Tomás Carlovich

Tomás Felipe Carlovich (19 April 1946 – 8 May 2020), nicknamed ''El Trinche'' ("The Maradona that never was"), was an Argentine professional football player and coach. His position on the field was central midfielder, playing in several clubs although he is mostly associated with Central Córdoba, where he became an idolMurió el Trinche Carlovich, un mito del fútbol argentino
by Facundo Martínez, Pagina/12, 8 May 2020 and the most representative player of the club along with Gabino Sosa. Due to his ball control and dribbling ability, many people saw Carlovich as a pure representative of ''creole football'', although he had played only a few matches in the top division of Argentine football.Murió Tomás "El Trinche" Carlovich, el mito del fútbol argentino: el talento rosarino de las historias imposibles
by Diego Morini on ''La Nación'', 8 May 2020 Carlovich also had a brief stint as coach in Central Córdoba, although he stated that he was not interested in taking over the senior squad again after resigning. He is the only one recognized by the regional league. Two of the world's greatest football superstars like, Pelé and Diego Maradona.

Early life and non-League career

''Carlovich'' grew up in Belgrano neighborhood, Rosario. Carlovich () was of Croatian descent: his father, Mario Karlović, was an immigrant from Zagreb. Once settled in San Francisco de Santa Fe he met Carlovich's mother, Elvira Vega being the last of seven siblings, three girls and four boys. He started in the youth ranks of Rosario Central, and in 1965 he was briefly loaned to Sporting of Bigand, where he won the Southern Sports League championship. in 1969 decade he began to play football in Rosario Central, but he received most recognition during his tenure in Central Córdoba. Playing for Central Córdoba, Carlovich won the promotions Primera C to Primera B 1973 and 1982. He was in Central Córdoba in four stages: 1972–1975, 1978, 1980–1983 and 1986, playing nine seasons, and scoring 28 goals in 236 games.El Trinche
on CIHF website (sources: "Historia en Azul y Amarilla" (''La Capital''); ''La Capital''. ''La Prensa'', 24–30/8/1969; ''La Capital'' 18 Apr 1974; ''Goles'' magazine #1241

In 1976 he played for Independiente Rivadavia won the promotions to Primera Nacional. In one of the friendly matches, the team defeated Italian AC Milan with a score of 4–1. In 1977 he played for Colón de Santa Fe in top League Argentine Primera División led the team to a 5th place finish, the highest in his career. In 1978 he played for Central Córdoba Played 2 matches in the Argentina championship. In 1978–1979 he played for Deportivo Maipú. In 1979, the team defeated Inter Milan with a score of 3–1 in a friendly match. In 1979 he played for Andes Talleres. In one of the friendly matches, the team defeated AC Milan with a score of 3–2.

Furthermore, in 1984 he went through Juventud de Pergamino and, in 1985, he played for Newell's Old Boys of Cañada de Gómez, an entity belonging to the Cañadense Football League. He retired in October 1988, at the age of 42, in Argentino of Monte Maíz.

The historical "forward and back nutmeg"

During a match between Central Córdoba and Talleres de Remedios de Escalada, a supporter encouraged Carlovich to make a double nutmeg, moving the ball first forward, then back. This request was immediately fulfilled by "El Trinche", causing a huge ovation from his fans in the grandstand. This nutmeg would be repeated many times by Carlovich during his career.

A specialist in pipes, one of his characteristic plays was the so-called "double pipe", by which he passed the ball between the opponent's legs in two consecutive moments, snubbing the same player twice.

Legend the 1974 consecration

The last match as a preparation for the 1974 World Cup found the Argentina national football team going to Rosario to play a friendly game against a squad formed exclusively by players born in that city. Some of the Rosarian players were prominent footballers, such as Mario Zanabria, Daniel Killer, Carlos Aimar and Carlovich as well."1977 – Tomás Carlovich"
on Colón con o sin Tiento website

At the end of the first half, the team from Rosario led 3–0. The supremacy of the local team was so big that the Argentina national team coach, Vladislao Cap, asked for his colleague to exclude Carlovich for the second half, and this is what finally happened. The final score was 3–1

In 1976, he was called up to the Argentina national team for one of the friendly matches before the 1978 World Cup, but did not arrive at the team's location. Because he went fishing and the water level rose, he couldn't come.

Style of play and temperament

Left-foot talent, number 5 in Central midfielder the back, Carlovich was a very technically gifted player. During the friendly match against the Argentine selection in 1974, he inflicted a legendary bridge on Francisco Sá. The legend, unverifiable, says that he invented the double small bridge, even more humiliating for the adversary. El Trinche himself wanted to put things into perspective. “Here in Rosario, there are tons of inventions around me. But they are false. People in Rosario love to tell stories. I would have made small bridges going back and forth (the famous doble caño), but it’s not that important. Until it became a unique signature, which he could do every time according to the fans' requests throughout his football career. He has a similar physical appearance and positioning to Sergio Batista. El Trinche was also a tall and rather slow player. Those who have seen him play often compare him to Diego Maradona for his ball-control-keeping skills to Fernando Redondo for his defensive focus-cut the game and Juan Román Riquelme

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