Ricardo Elvio Pavoni Cúneo (born August 8, 1943 in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) is a

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 ...

an former

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 ...

defender who played the majority of his career for

Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, which plays in the Argentine Primera Divi ...

in the Argentine First Division.

Career

Club

Pavoni began his football career with the Montevidean club Defensor. Disillusioned with life as a footballer, he was on the point of abandoning the game completely and going to work in a

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

as a

croupier A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos. Origin of the word Originally a "croupier" mean ...

until he was convinced to play football for Independiente of

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 ...

. The left-sided full-back has been described as a natural leader and the perfect man-marker. He was also responsible for scoring 57 goals. He arrived to Independiente at age 21 to replace Tomás Rolan, another Uruguayan who had suffered a serious injury. His first match for Independiente was on March 24, 1965, in a

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

match. Independiente beat

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 ...

by two goals to nil. For twelve seasons (1965–1976) he was idolised by the Independiente fans. He was particularly remembered for his powering runs along the left wing, putting away free kicks with his left foot and for his frequent last-ditch efforts to clear the ball from the goal-line. He is considered by many to be the archetypal Uruguayan footballer. Pavoni (affectionately known as "el Chivo") won many honours during his career, including the Argentine first division championships three times, the

five times, the

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

on three occasions and one Copa Intercontinental. He was also a member of the Uruguayan squad that took part in the World Cup of 1974, in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Since retirement, he has been involved with the club as a trainer with reserve and youth teams. He has also been caretaker manager of the first team on several occasions.

International

Pavoni played 13 times for the Uruguay national team between 1962 and 1974, scoring two goals. He was part of the Uruguay squad for the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

.rsssf: Uruguay 1974 World Cup Squad
/ref>

Honours

;Independiente *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

(3): Nacional 1967, Metropolitano 1970, Metropolitano 1971 *

(5):

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

(3):

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

* Intercontinental Cup (1):

References

External links

Futbol Factory profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavoni, Ricardo 1943 births Living people Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan men's footballers Defensor Sporting players Club Atlético Independiente footballers Copa Libertadores–winning players Argentine Primera División players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Uruguay men's international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football defenders 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen