Juan José Pizzuti

Juan José Pizzuti

Pizzuti when playing for Racing Club in 1961.
Personal information
Full name Juan José Pizzuti
Date of birth (1927-05-09) May 9, 1927
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1941–1947 Club Atlético Banfield
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1950 Banfield 77 (47)
1951 River Plate 30 (7)
1952–1954 Racing Club 213 (total) (118)
1955 Boca Juniors 20 (9)
1956–1962 Racing Club (see above)
1962–1963 Boca Juniors 9 (2)
National team
1951–1959 Argentina ? (?)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 October 2007.

Juan José Pizzuti (born 9 May 1927 in Barracas, Buenos Aires) is a former Argentine football striker and football manager. He enjoyed his most notable successes as player and manager with Racing Club de Avellaneda.

Pizzuti was born in the Barracas neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, at the age of 14 he joined the Banfield youth team.

Playing career

Pizzuti made his breakthrough into the Banfield first team in 1947 at the age of 19. He became the topscorer in the Argentine league in 1949, this brought him to the attention of several major clubs and he eventually signed for River Plate in 1951.

In 1952, after only one season with River, Pizzuti left to join Racing Club de Avellaneda, he became the topscorer in the Argentine league for a second time in 1953.

In 1955 Pizzuti joined Boca Juniors, making him one of a select band of players to have played for both River Plate and Boca Juniors, he only played 20 games that season and returned to Racing Club in 1956.

Pizzuti was part of a championship winning team for the first time in 1958, and Racing won the title again in 1961. Pizutti then returned to Boca Juniors where he won his third and last league title as a player in 1962. He retired as a player in 1963, by the end of his career he had scored a total of 182 goals in 349 games, to make him one of the top 20 all time goalscorers in the Argentine league.

International career

Pizzuti played for Argentina between 1951 and 1959, he was part of the squad for the South American Championship in 1959 where he scored three goals to help them to win the title.[1]

Titles as a player

Season Team Title
1958Argentina Racing Club Primera División Argentina
1959Argentina Argentina South American Championship
1961Argentina Racing Club Primera División Argentina
1962Argentina Boca Juniors Primera División Argentina

Managerial career

Pizzuti took over as the manager of Racing Club in 1965, he led them to the Argentine league championship in 1966 and then saw his team defeat Nacional of Uruguay in the 1967 Copa Libertadores. Racing Club then added to their international success by defeating Celtic F.C. of Scotland to win the Copa Intercontinental and become the first Argentine team to become club champions of the world. Pizzuti left Racing Club in 1969 after 4 years and 4 months in charge, which still stands as the longest managerial reign at the club.[2]

Pizzuti was manager of the Argentina national team between 1970 and 1972, taking the team to fourth place at the Brazilian Independence Cup. The third place decider there, which Argentina lost 2-4 to Yugoslavia, was his last match at the helm of the national side. He had spells as manager of Nueva Chicago in Argentina and Independiente Medellín in Colombia amongst other positions.

Titles as a manager

Season Team Title
1966Argentina Racing Club Primera División Argentina
1967Argentina Racing Club Copa Libertadores
1967Argentina Racing Club Copa Intercontinental

References

  1. ↑ RSSSF South American Championship 1959
  2. ↑ Clarin article
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