The greatest Idol of the club

The club River Plate has many ídola, but one of the most important once (if not the most important) was Angel Amadeo Labruna. Labruna was born the 28th of September of 1918 at Palermo's neighbornhood and it was this place where he combined his two pasions in life; the horse racings and River Plate. He always walk from his father’s waches, which was at “Las Heras” between “Bustamante and Pereyra Lucena” to River’s stadium at “Alvear and Tagle”, to played basketball at the club of his love. Until he finally decided to played football over basketball, becoming part of “millionars” low divitions. 

The Sunday 18th of June of 1939, he made his debut as a profesional football player as a teenager, on a match where River lost 1 to 0 against Estudiantes de La Plata. The reason of his debut is because the profesional players of the team made a strike over a sanction applied to the institution’s star, José Manuel Moreno. After that, he started tu use the number 10 of Moreno. His goals and excelent matches, determinate that onces the problems with Moreno ends, he would play right midfield, because Labruna was amazing as the striker of the team.

In this way Labruna started the way on the club of his loves. A relation, that finished at the christmas of 1959, after more than 20 years. During that two decades he became one of the greatest idols of the club; He was an extremely important member, with Juan C. Muñoz, José M. Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera and Félix Lousteau of “La Máquina” of River, one of the greatest argentine football teams ever, winning more tan 10 titles during the 40th. He also was an important member of “La Maquinita of River”, with Amadeo Carrizo (considering the best goalkepper of the century), Santiago Vernazza, Eliseo Prado, Walter Gómez, Alfredo Di Stefano, again, Lousteau and many others. La Maquinita, is the nickname of the River’s team, that won 5 first divition tournament, 1 Ibarguren Cup, the Eva Perón Cup  and 1 Aldao Cup. This team also made successful tours in Europe and America between 1950 and 1957. In his 20 years at River, he played 533 matches with the t-shirt of River and he scored 317 goals, between  national competitions and international competitions. This enormous number of goals, made his the greatest and top scorer strike ron the history of River Plate. Moreover he is the top scorer player of the history of argentine football distributed in national cups, international once and first divition tournaments. In addition, he is the top gunner of the Superclasicos, with a total of 16 goals. With 16th titles, he is the second player with more trophies of the history of the club, behind Lonardo Ponzio, who has 17 titles. On top of all that, he played at the national football team, winning two Sudamericanas and scoring 17 goals.  

The 6th of january of  1975, the idol returned to the club as the DT, for the second time. But now, the things were differents. The club and Labruna had some discussions reaching an agreement, in which Labruna asked the club for new players. The first thing he said when he arrived at the club was “Si agarro River es para ser campeón. No tengo la varita mágica y para salir campeón necesito refuerzos importantes. Si el club no se mueve para conseguirlos, ni soñemos con River campeón. Y yo no vuelvo a River si no es para salir campeón". After this, River made a competitive team and with Angel Labruna as the coach, the club finished a really bad streak of 18 years withour any title; That year, River won the Metropolitan and National tournaments. As the Dt, he also won four more titles; the Metropolitan of 1977; the Metropolitan 1979, that same year he won the National too; and the Metropolitan of 1980. In 1981, after giving the institution more happiness, he decided to leave the club, which with the negative of Labruna, signed Alfredo Di Stefano as the new coach. This this new 6 six titles he became the player with the most trophis of the history of River Plate, with Marcelo Gallardo (the coach with the most titles won, with 14)  with 22 both of them. After leaving the club, Labruna told in an interview, that after leaving the club  he thought that the world was ending. He couldn’t slept in the hole niht and decided to drive his car. He didn’t want to be at his house. He alse said, that when Talleres de Cordoba called him, he was still thinking about River Plate. 

In 1983 he moved to Argentinos Junior, giving to the club a new filosophy of game. However, while he was having a great capaing as the coach of Argentinos Junior, he  suffered from a heart attack. Labruna died the 19th of September of 1983, while he was at room of the hospital, where he had undergone surgery for a gallbladder problema, from which he was recovering correctly. But, while he was preparing himself to walk with “el pato” Fillol, the legendary goalkepper, he suffered from a heart attack, falling into the arms of the old goalkepper of 64 years old. He was buried 16 hours later, the 20th of September at Chacarita’s cementery.

Franco Santini