Héctor Pedro Scarone Berreta (26 November 1898 – 4 April 1967) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as inside forward. Known as "the Gardel of Football"[2][3] and El Mago ("the Magician") due to his extraordinary skills with the ball,[4][5] Scarone was considered one of the best players in the world during his time.[6] He was crowned world champion three times, after winning the editions of the 1924 and 1928 Olympic football tournaments, along with the first World Cup in 1930.[7]

Héctor Scarone
Scarone with Nacional
Personal information
Full name Héctor Pedro Scarone Berreta[1]
Date of birth (1898-11-26)26 November 1898
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Date of death 4 April 1967(1967-04-04) (aged 68)
Place of death Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1917–1926 Nacional 115 (108)
1926–1927 Barcelona 18 (17)
1927–1931 Nacional 45 (39)
1931–1932 Inter 14 (7)
1932–1934 Palermo 54 (13)
1934–1939 Nacional 31 (16)
Total 277 (200)
International career
1917–1930 Uruguay 51 (31)
Managerial career
1947–1948 Millonarios
1951–1952 Real Madrid
1954 Nacional
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Uruguay
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1924 Paris Team
Gold medal – first place 1928 Amsterdam Team
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1930 Uruguay
South American Championship
Winner 1917 Uruguay
Winner 1923 Uruguay
Winner 1924 Uruguay
Winner 1926 Chile
Runner-up 1919 Brazil
Runner-up 1927 Peru
Third place 1929 Argentina
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

At club level, Scarone spent most of his career with Nacional, with which he won 21 official titles. He scored a total of 301 goals for the club in 369 appearances. Scarone holds the record of years played for Nacional, having spent 20 years with the club. He is also the 3rd. all-time Uruguayan Primera División with 163 goals, and the 2nd. all-time top scorer of Nacional (behind Atilio García) with 301 goals.[4]

With a height of 170 cm and thin legs, Scarone was rejected by Nacional at the age of 15. He returned one year later, being accepted by the club but sent to the reserve team. Nevertheless, Scarone would be promoted to the senior squad after playing only five matches in the reserve team.[5]

Apart from Nacional, Scarone also played for Spanish side Barcelona, and Italian clubs Inter Milan and Palermo. He was the younger brother of another legend of Nacional, Carlos Scarone.[4]

International career

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With the Uruguay national team, Scarone won the South American Championship four times: in 1917, 1923, 1924, and 1926, and the Olympic gold medal twice:[8] in 1924 and 1928 recognized as FIFA World Cup.[9][10]

At the age of 19, he scored the goal that gave Uruguay the title at the 1917 South American Championship, in the final against Argentina, his fourth international match.[citation needed]

Scarone finished his international career by leading Uruguay to the 1930 FIFA World Cup, and although his international career ended that same year, the 31 goals in 52 matches (actually 52, but 21 goals were in unofficial matches) he scored for his country stood until as of 2011 as the national record[citation needed]. With his goal against Romania on 21 July 1930 Scarone was the last player born in the 19th century to score in a World Cup final tournament.

Managerial career and later life

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After retiring as a player, Scarone became a football coach. He was the second manager of Millonarios since its origins, from 1947 to 1948, while the club was still an amateur team. He was manager of Nacional and Real Madrid in the 1950s. He died in 1967 in Montevideo, aged 68, after attending a match of Nacional.[4]

We were young, winners, united... we believed we were indestructible.[5]

— José Nasazzi at Scarone's funeral

International goals

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Uruguay's goal tally first

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 October 1917 Parque Pereira, Montevideo, Uruguay   Brazil 1–0 4–0 1917 South American Championship
2. 14 October 1917 Parque Pereira, Montevideo, Uruguay   Argentina 1–0 1–0
3. 28 July 1918 Parque Pereira, Montevideo, Uruguay   Argentina 1–0 3–1 1918 Copa Premio Honor Uruguayo
4. 13 May 1919 Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil   Argentina 2–0 3–2 1919 South American Championship
5. 18 July 1919 Parque Pereira, Montevideo, Uruguay   Argentina 1–0 4–1 1919 Copa Premio Honor Uruguayo
6. 3–0
7. 17 September 1919 Estadio Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires, Argentina   Argentina 1–0 2–1 1919 Copa Lipton
8. 2–0
9. 7 December 1919 Parque Pereira, Montevideo, Uruguay   Argentina 3–1 4–2 1919 Trofeo Circular
10. 18 July 1920 Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo, Uruguay   Argentina 1–0 2–0 1920 Copa Premio Honor Uruguayo
11. 4 November 1923 Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo, Uruguay   Paraguay 1–0 2–0 1923 South American Championship
12. 26 May 1924 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France   Yugoslavia 2–0 7–0 1924 Summer Olympics
13. 29 May 1924 Stade Bergeyre, Paris, France   United States 2–0 3–0
14. 1 June 1924 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France   France 1–0 5–1
15. 2–1
16. 6 June 1924 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France   Netherlands 2–1 2–1
17. 17 October 1926 Estadio Sport de Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile   Chile 3–0 3–1 1926 South American Championship
18. 28 October 1926 Estadio Sport de Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile   Bolivia 1–0 6–0
19. 2–0
20. 3–0
21. 4–0
22. 6–0
23. 29 August 1927 Estadio Ministro Brin y Senguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina   Argentina 1–0 1–0 1927 Copa Lipton
24. 6 November 1927 Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru   Bolivia 9–0 9–0 1927 South American Championship
25. 20 November 1927 Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru   Argentina 1–0 2–3
26. 2–2
27. 10 December 1927 Viña del Mar, Chile   Chile 3–2 3–2 Friendly
28. 30 May 1928 Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands   Netherlands 1–0 2–0 1928 Summer Olympics
29. 7 June 1928 Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands   Italy 3–1 3–2
30. 13 June 1928 Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands   Argentina 2–1 2–1 1928 Summer Olympics Gold Medal match replay
31. 21 July 1930 Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay   Romania 2–0 4–0 1930 FIFA World Cup

Titles

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Nacional
Barcelona
Uruguay national team

Individual

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  • IFFHS Uruguayan Men's Dream Team[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Scarone, Héctor".
  2. ^ "Celebrating king of tango Carlos Gardel, 80 years on from his death". Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Hector Scarone, the uruguayan wizard". Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Era un mago, genio, goleador, divo: la trayectoria de Héctor Scarone by Luis Prats, 23 April 2017. El País
  5. ^ a b c Héctor Scarone, el 'mago' charrúa by Jaime Rincón on As, 17 April 2014
  6. ^ "HECTOR SCARONE, THE URUGUAYAN WIZARD". INTER Official Site. 7 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  7. ^ "La AUF cumple 120 años". Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Héctor Scarone". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  9. ^ "InfoPlus" (PDF) (in Spanish). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  10. ^ Morenilla, Juan (5 June 2016). "Uruguay: dos Mundiales, cuatro estrellas". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  11. ^ "IFFHS All-Time Uruguay Men's Dream Team". IFFHS. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
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World Cup-winners status
New title Oldest Living Player
30 July 1930 – 4 April 1967
Succeeded by