Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995) was an Argentine football 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'' ( Spanish for "the Machine") 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.

("The Machine"), with whom he won several Argentine and South American titles, and the Millonarios team called Ballet Azul ("Blue Ballet") that won the Small Club World Cup in 1953 among many others Colombian titles. Pedernera's play with the Argentina national team, helped win the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January– August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

and 1946, 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 s ...

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 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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 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 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, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

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: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Ass ...

and 1946. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 concept i ...

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

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, he ...

, Félix Loustau, 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 (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: * Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda ...

who he would later be teammates with them for CD Los Millonarios in Colombia, but first, in 1947, he was offered a million pesos to play for

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

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 Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ Maya mythology, Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in ...

where he started his career. However,

Carlos Aldabe Carlos Roberto Aldabe (January 1, 1919 – October 16, 1998) was an Argentine Association Football player and coach. He is mostly known for leading the then prominently staffed Colombian club CD Los Millonarios as player-manager to their first ch ...

, the trainer of Millonarios, visited Pedernera in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

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 period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...

, Colombia. 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 association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

) 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, 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 2022. * January 2 – ...

. 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 footba ...

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. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

and was in this position instrumental in winning the three consecutive championships from 1951 to 1953 and the Copa Colombia of 1953. In this era the Millonarios defeated such other strong teams at the time as

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

's Bolívar,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

's Rapid Wien, 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 (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

4–2 at Chamartín Stadium. 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 Small Club World Cup ("Pequeña Copa del Mundo", an international club tournament held in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

) 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 Nacional in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

, Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP),

, Independiente,

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

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 Colombia and

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

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

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

qualify Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

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

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

in ''

La Bombonera The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Widely known as La Bombonera (; en, The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands r ...

''. This was the first time that Argentina failed to qualify to a World Cup tournament.Argentina-Perú 1969: el peor recuerdo de la Selección en la Bombonera
''El Gráfico'', Nov 2016

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

: 1941, 1946 *

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 Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

: 1936, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1945 *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is th ...

: 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953 * Copa Colombia: 1953 * Copa América Best Player: 1946

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedernera, Adolfo 1918 births 1995 deaths Sportspeople from Avellaneda Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate 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 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 Association football forwards