Rubén Óscar Valdez Ferrero (25 June 1946 – 16 February 2025) was a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager who played as a striker. Born in Argentina, he played the majority of his career for Spanish club Valencia C.F. and also represented the Spain national team.

Club career

Valdez began his playing career in 1967 with

Almirante Brown William Brown (also known in Spanish as Guillermo Brown or ''Almirante'' Brown) (22 June 1777 – 3 March 1857) was an Irish sailor, merchant, and naval commander who served in the Argentine Navy during the wars of the early 19th century. Brown ...

of the Argentine 2nd division. In 1969, he joined

Club Atlético Platense Club Atlético Platense is an Argentine sports club based in Florida, Buenos Aires. The club nickname is (Squid) after the journalist Palacio Zino said that the team moved "like a squid in its ink". Although the club hosts many activities, Pla ...

of the Primera División where he played 54 games and scored 12 goals in his time at the club. In the 1970–71 season, he signed for Valencia C.F. of Spain, he won the Spanish league championship with the club in his first season. He played for the club until 1978 making 195 appearances and scoring 51 goals all competitions.Pena Óscar Valdez
at Platense Locura Between 1977 and 1978 he played alongside fellow Argentine striker

Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (, ; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker or Attacking Midfielder, attacking midfielder. A prolific g ...

. In 1979 Valdez left Valencia to play for

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...

but before the end of the year he had returned to Argentina to join

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

where he made five appearances, including a famous 2–1 victory against River Plate on 9 September 1979. before his retirement at the end of the year.

International career

Valdez was first selected to play for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1972. He made his debut in a 2–0 home win against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

on 23 May 1972, in which he scored one of the goals. His final international appearance came on 13 February 1974 in a 1–0 defeat to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in a qualification game for the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

Personal life and death

Valdez was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina on 25 June 1946.Profile
at Fútbol en La Red He died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain on 16 February 2025, at the age of 78.

Legacy

Platense have a ''filial'' club in Spain which has adopted the name ''Peña Calamar Óscar Valdez'' in his honour.

Honours

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

: 1970-71

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valdez, Oscar 1946 births 2025 deaths Footballers from Buenos Aires Spanish men's footballers Spain men's international footballers Argentine men's footballers Argentine emigrants to Spain Men's association football forwards Club Atlético Platense footballers Valencia CF players CD Castellón footballers Argentine football managers Valencia CF Mestalla managers Valencia CF managers Paraguay national football team managers CF Gandía managers CP Almería managers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B managers La Liga managers Tercera División managers Expatriate football managers in Paraguay 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Spain