Peñarol Greatest All-Time Team
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| 1982 Copa Libertadores |
This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.
Peñarol was founded on 28 September 1891 when employees of the Central Uruguay Railway Company established the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club (CURCC) of Montevideo, with the purpose of stimulating the practice of cricket, rugby football and "other male sports" (literal from the Spanish). In international competition, Peñarol won the first two editions of Copa Libertadores. It is the third-highest Copa Libertadores winner with five victories and shares the record for Intercontinental Cup victories with three. In September 2009, the club was chosen as the South American Club of the Century by the IFFHS.
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| 1960 Copa Libertadores |
GK: Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (Uruguay)
Ladislao Mazurkiewicz is considered one of the greatest keepers from South America. He had 36 caps for the national team. He led Uruguay to the semifinal of the World Cup in 1970. He was also a participant at the WC Finals of 1966 and 1974. He was voted the best keeper at the tournament. He played with Peñarol at home before moving to play in Brazil, Spain, Chile and Colombia.
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| Ladislao Mazurkiewicz |
Maspoli began playing in the youth ranks of Club Nacional de Football. He would make his Uruguayan Primera División debut with Liverpool de Montevideo in 1939. After one season with Liverpool, he joined Peñarol. He would spend the rest of his playing career with Aurinegros, winning six Primera titles with the club.He was Uruguay's keeper at the World Cup in 1950, where they won it by breaking the hearts of the Brazilians.
GK: Luis Maidana (Uruguay)
Maiden spent most of his career with Penarol, winning two Copa Libertadores in the 1960 and 1961. He went to the WC Finals in 1962.
RB/CB: Pablo Forlan (Uruguay)
Pablo Forlan is the father of Diego Forlán. As a professional footballer Pablo Forlán played for Peñarol (1963–1970), São Paulo FC (1970–1976), Cruzeiro EC (1977), Nacional de Montevideo (1978) and Defensor Sporting (1979–1984). During his career he helped win the Uruguayan league (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1978, 1980, 1982), the Copa Libertadores (1966), the Intercontinental Cup (1966) and the São Paulo state championship (1970, 1971, 1975). Pablo Forlán was also a Uruguayan international, who played at the 1966 and 1974 World Cups.
RB/WH: José Piendibene (Uruguay)
Piendibene played for Peñarol between 1908 and 1928. During his time with the Carboneros he won six Primera División Uruguaya championships. Piendibene made his debut for the Uruguay national football team in 1909 against Argentina in Buenos Aires. Over the course of his 14 year career with the national team he was capped 40 times, scoring 20 goals. He made his final appearance for La Celeste in November 1923.
SW: Elias Figueroa (Chile)
Elias Figueroa was one of the best defenders in South American history. He was named the Brazilian Player of the year award whilst playing for Internacional in 1972 and 1976. He was also awarded the South American Footballer of the Year three times in a row. He played for several clubs during his long career, notably his hometown club Santiago Wanderers, Brazilian club Internacional and Uruguayan club Peñarol. He also represented Chile 47 times, appearing in three world cups, in 1966, 1974, and 1982.
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| Elias Figueroa |
CB: Juan Lezcano (Paraguay)
He was a member of the historical Olimpia team that won five Paraguayan league championships in a row, from 1956 to 1960 and reached the final of the Copa Libertadores in 1960, where Olimpia lost against Peñarol. Soon after in 1961, Peñarol signed him and became one of the key players of the that helped Peñarol win several national and international championships.
CB: Roberto Matosas (Uruguay)
At the club level, he played for C.A. River Plate of Argentina and C.A. Peñarol of Uruguay. In September 1964, Club Atlético River Plate signed Matosas for a then-record transfer fee. He would play 165 league matches for the club from 1964 to 1968, with 12 goals. He finished his playing career in Mexico, playing for newly promoted San Luis and Toluca. Matosas also was part of the Uruguay national football team. He participated in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where the Uruguayan side finished in fourth place.
CB/RWH: William Martínez (Uruguay)
Martínez played for Nacional, Racing Club de Montevideo and Rampla Juniors before joining Peñarol. Martínez enjoyed most of his success with them. He captained the team to five consecutive league titles (1958–1962), two Copa Libertadores (1960 & 1961) the Copa Intercontinental in 1961 and four consecutive editions of the Copa Uruguay (1958–1961). Martínez was in the Uruguay squads for three FIFA World Cup tournaments (1950, 1954 and 1962). He played a total of 54 matches scoring 2 goals. Martínez won the Copa América with Uruguay in 1956.
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| William Martínez |
Jose Leandro Andrade's nephew. He won the 1950 WC in Brazil . He was Uruguay's greatest left midfielder(or leftback). He played mainly with Peñarol at home. Rodríguez Andrade also played at the 1954 World Cup and won the 1956 South American Championship with Uruguay, and at the club level, he won two Uruguayan First Division titles with C.A. Peñarol.
LB: Alfonso Dominguez (Uruguay)
Alfonso Domínguez played for both Penarol and National in Uruguay. He was part of Aurinegros' 1987 Copa Libertadores winning team. He also had a spell with River Plate in the Primera División de Argentina. He made 31 appearances for the senior Uruguay national football team from 1987 to 1990, including playing at the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals.
DM: Obdulio Varela (Uruguay)
Known as the "Black Chief", Obdulio Varela was the captain of the 1950 World Cup team. His leadership was credited with helping Uruguay to come from behind to beat Brazil. He is considered one of the best players ever from Uruguay. He debuted in first division with Montevideo Wanderers in 1938. In 1943, he joined C.A. Peñarol, club for which he would play until his professional retirement in 1955.
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| Obdulio Varela (R) |
Néstor Gonçalves has the most official games in Penarol's history (571 matches, between 28 April 1957 and 28 November 1970. He is considered to have been one of the best South American midfielders of the 1960s. Capped 50 times. He went to the WC Finals in 1962 and 1966.
RM: Luis Cubilla (Uruguay)
He was a part of Penarol that won two Copa Libertadores in the 1960 and 1961, and he won one more with Nacional in 1971. He played in three WC Finals: 1966, 1970 and 1974.
RW: Alcides Ghiggia (Uruguay)
He scored the winning goal against Brazil in the 1950 World Cup Finals that sealed the WC for Uruguay. The match was known as the "Maracanazo". He played for the national sides of both Uruguay and Italy during his career. He also played for the club sides of the Peñarol and Danubio in Uruguay and A.S. Roma and A.C. Milan in Italy.
LW/SS: Pedro Rocha (Uruguay)
Pedro Rocha won 8 Uruguayan league titles and 3 Copa Libertadores with Penarol from 1959 to 1970. He moved to São Paulo in 1970. He spent 7 successful seasons with the club. He was the league's top scorer in 1972. For the national team, he is the only player to appear in four consecutive World Cups for the Uruguay national football team: 1962, 1966, 1970 and 1974. He also played in the Copa América in 1967.
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| Pedro Rocha |
He was one of the best left wing in South American history. He was an all-time great for both Peru and his clun Pernarol. He won 11 titles with Penarol, including two Copa Libertadores and a two Copa Intercontinental. He played 9 times for Peru and once for Uruguay.
AM: Pablo Bengoechea (Uruguay)
Bengoechea started his career at the Oriental Atlético Club of Rivera. He later played for Montevideo Wanderers, Sevilla FC of Spain, Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata of Argentina and C.A. Peñarol. He helped Penarol conquer the second quinquennium of gold (five consecutive league titles). He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Peñarol. Capped 43 times. He won two Copa America(1987 and 1995), and went to Italia 1990.
FW: Isabelino Gradin (Uruguay)
He was one of the greatest footballers before the Uruguayan win at the 1930 FIFA World Cup. He played in the first South American Championship held in Argentina, where Uruguay became the first champions of the tournament. On 2 July of that tournament against Chile, where Uruguay would go on to win 4-0, Gradin and team mate Juan Delgado became the first black players in history to be fielded in an international tournament. Gradin was also part of the Uruguayan winning team of the 1917 South American Championship. He was also a four-time South American athletics champion in the 400 and 200 metres sprint. He played 212 games for Penarol, scoring 101 goals. He also played for Olimpia.
FW: Óscar Míguez (Uruguay)
He was part of the Uruguay team in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups, where he played as a striker, and is Uruguay's all-time record World Cup goalscorer with eight goals. Omar Miguez scored five times for his country on the way to a World Cup winners medal in 1950. He played club football for C.A. Peñarol Montevideo, and finished his career with Sporting Cristal.
FW/SS: Juan Schiaffino (Uruguay)
He was a key player in Uruguay's WC winning team in 1950. He later played in Italy with Milan and Roma. He was considered one of the greatest Uruguayan players in history.
ST: Fernando Morena (Uruguay)
Morena is the all-time top goal scorer in the history of Penarol and the Uruguayan A League with 230 goals in 244 games. He scored 667 in his almost 20-year career. He played with Racing Club and River Plate from Montevideo, Peñarol, Rayo Vallecano in Spain, Flamengo and Boca Juniors. Capped 53 times scoring 22 goals. He was part of the Uruguayan team that won the Copa América in 1983.
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| Fernando Morena |
Varela started his playing career in 1932 playing for River Plate de Montevideo. In 1935 he signed for Peñarol where he was part of the team that won four successive league titles between 1935 and 1938. In 1943, he moved to Boca Juniors, where he was known for scoring 5 times in 6 games against River Plate. Varela was part of the Uruguay national football team that won the 1942 South American Championship, still remaining the equal 3rd highest scorer in the history of Copa América with 15 goals.
ST: Juan Hohberg (Argentina/Uruguay)
Born in Argentina, Hohberg started his playing career in 1946 with Central Córdoba before joining Rosario Central in 1947. In 1948 Hohberg moved to Uruguay to join Peñarol where he would play until 1959. Peñarol won six league titles during his time with the club. Hohberg scored three goals as a forward for tUruguay in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, including two in the famous semi-final against Hungary.
ST: Alberto Spencer (Ecuador)
Alberto Spencer was known as "Cabeza Mágica" (Spanish for magic head). He is still the all-time leading scorer in the Copa Libertadores' history. He is considered one of South America's greatest strikers. He won three Libertadores Cups and two Intercontinental Cups with Uruguay's Penarol. He was elected the 20th best South American footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the IFFHS in 2004. He also played for Everest and Barcelona at home.
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| Alberto Spencer |
Walter Olivera, Paolo Montero, Álvaro Gestido, Nelson Gutiérrez, Julio César Cortés, Víctor Diogo, Julio César Abbadie, Omar Caetano, Carlos Borges, Pablo Bengoechea, Eduardo Pereira, Walter Corbo, Fernando Álvez, Ernesto Ledesma.
Squad Explanation
-- The first two keepers are obvious choices, but the third keeper is difficult. I chose Luis Maidana because of the two Copa Libertadores victories in the 1960's.
-- Elias Figueroa and Roberto Matosas are the two big-name in the centre-back position. The remaining spots were between Juan Lezcano, Álvaro Gestido, William Martínez (who can play as a center-back) and Nelson Gutiérrez. Again, I took Martinez because he is the most famous player of all.
-- Isabelino Gradin is a forgotten player of Uruguay.
-- Penarol is loaded with too many legendary players who are among the greatest South American footballers of all-time. I selected some of the older players such as Nelson Gutiérrez. He deserves to be on this team.
-- Fernando Morena is the youngest member of the club. He is the hero of the 1982 Copa Libertadores. He is the all-time leading scorer at the club. However, I was unable to select José Oscar Herrera. He can play multi-position, but most of the positions are well-covered.
-- The 1982 and1987 Copa Liberadores winning teams are under represented. Diego Aguirre scored the winning goal at the 1987 Copa Libertadores. He earned an "Honorable Mention".
Formation
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