René Orlando Houseman (19 July 1953 – 22 March 2018), nicknamed ''Loco'', was an Argentine footballer, who played as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. At the beginning of his career, Houseman was considered successor of legendary winger

Omar Corbatta Oreste Omar Corbatta Fernández (11 March 1936 – 5 December 1991) was an Argentine footballer who played as right winger. Corbatta is regarded as the greatest idol in the history of Racing Club. Dubbed '' Arlequín''Idolos de la Selección: René Houseman
on ''El Grafico'', 7 May 2014 being still regarded by many sports journalists as one of the best wingers ever. An extraordinarily skilled player, Houseman was characterised by his outstanding

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

ability, speed and mischief into the field.

Club career

Houseman was born in La Banda, Santiago del Estero Province. Despite having started his career at Club Atlético Excursionistas youth divisions, Houseman debuted professionally playing for Excursionistas's arch-rival

Defensores de Belgrano Club Atlético Defensores de Belgrano (usually known as Defensores de Belgrano) is an Argentina, Argentine sports club from Nuñez, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in Primer ...

, where he won its first title, the Primera C championship in 1971. At the beginning of 1973, as a recommendation by manager César Menotti, he was hired by

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

. Houseman was a keyplayer of the Huracán team that won the

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Metropolitano championship. Managed by Menotti, that squad is widely regarded as one of the best Argentine teams ever, where Houseman played along with notable players such as Miguel Brindisi, Carlos Babington and Omar Larrosa. After leaving Huracán in 1980, Houseman spent a short time in River Plate (only one season, 1981), then moving to Chile to play for

Colo Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

and then to South Africa when he joined

AmaZulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

. In 1984, he returned to Argentina to play for Independiente, but he only played three matches in total. Nevertheless, Houseman was part of the roster that won the

Libertadores ''Libertadores'' (, "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence from Spain and of the movement in support of Brazilian independence from Portugal. They are named that way in contrast with the ''Conquistad ...

and

Intercontinental InterContinental Hotels & Resorts by IHG is a British-American luxury hotel brand created in 1946 by Pan Am founder Juan Trippe. It has been part of UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group since 1998. As of January 2023, there were 208 InterC ...

Cups that year. Houseman retired from football in 1985, playing for his first club, Excursionistas, in a match versus

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

.Uno de los últimos wines del fútbol argentino Houseman recibió el cariño de los chaqueños
Diario Norte, 21 March 2013El partido que el Loco Houseman nunca quiso jugar
TN, 23 May 2014

International career

During his international career, Houseman also played for the Argentina national team and participated at 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 ...

, where he scored three goals. His greatest achievement in football was being a member of 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 ...

winning team and scoring in the 6–0 win over Peru.

Post retirement

Houseman was part of the coaching staff led by Ángel Cappa that managed Huracán between 2008 and 2009. He said he was never paid for his services.

Personal life

Houseman's career was cut short due to problems with

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, with which he struggled for most of his life. Houseman even scored a goal versus River Plate which he later claimed not to remember as he was drunk throughout that game. In 2017, it was revealed that Houseman had

tongue cancer Oral cancer, also known as oral cavity cancer, tongue cancer or mouth cancer, is a cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless red or white patch, that thickens, gets ulcerated ...

. The

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association (, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine football league system, Argentine league system (from Argentine Primera División, Pri ...

announced that it would help him to afford medical treatment. Houseman died on 22 March 2018 after a long battle with cancer, eight days after the death of his 1978 teammate, Rubén Galván.

Honours

Club

Defensores de Belgrano * Primera C: 1972 Huracán * Primera División: 1973 Metropolitano; runner-up: 1975 Metropolitano, 1976 Metropolitano Colo-Colo *

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Independiente *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

International

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 ...

* Copa Newton: 1975, 1976 * Copa Lipton: 1976 *Copa Félix Bogado: 1976 *Copa Ramón Castilla: 1976, 1978

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Houseman, Rene 1953 births 2018 deaths FIFA World Cup–winning players Footballers from Santiago del Estero Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Defensores de Belgrano footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Colo-Colo footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Copa Libertadores–winning players Argentine Primera División players Argentina men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Chile 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Argentine people of German descent AmaZulu F.C. players Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Deaths from cancer in Argentina Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa 20th-century Argentine sportsmen