René Orlando Houseman (19 July 1953 – 22 March 2018), nicknamed ''Loco'', was an Argentine footballer, who played as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. At the beginning of his career, Houseman was considered successor of legendary winger

Omar Corbatta Oreste Omar Corbatta Fernández (11 March 1936 – 5 December 1991) was an Argentine footballer who played as right winger. Corbatta is regarded as the greatest idol in the history of Racing Club. Dubbed '' Arlequín''Idolos de la Selección: René Houseman
on ''El Grafico'', 7 May 2014 being still regarded by many sports journalists as one of the best Argentine wingers ever. An extraordinarily skilled player, Houseman was characterised by his outstanding

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 ...

ability, speed and mischief into the field.

Club career

Houseman was born in La Banda, Santiago del Estero Province. Despite having started his career at

Club Atlético Excursionistas Club Atlético Excursionistas is an Argentine sports club based in the Belgrano neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mainly known for their football team. It currently plays in the Primera C Metropolitana, the fourth level of the Argentine f ...

youth divisions, Houseman debuted professionally playing for Excursionistas's arch-rival

Defensores de Belgrano Club Atlético Defensores de Belgrano (usually known as Defensores de Belgrano) is an Argentine sports club from Nuñez, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in Primera Nacional, the regionalised sec ...

, where he won its first title, the Primera C championship in 1971. At the beginning of 1973, as a recommendation by manager

César Menotti Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

, he was hired by

Club Atlético Huracán Club Atlético Huracán () is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is notable for its football team, that currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football ...

. Houseman was a keyplayer of the Huracán team that won the

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Metropolitano championship The Metropolitano championship ("Campeonato Metropolitano") was an Argentine football tournament which existed between 1967 and 1984. The Metropolitano formed one half of the Primera División, taking place in the first half of the year, while the ...

. Managed by Menotti, that squad is widely regarded as one of the best Argentine teams ever, where Houseman played along with notable players such as

Miguel Brindisi --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disamb ...

Carlos Babington Carlos Alberto Babington (born 20 September 1949) is an Argentine former football attacking midfielder. He represented the Argentina national team at the 1974 World Cup. Biography Babington (nicknamed "El Inglés" – ''The Englishman'') was ...

and

Omar Larrosa Omar Ruben Larrosa (born 18 November 1947 in Lanús, Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine footballer, who played as a midfielder, and the current assistant coach at Boca Juniors. He is perhaps most famous for having been part of the Argentine ...

. After leaving Huracán in 1980, Houseman spent a short time in River Plate (only one season, 1981), then moving to Chile to play for

Colo Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional Association football, football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have List of unrelegated a ...

and then to South Africa when he joined AmaZulu F.C. In 1984 he returned to Argentina to play for Independiente but he only played three matches in total. Nevertheless, Houseman was part of the roster that won the

Libertadores ''Libertadores'' (, "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence from Spain and of the movement in support of Brazilian independence from Portugal. They are named that way in contrast with the ''Conquistad ...

and

Intercontinental Intercontinental is an adjective to describe something which relates to more than one continent. Intercontinental may also refer to: * Intercontinental ballistic missile, a long-range guided ballistic missile * InterContinental Hotels Group ( ...

Cups that year. Houseman retired from football in 1985, playing for his first club, Excursionistas, a match v. Boca Juniors.Uno de los últimos wines del fútbol argentino Houseman recibió el cariño de los chaqueños
Diario Norte, 21 March 2013El partido que el Loco Houseman nunca quiso jugar
TN, 23 May 2014

International career

During his international career Houseman also played for the Argentina national team and participated at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where he scored three goals. His greatest achievement in football was being a member of the 1978 FIFA World Cup winning team and scoring in the 6–0 win over Peru.

Post retirement

Houseman was part of the coaching staff led by Angel Cappa that managed Huracán between 2008 and 2009. He said he was never paid for his services.

Personal life

Houseman's career was cut short due to problems with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

, with which he struggled for most of his life. Houseman even scored a goal versus River Plate which he later claimed not to remember as he was drunk throughout that game. In 2017, it was revealed that Houseman had

tongue cancer Oral cancer, also known as mouth cancer, is cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless white patch, that thickens, develops red patches, an ulcer, and continues to grow. When on ...

. 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 ...

announced that it would help him to afford medical treatment. Houseman died on 22 March 2018 after a long battle with cancer, eight days after the death of his 1978 teammate, Ruben Galvan.

Honours

Club

Defensores de Belgrano * Primera C: 1972 Club Atlético Huracán, Huracán * Primera División: 1973 Metropolitano Independiente * Copa Libertadores:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

International

Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

: 1978 *

Copa Newton Copa Newton was a football friendly competition contested between Argentina and Uruguay. The trophy, donated by Nicanor Newton, was contested 27 times between 1906 and 1976. History Nicanor Newton, director of ''Sportsman'' magazine, donated t ...

: 1975, 1976 *

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 ...

: 1976 *Copa Félix Bogado: 1976 *Copa Ramón Castilla: 1976, 1978

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Houseman, Rene 1953 births 2018 deaths People from Santiago del Estero Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Association football forwards Defensores de Belgrano footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Colo-Colo footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Argentine Primera División players Argentina international footballers Expatriate footballers in Chile 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Argentine people of German descent AmaZulu F.C. players Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Deaths from cancer in Argentina Sportspeople from Santiago del Estero Province