Manuel Gavilán (30 November 1920 — 8 March 2010) was a Paraguayan

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 ...

defender who played for

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

in the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

and the

1953 South American Championship The South American Championship 1953 was a football tournament held in Peru and won by Paraguay with Brazil second. Argentina, and Colombia withdrew from the tournament. Francisco Molina from Chile became top scorer of the tournament with 7 go ...

which was won by Paraguay. He also played for

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a Paraguayan professional football club based in Asunción that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Liber ...

International Career

Gavilán was selected in Paraguay’s

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

1947 South American Championship The 1947 South American Championship was the 20th South American Championship for national teams, and was organized by CONMEBOL. It marked the first time Ecuador hosted the tournament, which hosted all the matches in Estadio George Capwell in ...

and played in all seven games. The game against

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 ...

on 2 December was his first cap with Paraguay. He played six games in the

1949 South American Championship The 1949 South American Championship was the 21st edition of the Copa América, the main national team association football, football competition in South America. It was held in, and won by, Brazil. Paraguay finished as runner-up while Argentin ...

. Gavilán was part of Paraguay’s

for the 1950 World Cup and played Paraguay’s two games against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was also selected in Paraguay’s

for the

, played all seven games and scored in the decisive final against

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

, his only goal with the national team, as Paraguay won the competition. His 32nd and last cap with Paraguay was on 21 March 1954 against Brazil, for a

1954 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 37 teams entered the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Switzerland, as the hosts, and Uruguay, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open ...

game.

References

External links

* *
Paraguay - Record International Players
at RSSSF 1920 births 2010 deaths Paraguayan men's footballers Paraguay men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Club Libertad footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Copa América–winning players {{Paraguay-footy-defender-stub