Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995) was an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" ("The Teacher"), he was widely considered to be one of the best world football players in the 1940s and one of the greatest Argentine players of all time. Pedernera was the natural conductor of both the famous River Plate team known as

La Máquina ''La Máquina'' () is a nickname given to the River Plate football team from 1941 to 1947, commonly referred by the media as the best Argentine team of its era and one of the best teams worldwide.Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club, known simply as Millonarios, is a Colombian professional football club based in Bogotá, that competes in the Categoría Primera A, top flight of football in Colombia. It is one of the most successful and iconic clubs i ...

team called

Ballet Azul The Ballet Azul (''Blue Ballet'') is a term coined in Colombia in the 1950s to describe the Club Deportivo Los Millonarios, Millonarios football team, during its successful period from 1949–1964, because the blue color of their uniform, the large ...

("Blue Ballet") that won the

Small Club World Cup The Small World Cup () was a football tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1975 (with some journalists considering 1952–57 the period of greatest relevance, and the second period that took place between 1963 and 1975 as of minor relevanc ...

in 1953 among many others Colombian titles. Pedernera's play with the Argentina national team, helped win the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

and

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, the latter tournament being named the ''Best Player''. He also was elected the 12th-best South American footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

in 2000, and his name appears in the list of the 100 greatest all time footballers selected from the magazine ''FourFourTwo'' in 2017, in which he holds the 58th place. Pedernera usually played as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

and was renowned for his technique and ability to create chances for other players, whilst also being a prominent goalscorer.

Early career

As an adolescent, Pedernera displayed a talent for football. The first club he joined was Cruceros de la Plata, but he soon joined the professional Club Atlético Huracán. In 1933, he joined the Club Atlético River Plate. In 1935, at the age of 16, he debuted with this club. During his time at River Plate he was part of five Primera División winning squads in 1936, 1937, 1941, 1942 and 1945. With the Argentina national team he won the

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was a United States law, law in the United States, United States of America, passed in 1998 with the declared purpose of ...

and

. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

kept Pedernera away from the game as he could not participate in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, but afterwards, his career continued to progress. Still with the Club Atlético River Plate, he played with the likes of

Ángel Labruna Ángel Amadeo Labruna (28 September 1918 – 19 September 1983) was an Argentine footballer and coach who played as a forward. With 323 goals scored in official matches, which include 294 league goals, Labruna is the 2nd all-time top scorer of ...

José Manuel Moreno José Manuel Moreno Fernández (3 August 1916 – 26 August 1978), nicknamed "''El Charro''", was an Argentine footballer who played as an inside forward for several clubs in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia; for many who saw him play, h ...

Félix Loustau Félix Loustau () (25 December 1922 – 5 January 2003) was an Argentine footballer who was a key player on the River Plate squad known as La Máquina. La Maquina is considered to be one of the greatest teams ever assembled in the history of Sou ...

, and Juan Carlos Muñoz. He also collaborated with

Hugo Reyes Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

, Antonio ''El Maestrico'' Báez, Néstor Rossi, and

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

who he would later be teammates with them for CD Los Millonarios in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, but first, in 1947, he was offered a million pesos to play for

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

of Buenos Aires. Pedernera's time with Atlanta was short. After the club was relegated for the first time, he returned in 1948 to

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

where he started his career. However, Carlos Aldabe, the trainer of Millonarios, visited Pedernera in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and convinced him to come to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. There, Pedernera joined the Millonarios on 8 June 1949. He arrived in Bogotá on 10 June and was greeted at the Aeropuerto de Techo by 5,000 fans transported by 200 cars and 25 buses.

Joining Millonarios

Pedernera settled in the north of Bogotá after being received into the club. On 11 June 1949, he attended his first game with the Millonarios, in which they defeated the Club Atlético Municipal (now the

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

) with a score of 6–0. On 25 June, Pedernera played for the first time with the club, helping them defeat the Club Deportes Caldas with a score of 3–0. The press of Bogotá received Pedernera well and commented the next day that ''"El Maestro"'' (''"The Teacher"'') was "a phenomenon, an artist, a master of passing, and a show of intelligence. After the debut of El Maestro, everything is possible." Along with

and

Nestor Rossi Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * Nestor (Ulysses episode), "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion pictu ...

, Pedernera helped the Millonarios to their Colombian championship title in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. According to Di Stéfano, the team played with the "5 and dance" strategy, in which they would try to not humiliate their opponents by scoring when they were leading by five goals. This strategy was employed in nine consecutive victories. In championship play, Pedernera scored the two decisive goals in the championship deciding play-off matches against

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful football t ...

in 1949. After Carlos Aldabe retired as coach from Millonarios Pedernera took over as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

and was in this position instrumental in winning the three consecutive championships from 1951 to 1953 and the

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia (); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs affiliated to the División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (DIMAYOR) and is the ...

of 1953. In this era the Millonarios defeated such other strong teams at the time as

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

's Bolívar,

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Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

, and even his old team, Argentina's River Plate, which had won Primera División championships in 1952 and 1953. In March 1952, when Pedernera was 33 years old, he was part of the Millonarios tour of Europe. On this trip, they achieved an outstanding win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

4–2 at

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

. The Spanish club asked for a rematch, playing two games else that were also won by Millonarios. Pedernera also led his team to victory in the

("Pequeña Copa del Mundo", an international club tournament held in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

) in 1953. He, along with Don Alfonso and Mauro Mórtola, were placed on a list of noted Millonarios players. The team credits him with establishing their mark on Colombia football. In 1954, the Lima Pact forced all "illegal" players to return to their clubs of origin, so Pedernera returned briefly to Huracán.

Coaching career

In later years Pedernera also coached

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Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP),

, Independiente,

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

and River Plate Pedernera also coached

and

national teams. He is remembered in Colombia for helping the national team qualify for its first FIFA World Cup, the

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

edition in Chile, where Colombia had a good participation. On the other hand, under his coaching Argentina failed to

qualify Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to the 1970 World Cup when the team tied 2–2 with

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in ''

La Bombonera La Bombonera (; , named after its resemblance to a chocolate box, per Viktor Sulčič), officially known as Alberto José Armando Stadium (, ; named after Alberto Armando), is an association football stadium located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

''. This was the first time that Argentina failed to qualify to a World Cup tournament.

Later years

In 1993, he published his autobiography named "''El fútbol que viví ... y que yo siento''" (the football I lived ... and I feel), assisted by journalist Alejandro Yebra. In 1994, Pedernera was reunited for the last time with his lifelong friends Alfredo Di Stéfano and Pipo Rossi at the Feria Internacional del Libro in Bogotá. Pedernera died the next year.

Honours

Player

River Plate *

Primera División Argentina Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

: 1936, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1945 *

Copa Ibarguren The Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, also called Campeonato Argentino
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the RSSSF or simply Copa Ibarguren was an offi ...

: 1937, 1941, 1942 *

Copa Adrián C. Escobar The Copa Adrián C. Escobar was an official List of Argentine football national cups, Argentine football cup competition contested by clubs of Argentina, organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) from 1939 to 1949. The trophy of the to ...

: 1941 *

Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao ( English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA- AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions o ...

: 1936, 1937, 1941, 1945 Millonarios *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

: 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953 *

: 1953 *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

Argentina *

: 1941, 1945, 1946 Individual * Copa América Best Player: 1946 *

Argentina All Times Dream Team (Team C): 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedernera, Adolfo 1918 births 1995 deaths Footballers from Avellaneda Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Atlético Atlanta footballers Millonarios F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Categoría Primera A players Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia América de Cali managers Argentine football managers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Club Atlético Independiente managers Boca Juniors managers Club Atlético River Plate managers Club Atlético Banfield managers All Boys managers Club Nacional de Football managers Argentina national football team managers Colombia national football team managers 1962 FIFA World Cup managers San Lorenzo de Almagro managers Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Copa América–winning players Men's association football forwards Categoría Primera A managers 20th-century Argentine sportsmen