Raúl Oscar Belén (1 July 1931 in Roldán, Santa Fe – 2 August 2010) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

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 ...

forward who 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 ...

in the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...

. He also played for

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club () is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Avellaneda, Argentina. They compete in the Argentine Primera División, Primera División, the top tier of Argentine football league system, Argentine f ...

Biography

Belén gave his first steps as a footballer in

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

, where he played from 1951 to 1956. Nevertheless, he is mostly known for his tenure at

, where he played 174 matches scoring 42 goals. Belén's highlights with Newell were two goals v

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

that helped his team to win both matches. Some of his teammates there were Jorge Griffa and José Yudica.Raúl Belén, el roldanense que hizo historia como futbolista
by Nicolás Galliari on El Roldanense, 18 Jun 2021 Belén was part of the first tours that teams outside Buenos Aires went to Europe, playing with Newell's in some friendly matches in 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 ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. After he suffered

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

during one of those tours, Belén had to leave football for one year, but as his performances deceased due to the illness, Newell's executives decided to cancel his contract. As a result, he moved to

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 ...

to play for

. Although Belén started playing as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he gained recognition as a left-winger, after Racing Club coach José Della Torre moved him to that position, although he denied playing as a winger at the beginning. Because of his performance at the 1959 South American Championship, Belén was considered the best left-winger in the competition.1959: El "Comandante" Belén
interview to Belén on ''El Gráfico'', by Raúl Goro, published 1959 Belén had 31 caps for the Argentina national team, scoring 8 goals. He was part of the team at the two editions of 1959 Copa América (in

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, where he was champion and runner-up, respectively). Belén also won the 1960 Panamerican Championship, being also one of the top scorers of Argentina along with Osvaldo Nardiello. Belén was part of the team that participated in the

in Chile.FIFA Player statistics: Raul Belen
(archived, 1 Jul 2013)

Titles

;Racing * Primera División (2):

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

;Argentina *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

(1): 1959 (A) *

Panamerican Championship The Panamerican Championship was an official continental competition of association football organized by the Panamerican Football Confederation (PFC) every four years for senior national teams, with three editions held from 1952 through 1960. Th ...

(1):

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belen, Raul 1931 births 2010 deaths Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players Copa América–winning players Footballers from Santa Fe Province 20th-century Argentine sportsmen