Pablo Mario Ansaldo Villacís (2 March 1935 – 31 October 2016) was an Ecuadorian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and manager.

Club career

Born in

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, Ansaldo began his career with hometown club

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club (), internationally known as Barcelona de Guayaquil, is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of fo ...

, making his debut for the club on 23 June 1954 in a 2–0 win against

Panamá Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. In 1958, Ansaldo played for

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Emelec on an international tour. During Barcelona's victorious

1960 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol The 1960 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol () was the 2nd national championship for football teams in Ecuador. The tournament returned after a two-year hiatus using with the same format, but expanded the field of teams from four to eight. A Guay ...

campaign, Ansaldo became the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in Ecuadorian football since the establishment of a national league three years prior. In 1966, Ansaldo signed for

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' Arts and entertainment App & Website * Manta (platform), a Korean digital comics provider Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marve ...

, playing for the club for a season before his retirement.

International career

In total, Ansaldo represented

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

23 times, including four times at the

1963 South American Championship The 1963 Copa América, South American Championship was held in Bolivia between 10 and 31 March 1963. It was won by Bolivian Football Federation, Bolivia with Paraguayan Football Association, Paraguay second. This is, so far, Bolivia's only Copa ...

. On 15 August 1965, during

qualification 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 ...

for the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

, Ansaldo suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung, following a robust challenge from Chilean striker Carlos Campos, resulting in surgery and Ansaldo being sidelined for several months.

Managerial career

In 1965, whilst still playing, Ansaldo took up the role of player-manager at Barcelona. In 1966, after moving to Manta, Ansaldo once again resumed the role of player-manager. Following his time managing in Ecuador, Ansaldo managed Colombian clubs

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

and

Atlético Bucaramanga Club Atlético Bucaramanga S.A., better known as Atlético Bucaramanga, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bucaramanga. The club plays its home games at the Américo Montanini stadium. The club was founded on 11 May 1949 by Rafa ...

. Ansaldo later returned to Barcelona as manager on a number of occasions.

Style of play

Nicknamed ''el gato'' (the cat), due to his reflexes, Ansaldo's hardiness was praised by journalist Mauro Velásquez as being "brave to the point of being described as reckless and suicidal". Ansaldo's performance in a 1–0 win away to

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 ...

on 20 July 1965 won plaudits from the press at the time, with one newspaper reporting that Ansaldo was even capable of stopping the "Caribbean winds".

Death

On 2 September 2016, Ansaldo suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. Following 60 days in intensive care, Ansaldo died at a hospital in Guayaquil at the age of 81 on 31 October 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansaldo, Pablo 1935 births 2016 deaths Ecuadorian men's footballers Ecuador men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Barcelona S.C. footballers C.S. Emelec footballers Ecuadorian Serie A players Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Ecuadorian football managers Ecuadorian expatriate football managers Barcelona S.C. managers Atlético Bucaramanga managers Once Caldas managers Footballers from Guayaquil Men's association football player-managers