Juan Gilberto Funes Baldovino (8 March 1963 – 11 January 1992), nicknamed "''El Búfalo''" (The Buffalo), was an Argentine

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 ...

who played as a striker, known for his physical style of play. He was born in

San Luis, Argentina San Luis () is the capital city of San Luis Province in the Cuyo region of Argentina. It is also the seat of the Juan Martín de Pueyrredón Department. City information Points of interest in the city include the Park of the Nations, the neo ...

Biography

He first played football for local club Huracán de San Luis, then Estudiantes de La Plata, Sarmiento de Junin, Jorge Newbery and

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima (usually known as Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza) is an Argentine football club located in the city of Mendoza. They currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football leag ...

, and then for Colombian Millonarios FC in 1984. In that year, his team became runner-up of Colombian Primera A, and the following year he achieved a record 33 goals in a single season. Nowadays, he is one of the most iconic idols of the club. Funes was a key player in the River Plate team that won the

1986 Copa Libertadores The 1986 Copa Libertadores was the 27th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. River Plate won the competition for the first time ever. Group stage Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 ...

for the first time, in which he scored a goal in the first match in Cali, which River won by the score of 2–1 and at home 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 ...

, for the 1–0 victory against América de Cali. Ironically, this was not the first time Colombian teams and fans saw his moves; in the glory days of the Colombian league in the 1980s, Funes played for Millonarios, the team with the most championships in Colombia, where he simply "schooled" other forwards with his opportunistic technique and his attitude. After his tenure on River Plate, Funes moved to Greece where he played for

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. With the ''Piraeus'' club Funes scored some very important goals (2 goals in the 1988

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

semifinal against

OFI FC OFI Crete Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Ηρακλείου 1925, ''Club of Fans of Heraklion 1925''), is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is a par ...

, scoring 10 goals in 29 appearances). He returned to his homeland for a second time, being about to play for Boca Juniors but he finally could not debut with the team due to a heart failure detected by the doctors. Despite that, Funes did not end his professional career, joining Vélez Sársfield. However, his health forced him to retire shortly afterwards. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on January 11, 1992. The Estadio Provincial in San Luis was named "Juan Gilberto Funes" in his honour, in 2003.Una fiesta con cancha nueva en San Luis
''La Nación'', 28 Mar 2003 He is considered today one of the great legends of Millonarios de Bogotá, and the River Plate fans remember his goals in the

1986 Copa Libertadores Finals The 1986 Copa Libertadores Final was a Two-legged tie, two-legged football match-up to determine the Copa Libertadores 1986, 1986 Copa Libertadores champion. It was contested by Argentine club Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate and Colombian ...

. Millonarios has one group of fans called ''Barra del Búfalo'' in honour of the idol of the club. Funes was capped four times by the Argentina National Team.

Honours

; River Plate * Copa Libertadores:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Funes, Juan Gilberto 1963 births 1992 deaths People from San Luis, Argentina Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers 1987 Copa América players Millonarios F.C. players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Olympiacos F.C. players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Greece Club Atlético Sarmiento footballers Copa Libertadores-winning players Argentine Primera División players Categoría Primera A players Super League Greece players Ligue 1 players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza footballers Association football forwards