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 Pedernera with the Argentina national team, c. 1945 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Adolfo Pedernera | ||
| Date of birth | 15 November 1918 | ||
| Place of birth | Avellaneda, Argentina | ||
| Date of death | 12 May 1995(1995-05-12) (aged 76) | ||
| Place of death | Avellaneda, Argentina | ||
| Position | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1932 | Huracán | ||
| 1933–1934 | River Plate | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1935–1946 | River Plate | 278 | (131) |
| 1947 | Atlanta | 28 | (4) |
| 1948–1949 | Huracán | 20 | (2) |
| 1949–1954 | Millonarios | 81 | (33) |
| 1954–1955 | Huracán | 10 | (0) |
| Total | 417 | (170) | |
| International career | |||
| 1940–1946 | Argentina | 21 | (7) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1951–1953 | Millonarios (player-manager) | ||
| 1954 | Huracán (player-manager) | ||
| 1955 | Nacional | ||
| 1955 | Gimnasia y Esgrima LP | ||
| 1955–1956 | Huracán | ||
| 1957 | Independiente | ||
| 1960–1961 | América de Cali | ||
| 1961–1962 | Colombia | ||
| 1962 | Gimnasia y Esgrima LP | ||
| 1963–1964 | Boca Juniors | ||
| 1966–1967 | Boca Juniors | ||
| 1968 | Quilmes | ||
| 1969 | Independiente | ||
| 1969 | Argentina | ||
| 1970 | Huracán | ||
| 1975 | Talleres (Córdoba) | ||
| 1976 | Banfield | ||
| 1977 | América de Cali | ||
| 1978 | San Lorenzo | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995)[1] was an Argentinefootball player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" ("The Teacher"), he was widely considered to be one of the best world football players in the 1940s[2][3] and one of the greatest Argentine players of all time.[4] Pedernera was the natural conductor of both the famousRiver Plate team known asLa Máquina ("The Machine"), with whom he won several Argentine and South American titles, and theMillonarios team calledBallet Azul ("Blue Ballet") that won theSmall Club World Cup in 1953 among many others Colombian titles.
Pedernera's play with theArgentina national team, helped win theCopa América in1941 and1946, the latter tournament being named theBest Player.[5] He also was elected the 12th-best South American footballer of the 20th century in a poll by theIFFHS in 2000,[6] and his name appears in the list of the 100 greatest all time footballers selected from the magazineFourFourTwo in 2017, in which he holds the 58th place.[7]
Pedernera usually played as aninside forward and was renowned for his technique and ability to create chances for other players, whilst also being a prominent goalscorer.
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As an adolescent, Pedernera displayed a talent for football. The first club he joined was Cruceros de la Plata, but he soon joined the professional Club Atlético Huracán. In 1933, he joined the Club Atlético River Plate. In 1935, at the age of 16, he debuted with this club.
During his time at River Plate he was part of fivePrimera División winning squads in 1936, 1937, 1941, 1942 and 1945.
With the Argentina national team he won theCopa America1941 and1946.
TheSecond World War kept Pedernera away from the game as he could not participate in aWorld Cup, but afterwards, his career continued to progress. Still with the Club Atlético River Plate, he played with the likes ofÁngel Labruna,José Manuel Moreno,Félix Loustau, andJuan Carlos Muñoz. He also collaborated withHugo Reyes, AntonioEl Maestrico Báez,Néstor Rossi, andAlfredo Di Stéfano who he would later be teammates with them forCD Los Millonarios inColombia, but first, in 1947, he was offered a million pesos to play forAtlanta of Buenos Aires.
Pedernera's time with Atlanta was short. After the club was relegated for the first time, he returned in 1948 toHuracán where he started his career. However,Carlos Aldabe, the trainer of Millonarios, visited Pedernera inBuenos Aires and convinced him to come toBogotá,Colombia. There, Pedernera joined the Millonarios on 8 June 1949. He arrived in Bogotá on 10 June and was greeted at the Aeropuerto de Techo by 5,000 fans transported by 200 cars and 25 buses.
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Pedernera settled in the north of Bogotá after being received into the club. On 11 June 1949, he attended his first game with the Millonarios, in which they defeated the Club Atlético Municipal (now theAtlético Nacional) with a score of 6–0. On 25 June, Pedernera played for the first time with the club, helping them defeat the Club Deportes Caldas with a score of 3–0. The press of Bogotá received Pedernera well and commented the next day that"El Maestro" ("The Teacher") was "a phenomenon, an artist, a master of passing, and a show of intelligence. After the debut of El Maestro, everything is possible."
Along withAlfredo Di Stéfano andNestor Rossi, Pedernera helped the Millonarios to theirColombian championship title in1949. According to Di Stéfano, the team played with the "5 and dance" strategy, in which they would try to not humiliate their opponents by scoring when they were leading by five goals. This strategy was employed in nine consecutive victories. In championship play, Pedernera scored the two decisive goals in the championship deciding play-off matches againstDeportivo Cali in 1949.
After Carlos Aldabe retired as coach from Millonarios Pedernera took over asplayer-manager and was in this position instrumental in winning the three consecutive championships from 1951 to 1953 and theCopa Colombia of 1953.
In this era the Millonarios defeated such other strong teams at the time asArgentina'sHuracán,Bolivia'sBolívar,Austria'sRapid Wien, and even his old team, Argentina'sRiver Plate, which had won Primera División championships in 1952 and 1953.
In March 1952, when Pedernera was 33 years old, he was part of the Millonarios tour of Europe. On this trip, they achieved an outstanding win overReal Madrid 4–2 atSantiago Bernabéu Stadium. The Spanish club asked for a rematch, playing two games else that were also won by Millonarios.
Pedernera also led his team to victory in theSmall Club World Cup ("Pequeña Copa del Mundo", an international club tournament held inVenezuela) in 1953. He, along with Don Alfonso and Mauro Mórtola, were placed on a list of noted Millonarios players. The team credits him with establishing their mark on Colombia football.
In 1954, the Lima Pact forced all "illegal" players to return to their clubs of origin, so Pedernera returned briefly to Huracán.
In later years Pedernera also coachedNacional inUruguay,Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP),Huracán,Independiente,Boca Juniors,América de Cali andRiver Plate
Pedernera also coachedColombia andArgentina national teams. He is remembered in Colombia for helping the national team qualify for its first FIFA World Cup, the1962 edition in Chile,[4] where Colombia had a good participation. On the other hand, under his coaching Argentina failed toqualify to the1970 World Cup when the team tied 2–2 withPeru inLa Bombonera. This was the first time that Argentina failed to qualify to a World Cup tournament.[8]
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In 1993, he published his autobiography named "El fútbol que viví ... y que yo siento" (the football I lived ... and I feel), assisted by journalist Alejandro Yebra.
In 1994, Pedernera was reunited for the last time with his lifelong friends Alfredo Di Stéfano and Pipo Rossi at the Feria Internacional del Libro in Bogotá. Pedernera died the next year.
River Plate
Millonarios
Argentina
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1 Messi was given the 2015 award, but rejected it. Argentina's staff was to receive the award. | |
