world football players in the 1940s and one of the g ...

on the River Plate squad known as ''

'', famous for his line of attack composed by Moreno, Pedernera,

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 ...

, Juan Carlos Muñoz, 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 ...

, and which dominated Argentine football during the first half of the 1940s decade, winning with Moreno two national titles (1941, 1942) and many Aldao Cups.

Mexico (1944–1946)

In 1944, Moreno was transferred to México Primera División club

España , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, who had finished runner up to Asturias, first Mexican league champions in the 1943–44 season. With España, Moreno won the national title in the 1945–46 season. His time and success in Mexico earned him the nickname ''Charro'', which is also the term used to refer to the traditional cowboy of Mexico.

Return to South America (1946–1961)

Moreno returned to his homeland and River Plate for the latter part of 1946. His second tenure at River lasted three seasons. Champion again in 1947, already with Alfredo Di Stéfano as center forward, he returned to emigrate after the strike of 1948 players. He was transferred to Universidad Católica of

, where in the same year he helped the team win its first league title. He returned to Argentina in 1950, this time to play for

, and the following year, he played again for Universidad Católica. He also played one season in

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 ...

, with Primera División team

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 ...

. In 1953, he went back to Argentina to join Ferrocarril Oeste. Jm moreno 1947

Colombia

Moreno moved to

in 1954, joining

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

, where he would end his playing career. He was both a player and a manager for the club. He won the Colombian championship in 1955, becoming the only footballer to have won league titles in four countries' leagues, doing so in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. In 1957, he won his last – and 12th overall – first division title. He retired with Independiente Medellín in a friendly match against

in 1961, a match during which he participated both as coach and player. Independiente won the match 5–2, and Moreno scored one goal.

International career

Moreno was a member of the Argentina national team from 1936 to 1950, earning 34

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scoring 19 goals. Moreno was part of the winning squads at the

(now Copa América) of

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

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 ...

and

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. He scored the tournament's milestone goal number 500 in an atypical match against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

: he scored five goals in that match, a Copa América record which he shares with

Héctor Scarone José Juan Héctor Scarone Berreta (26 November 1898 – 4 April 1967) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as inside forward. Scarone was considered one of the best players in the world during his time,. being nicknamed ''El Mago'' ("the Magic ...

(Uruguay), Juan Marvezzi (Argentina) and Evaristo (

). That day, Argentina beat Ecuador 12–0, which is also the largest goal difference in a single Copa América match. Moreno was the top goalscorer of the

1942 South American Championship The seventeenth edition of the South American Championship was held in Montevideo, Uruguay from 10 January to 7 February. For the first time seven teams took part of the event; the participating countries were Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuado ...

with seven goals, along with Herminio Masantonio, and was chosen best player of the 1947 edition. He is also tied for third place among the Copa América's all-time top scorers, with 13 overall goals.

Managerial career

Moreno had a brief spell as manager of

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 ...

in 1959. He also worked as the manager of

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

All Boys Club Atlético All Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Floresta, Buenos Aires. The institution is mostly known by its football team, which currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league s ...

in Argentina and

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

Honours

Club

; River Plate * Primera División (6): 1936 Copa Campeonato, 1936 Copa de Oro,

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into ...

Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao (English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA- AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions of ...

(4): 1936, 1937, 1941, 1947 *

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): 1937, 1941, 1942 * Copa Adrián C. Escobar (1): 1941 ; RC España * Primera División (1): 1944-45 ; Universidad Católica * Campeonato Nacional (1): 1949 ;

* Primera División (2):

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

International

;

South American Championship A South American Championship is a top level international sports competition between South American athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships * ATP Buenos Aires, a tenni ...

(2):

Individual

Top Scorer among Herminio Masantonio *

1947 South American Championship The 1947 South American Championship was the 20th South American Championship for national teams, and was organized by CONMEBOL. It marked the first time Ecuador hosted the tournament, which hosted all the matches in Estadio George Capwell i ...

Best Player * Best Player of Chile in 1949. * "Premio Konex de Platino" 1980 * He was selected among the 25 best players in the world in the 20th century by the

in 1999. He also ranked as the fifth best player in South America, and as the third best in Argentina, behind

and

References

External links

*
Player profile and statistics
(with translation) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreno, Jose Manuel 1916 births 1978 deaths Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Boca Juniors footballers Ferro Carril Oeste footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Defensor Sporting players Independiente Medellín footballers Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Categoría Primera A players Chilean Primera División players Uruguayan Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Expatriate footballers in Colombia Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate football managers in Chile Argentine football managers Argentina national football team managers Boca Juniors managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Colo-Colo managers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica managers All Boys managers Independiente Medellín managers Real Club España footballers Copa América-winning players Association football forwards