Rubén Galván (7 April 1952 – 14 March 2018) 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

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 ...

for

Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, which plays in the Argentine Primera Divi ...

for most of his career. At international level, he was part of the

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 ...

squad that 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 ...

on home soil.

Club career

Galván is one of the most decorated players in the history of Argentine football with three

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 ...

, three Nacional Championships and

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 ...

title to his name. Galván was part of the Independiente team that won three consecutive Copa Libertadores titles between 1973 and 1975. He was also part of the team that won back to back Nacional championships in 1977 and 1978. In 1980, he had a short spell with

Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

but he retired later that year at age 27.

Personal life

Nicknamed ''el Negro'', Galván had a bout with

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

that required a

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

transplant in 2007. He died of cirrhosis in March 2018.

Honours

Independiente * Primera División: 1971 Metropolitano, 1977 Nacional, 1978 Nacional *

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

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 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

Argentina *

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

* * 1952 births 2018 deaths Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Club Atlético Independiente footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Copa Libertadores–winning players Footballers from Formosa Province Argentine Primera División players Deaths from cirrhosis Alcohol-related deaths in Argentina 20th-century Argentine sportsmen {{Argentina-footy-midfielder-stub