Luis Adolfo Galván (24 February 1948 – 5 May 2025) 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 lea ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He played for

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

when the team won the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

Club career

Galván was born in

Fernández Fernández () is a Spanish patronymic surname meaning "son of Fernando" of Germanic origin. The Germanic name Ferdinand that it derives from ( Gothic: ''Frið-nanð'') means "brave traveler." The Portuguese version of this surname is Fernandes ...

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

. He started his career at 17, possibly playing for Club Atletico Union of Santiago del Estero. He joined

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; ), mostly known simply as Talleres ( in Rioplatense Spanish, Rioplatense accent and or in Cordobés Spanish, Cordobés accent; ), is an Football in Argentina, Argentine professional sports club based in the city of C ...

in 1970, which was the club where he spent the majority of his career. He never won a major trophy with the club but did help Talleres achieve second (1977) and fourth place (1976, 1978) in the Nacional Championship, and third place (1980) in the Metropolitano Championship. The Metropolitano and Nacional championships were Argentine football tournaments that existed between 1967 and 1984. The Metropolitano formed one half of the Argentine 1st division taking place in the first half of the year, while the Nacional took place in the 2nd half of the year. Galván left the Talleres in 1982 after giving a 12-year service to the club, and went on to play for a string of provincial teams including Talleres' main rivals

Belgrano de Córdoba Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Bel ...

. In 1986 Galván moved to Bolivia to play for Bolívar in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

, but his stay there didn't last long, and he returned to play for Talleres in 1987. He left professional football to play for Sportivo Fernandez in his home province of Santiago del Estero in 1988, and finally for Talleres de Jesus Maria in 1989, where he retired from football at the age of 41.

International career

Galván played his first game of his eight-year international career for

in 1975. He played for Argentina at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...

. The indisputable highlight of his footballing career came in 1978 when he was selected to represent Argentina at the

. He played all games in the tournament alongside captain

Daniel Passarella Daniel Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953) is an Argentine former Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who is considered one of the greatest Defender (association football), defenders of all time. As a ...

which included the World Cup Final in the Monumental, where Argentina beat

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

3–1 after extra time, to win their first World Cup. Galván was selected to play for Argentina at the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

, but the ''albicelestes'' had a disappointing campaign, eliminated in the 2nd group phase. He retired from international football one year later in 1983, at the age of 35. Galván made a total of 34 appearances for Argentina.

Death

Galván died from complications of pneumonia on 5 May 2025, at the age of 77. He had been hospitalised in Córdoba in the preceding weeks due to kidney problems.

Honours

Talleres de Córdoba * Copa Hermandad: 1977 * Liga Cordobesa de Fútbol: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

runner-up: 1977 Nacional Loma Negra * Liga de Fútbol de Olavarría: 1982 Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

References

External links

* * * * *
Profile and Statistics
at Futbolistasblogspotcom.blogspot.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Galvan, Luis 1948 births 2025 deaths People from Fernández, Santiago del Estero Footballers from Santiago del Estero Province 20th-century Argentine sportsmen Argentine men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Argentina men's international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Talleres de Córdoba footballers Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Club Bolívar players Pan American Games bronze medalists for Argentina Pan American Games footballers for Argentina Pan American Games bronze medalists in football Footballers at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Deaths from pneumonia in Argentina