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| Copa Libertadores 1971 |
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Olimpia, Peñarol
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.
Club Nacional de Football is identified with the white, blue and red colours inspired by the flag of Uruguay's national hero José Gervasio Artigas. In the domestic league, Nacional won the championship 46 times, being the last the 2016 transition championship. Nacional is the most successful club in Uruguay in terms of number of league titles. At international level, Nacional has won 21 titles, nine of them recognised by FIFA and CONMEBOL[5] that include three Copa Libertadores. In this tournament, Nacional is the all-time leader with 553 points.
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| Copa Libertadores 1988 |
GK: Andrés Mazali (Uruguay)
Andrés Mazali played 21 times for Uruguay. He won Olympic Gold Medals in 1924 and 1928 and 3 South American Championship, but he was banned playing in the 1930 World Cup Finals by manager Alberto Suppici after breaking the team's curfew before the start of the Finals. He was a member of the Nacional side that won 3 consecutive domestic titles between 1922 and 1924. He also ran track and played basketball in his career.
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| Andrés Mazali |
From 1939 to 1953, Aníbal Paz played for Club Nacional de Football, winning the Uruguayan championship nine times (1939, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, 50 and 52). He also earned 22 caps for the Uruguay national football team from 1940 to 1950. He was part of Uruguay's championship team at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He also played for Bella Vista and Racing.
GK: Rodolfo Rodríguez (Uruguay)
Rodolfo Rodríguez is the second most capped player in the history of the Uruguay with 78. He won the 1980 Mundialito. and the Copa América in 1983. He went to the World Cup in 1978 and 1986. With Nacional, Rodríguez won the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Intercontinental also in 1980. He also played for Santos, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Portuguesa and Bahia.
CB/RB: Jose Nasazzi (Uruguay)
Jose Nasazzi was the captain of Uruguay's World Cup winning team in 1930. He is regarded by many as Uruguay's greatest ever football player. He was known as "El Gran Mariscal" (The Great Marshal) and had already won the gold medal at the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games, as well as the South American Championship in 1923, 1924 and 1926, by the time of the first World Cup. He started with Bella Vista in 1922, but mainly played for Nacional between 1933 and 1937.
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| Jose Nasazzi |
Foglino made his debut for Nacional in 1911. He played 409 matches including nine Primera División Uruguaya championships. He was captain of Nacional for ten years. He played 47 times for Uruguay, making his debut for the team in 1912 and playing his last international in July 1923. He played in three continental championships for Uruguay; in 1916, 1917 and 1920.
RB/CB/CM: Suhubert Gambetta (Uruguay)
From 1940 to 1956, he played for Club Nacional de Football, winning the Uruguayan championship ten times and captaining the team. He also earned 36 caps and scored three goals for the Uruguay from 1941 to 1952. He won the 1950 World Cup. He was a figure in the Maracanazo when he helped keep Zizinho and Ademir out of the game, which helped him to the 1950 World Cup All-Star Team.
CB: Jose Santamaria (Uruguay)
Jose Santamaria was a member of Real Madrid's all-conquering team of the late 1950's. He spent his 18-year career with Nacional and Real Madrid, winning 17 major titles the two teams combined, Between 1957 and 1966, Santamaria won four European Cups with Real Madrid playing alongside Alfredo Di Stefano. He was considered one of the best ever center-backs. He played for Uruguay at the 1954 World Cup Finals, but played for Spain 4 years later in 1958.
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| Jose Santamaria |
Emilio Alvarez almost played his entire career with Nacional. He held the appearance record for the club with 511 matches between 1959 and 1970. He played for Institución Atlética Sud América in 1971 at the end of his career. He played 18 times for Uruguay, He represented Uruguay between 1960 and 1967. He went to both 1962 and 1966 World Cup Finals.
CB: Hugo De León (Uruguay)
With Nacional, De León won the Copa Libertadores in 1980. In 1981, he joined Gremio. With Gremio he again won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup in 1983. After spells in Brazil and Spain he returned to Nacional in 1988, to win the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup in that year, and the Copa Interamericana and Recopa Sudamericana in 1989. He was capped 48 times between 1979 and 1990, He played 4 games in the 1990 World Cup Finals.
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| Hugo De León |
LB: Juan Mujica (Uruguay)
Juan Mujica played club football for Rampla Juniors, Nacional, Lille OSC, RC Lens, Liverpool de Montevideo and Defensor Sporting. Mujica made 22 appearances for the Uruguay national football team between 1966 and 1970, scoring 2 goals. He won the South American(now Copa America) in 1967. He also went to the 1970 World Cup Finals in Mexico.
RB/DM; Jose Leandro Andrade (Uruguay)
His nickname was "the Black Marvel' (maravilla negra). He was regarded as the best player at the 1930 World Cup and perhaps, in the world at the time. As a teenager Andrade played for Montevideo club Misiones. In the early 1920s Andrade was signed by Bella Vista, where he played 71 matches and scored seven goals. Andrade later moved to Nacional where he won four Uruguayan Championships and three national cups.
CM: Santiago Ostolaza (Uruguay)
Ostolaza played with Cruz Azul and Querétaro in Mexico, Gimnasia (Argentina), Kyoto Purple Sanga (Japan), Aurora Football Club , etc, but he is known for this two stints with Nacional at home. With them, he won Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup in 1988, and la Copa Interamericana and Recopa Sudamericana in 1989. Capped 43 times from 1985 to 1993 and played at the 1990 World Cup.
DM: Julio Montero Castillo (Uruguay)
Julio Montero Castillo started his career with Liverpool FC (Montevideo), before joining Nacional in 1966. He later played for Independiente and Spanish side Granada. He made 64 La Liga appearances for Granada between 1973 and 1975. He represented the Uruguay national team in the 1970 World Cup (playing in all six matches) and the 1974 World Cup. Montero Castillo is the father of the international footballer Paolo Montero.
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| Julio Montero Castillo |
Luis Cubilla 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 also played for Barcelona, River Plate of Argentina, Santiago Morning of Chile and Defensor Sporting of Uruguay where he helped the club to win their first league championship and break the complete dominance of the league by Peñarol and Nacional. For Uruguay, he played in three WC Finals: 1966, 1970 and 1974.
AM/CM: Víctor Espárrago (Uruguay)
Espárrago played in Spain with Sevilla and Recreativo de Huelva, but he is best remembered for his career with Nacional. He was capped 67 times for Uruguay between 1966 and 1974. He was an important member of the Uruguayan squad which finished fourth place at the 1970 World Cup. In that tournament, he scored the winning goal in extra-time of the quarter-final against the USSR.
AM: Aníbal Ciocca (Uruguay)
Aníbal Ciocca came to Nacional in 1931 from Montevideo Wanderers. He was a member of the forward line that conquered the Quinquenio de Oro (1939-1943) for Nacional. In Nacional he was Uruguayan champion eight times. He also played for Uruguay in 21 times, scoring 7 goals. He was part of the team that won the Copa América in 1935 and 1942.
FW: Hector Scarone (Uruguay)
Scarone was known to be Uruguay's greatest players during the 1930's. He was a Double Olympic Gold medalist and won the 1930 World Cup Finals. He scored 31 goals for Uruguay. He was Uruguay's all-time leading scorer until 2011. At club level, Scarone spent most of his career with Nacional, with whom he won the Uruguayan championship eight times. He scored a total of 301 goals for the club in 369 appearances. He also played for Spanish side FC Barcelona, and Inter Milan and Palermo in Italy.
FW: Roberto Porta (Uruguay)
During his club career Roberto Porta played for Nacional (Uruguay), Inter (Italy) and Independiente (Argentina). He earned 33 caps and scored 13 goals for the Uruguay national football team from 1937 to 1945, and also played 1 match for Italy in 1935. He was the Uruguay national team's coach at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
SS: Walter Gomez (Uruguay)
Throughout his career, he played for Nacional and Club Atlético River Plate. He joined River Plate in 1950 at the end of La Maquina. Later in his career, he formed a famous partnership with Omar Sivori there. So he was a connection between the two generations of Argentine club football. His national team appearance was very limited because he moved to play in Argentina in 1950. He only played 4 times for the national team.
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| Walter Gomes |
Romano played 68 times for Uruguay between 1911 and 1927, scoring 28 goals. He played in the Copa América 8 times, finishing on the winning side on 5 occasions. He was also part of the Uruguayan team that won the Olympic football 1924 tournament. He played club football for Nacional between 1910 and 1930. He scored 164 goals in 388 games. The club won 21 titles during his time as a player.
SS: Pedro Cea (Uruguay)
Cea was a part of Uruguay's winning team at the 1923 and 1924 South American Championship. He won gold medals at both the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics. He was Uruguay's leading goalscorer in the 1930 World Cup. He scored the crucial equalising goal in the World Cup final against Argentina; Uruguay went on to win 4–2. At club level, he played for Nacional, where he won several Uruguayan Championships.
ST: Luis Artime (Argentina)
Artime started his career at Club Atlético Atlanta, but better known for his career with River Plate where he became the top scorer in Argentina on three occasions and Independiente where he helped the team to win the Nacional in 1967. With Nacional of Uruguay, he won the Copa Libertadores in 1971. For Argentina, he scored 24 goals in 25 games. He played at the 1966 World Cup and at the South American Championship 1967, where he was the top goalscorer.
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| Luis Artime |
ST: Héctor Castro (Uruguay)
When Héctor Castro was 13, he accidentally amputated his right-forearm while using an electric saw, which gave origin to his nickname, El manco (meaning "the one-armed", or "the maimed"). Castro began his career in 1923/24 with Nacional and was the first player to score in a World Cup game for Uruguay. At Nacional he won three Uruguayan Championships (1924, 1933, 1934), before retiring in 1936.
ST: Pedro Petrone (Uruguay)
Throughout his career, Petrone played for Nacional, where he won two National Tournaments (1924, 1934), and in Italy with Fiorentina, where he was the top goalscorer in Serie A during the 1931–32 season. Whilst in Italy, Petrone was said to be the fastest player in the League. He won Olympic Gold medalist in 1924 and 1928, where he was the top scorer in 1924. He also won the WC in 1930.
ST: Atilio García (Argentina/Uruguay)
García had short spells with Club Atlético Moreno, Club Atlético Platense and Boca Juniors in Argentina before joining Nacional in 1938. He is the top goal scorer in the history of Uruguayan football with 465 goals scored in official tournaments and the second highest goal scorer in the history of the Uruguayan Football Championship. Born as an Argentine, he played for Uruguay. He scored 5 goals in 6 games for Uruguay.
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| Atilio García |
Honorable Mention
Manga, Gustavo Munúa, Waldemar Victorino, Rubén Sosa Ardáiz, Alejandro Lembo, Luis Suarez, José Saldanha, Eusebio Tejera, Horacio Troche, Atílio Ancheta, Álvaro Recoba, Julio Perez, Jorge Cardaccio, Eugenio Galvalisi, Luis Ernesto Castro, Bibiano Zapirain, Julio Dely Valdés, Julio Morales, Ildo Maneiro, Darío Pereyra, Luis Ubiña.
Squad Explanation
-- Nacional has plenty of great players before the War. Most of the players played before the 1950's. Atilio García, Pedro Petrone, Hector Scarone, Jose Leandro Andrade and Jose Nasazzi are some of the legendary players before the Second World War.
-- Nacional won 3 Copa Libertadores in 1971, 1980 and 1988. It is underrepresented by those teams. My team was mainly consisted of players from before the War when Uruguay was the best footballing nation in the world. Of all selected players, Víctor Espárrago, Rodolfo Rodríguez, Hugo de Leon and Santiago Ostolaza are the only players who have won a Copa Libertadores with Nacional.
-- In 1971, Nacional won their first ever Copa Libertadores. Víctor Espárrago
-- In 1980, Nacional beat Internacional of Brazil to win the Copa Libertadores. Internacional featured Falcao. From that Nacional team, I selected Hugo de Leon, Rodolfo Rodríguez and Víctor Espárrago. Víctor Espárrago also played on the 1971 team. They would also beat Nottingham Forrest to win the Intercontinental Cup. Waldemar Victorino was the Man of the Match, but I only put him on honourable mention.
-- Hugo de Leon and Santiago Ostolaza are the only two players selected from the 1988 Copa Libertadores team. Hugo de Leon also played on the 1980 team. They also won the Intercontinental Cup by beating PSV. PSV featured Romario, Ronald Koeman, etc.
-- Santiago Ostolaza is the only players selected who played in the 1990's. His name seldom got mentioned in the all-time teams. He contributed to the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup successes in 1988. Moreover, the team has too many forwards. So I need a midfielder.
-- Luis Artime, Julio Montero Castilla, Emilio "Cococho" Alvarez and Luis Cubilla played until the 1970's. They are among the younger players on this all-time team.
-- This team has too many forwards. Luis Suarez was left out because he left the club too early in his career.
-- Darío Pereyra left for Brazil only after two seasons with Nacional. I left him off the squad because of other players ahead of him. Jose Santamaria and Jose Nasazzi are legends of Uruguay. Hugo De León won two Copa Libertadores. Suhubert Gambetta and Emilio "Cococho" Alvarez spent many years at the club.
-- I dropped Waldemar Victorino because he only played a few seasons with the club.
Formation
Mazali
ReplyDeleteAndrade Santamaria De-León Cacho-Blanco
Alfredo-Zibechi
Urdinarán Scarone Javier-Ambrois Zapirain
Petrone
this must be the oldest selection on the blog. Hugo De León is the youngest..