Víctor Pablo Rodríguez Andrade (2 May 1927 Junta Departamental de Montevideo

, Ordinary Session, March 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-15 Junta Departamental de Montevideo

, July 11, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-15 – 19 May 1985) was an

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 ...

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 ...

. He was the right halfback of the Uruguay national team that won the 1950 World Cup tournament, after defeating

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 ...

in the decisive match. He was the nephew of another Uruguayan international player,

José Leandro Andrade José Leandro Andrade (22 November 1901 – 5 October 1957) was an Uruguayan footballer who played at wing-half. He was nicknamed "The Black Marvel" (''maravilla negra''). During his prime he was regarded as one of the finest footballers in the ...

, who was also a World Cup winner, having played for the Uruguay squad that won the first ever edition in 1930. Rodríguez Andrade also played at the 1954 World Cup and won the

1956 South American Championship South American Championship 1956 was a football tournament held in Uruguay, who won it. Chile were runners-up. Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador withdrew from the tournament. Enrique Hormazábal from Chile became top scorer of the tournament wi ...

with Uruguay, and at the club level, he won two Uruguayan First Division titles with C.A. Peñarol. He is regarded as one of the finest midfielders ever.

Early life and career

Born in the '' Barrio Sur'' of Montevideo, Víctor Rodríguez came to the world into a family that proudly revered the name of his uncle,

. His admiration for his uncle and the naming customs made him use both last names; he drew comparisons with "The Black Marvel", not only because he was his relative, but also because they both played on the wing (although Andrade played in the right flank). Thus, the name Rodríguez Andrade would universally remain used when referring to the left midfielder, and sometimes he is even referred to simply as Andrade. Growing up, Rodríguez played on the streets of ''Barrio Sur'' and '' Barrio Palermo''. He began his footballing career at Central Fútbol Club, from the latter neighbourhood, and during his time at that club, he earned his first call up to the national team, in 1947. Remembered as one of the emblematic figures of the club in its first 100 years, he remained at Central until 1952, the year he joined

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

, with whom he won the

Uruguayan Championship 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 ...

in 1953 and 1954.

International career

Rodríguez Andrade wore the Uruguayan jersey from December 1947 to May 1957. He participated at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

finals of

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

and 1954, as well as the

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 ...

s of 1947 (his first official international tournament),

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

, and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

. He earned a total of 42

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 ...

for ''La Celeste'' with 3 goals.

1950 World Cup and the ''Maracanazo''

At the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, Rodríguez Andrade, who at 23 years old was one of the younger members of the Uruguayan squad, played in all four of his team's matches. In the final round match against the hosts, which would decide the winner of the tournament, his defensive duties included the marking of

Zizinho Thomaz Soares da Silva, also known as Zizinho (; 14 September 1921 – 8 February 2002), was a Brazilian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for the Brazil national football team. He came to international prominence at the 19 ...

, a task he was successful at until the beginning of the second half, when the Brazilian assisted Friaça, who scored the 1–0. However, as he later narrated himself, Rodríguez Andrade saw the lineman lift his flag during the play, indicating offside against Brazil. In the second the Uruguayan lost when he looked at the judge, Friaça left him behind, to face the goalkeeper one-on-one. When he was confronted by

Obdulio Varela Obdulio Jacinto Muiños Varela (; September 20, 1917 — August 2, 1996) was a Uruguayan football player. He was the captain of the Uruguay national team that won the 1950 World Cup after beating Brazil in the decisive final round match popula ...

, Rodríguez told him: "''Fue offside, Jacinto''", and then, in a key moment of the game, the captain, with the ball under his arm, protested to the referee for several moments; the goal stood, but Varela had cooled down the situation for Uruguay, and silenced the crowd. Uruguay regrouped, and then Juan Schiaffino scored the equalizer and

Alcides Ghiggia Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia Pereyra (; 22 December 1926 – 16 July 2015) was a Uruguayan-Italian football player, who played as a right winger. He achieved lasting fame for his decisive role in the final match of the 1950 World Cup, and at the ...

the winner, to complete the famous upset known as the ''Maracanazo''.

1954: End of World Cup glory

Four years later in Switzerland, the focal point of the spectacular World Cup finals was the Hungarian team. The "

Golden Team The Golden Team ( hu, Aranycsapat; also known as the Mighty Magyars, the Magical Magyars, the Magnificent Magyars, the Marvellous Magyars, or the Light Cavalry) refers to the Hungary national football team of the 1950s. It is associated with seve ...

" scored 17 goals in its two first round victories. Meanwhile, Uruguay played against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and won 2-0 and 7-0 respectively, to top their group. In the second round, they defeated

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

4–2, and Hungary beat Brazil by the same score. The defending world champions and the favourites would clash in semi-finals, and in a match that is remembered as one of the most magnificent demonstrations of football by both teams, it took the Magyars 120 minutes to give Uruguay its first ever World Cup defeat. Rodríguez Andrade, who just as he did in 1950, played in every match of the tournament, had a strong performance in his final World Cup appearance, even though he had to play the extra time with a pulled muscle.

South American Championship

Uruguay, which had won its last South American title in 1942 when Rodríguez Andrade was in his teens, was unable to win it six straight times from 1945 to 1955, including the first two in which he appeared, 1953 and 1955. In the 1955 edition, they were humiliated in a 1–6 loss to Angel Labruna's

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 ...

. But in early 1956, Montevideo hosted the event, and veteran Andrade, who was the only remaining member of the 1950 World Cup final squad, led the '' Charrúas'' to win the title; they defeated Labruna and

Omar Sivori ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

's Argentina in the last match, which was, like six years earlier in Brazil, not a final, but just happened to be de deciding match. Rodríguez Andrade thus became the only Uruguayan player of his generation to win the World Cup and the South American Championship.Uruguay defender William Martínez, who with Rodríguez Andrade won the 1956 South American Championship, was also in the 1950 World Cup squad, but did not play in that tournament.

After football

His last international match was on June 5, 1957, a 1–1 draw against Argentina. After ending his football career, he resided in Montevideo for the rest of his life. He worked as an usher at Montevideo's Palace of Congress for about 20 years, and during that time he was involved in the founding of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team ''25 de Agosto'' of the Uruguayan Basketball Federation. Rodríguez Andrade died in May 1985, and a month after his death, Senator Luis Hierro Gambardella dedicated a speech to him during a session of the Congress. Cámara de Senadores de la República Oriental del Uruguay
Nº 33 - Tomo 290
32nd Ordinary Session, June 4, 1985. Retrieved 2007-04-15 In December 2005, the Uruguayan Postal Administration issued a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Rodríguez' first team, Central F.C. (since 1971 Central Español). The stamp featured the images of three of the most emblematic figures of the history of the club: in the center, Víctor Rodríguez Andrade, accompanied by his teammate Luis Rijo, and his coach Juan López. In March 2007, after a 2002 resolution, the ''Junta Departamental de Montevideo'' and the city's ''Comisión de Nomenclatura'' designated a street of the ''Barrio Sur'' "Pasaje Víctor Rodríguez Andrade", to honor the footballer.

Honours

* Uruguayan first division champion: 1953, 1954 Uruguay *

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 ...

winner:

; semi-finalist: 1954 *