Rinaldo Fioramonte Martino (; 6 November 1921 – 15 November 2000) was an

Italian Argentine Italian Argentines (; , or ''tanos'' in Rioplatense Spanish) are Argentine-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Argentina during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people ...

forward who played for both the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

and the

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

national football teams. Usually a forward, Martino was a player known for his lethal combination of goal scoring ability, playmaking skills and technique.

Club career

Martino was signed by

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

in 1941 at the age of 19 from Belgrano de Rosario. He made his debut in 1941 against Newell's Old Boys and in 1942 he became the top scorer in the Argentine Primera netting 25 goals in 30 games. In 1946 the team won the Primera División championship. In 1949 Martino moved to Italy joining

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

and helping them to record their first championship since the 1930s. During his time in Italy he made one appearance for the Italy national team. Martino then moved to

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 ...

to play for Nacional helping them to win the Uruguayan Championship. In 1951 Martino returned to Argentina to play for

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 ...

but he was sold back to Nacional in 1952 for 300,000 pesos. He played there until 1953, helping the team to win another Uruguayan league title and several other minor titles. In 1953, Nacional released his pass, and Martino went to

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, for a period of testing during the Rio–São Paulo Tournament. After five games, he didn't like it and was released. Still in 1953 he joined C.A. Cerro who were his last club.

International career

160px, Martino in the Argentina team in 1945. Martino played for Argentina in the 1940s, he made his debut in 1942 in a 4–1 win over

. He was part of the Argentina squads that won 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 ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

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 ...

. During his time in Italy he also made a single appearance for the Italy national team.

After retirement

In 1964 he served as the president of the Argentine ex-footballers mutual society. Martino's love of

Argentine Tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a Time signature, or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in pat ...

led him to establish a ''Casa Porteño'' called Caño 14 in the 1960s which featured traditional tango music for 18 years. He died in Buenos Aires on 15 November 2000 at the age of 79.

Honours

Club

; San Lorenzo * Primera División Argentina: 1946 ;

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

: 1949–50 ; Nacional * Uruguayan Championship: 1950, 1952

International

;

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 ...

References

External links

Juventus statistics

*
AFA profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martino, Rinaldo 1921 births 2000 deaths Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Juventus FC players Boca Juniors footballers Club Nacional de Football players C.A. Cerro players Argentina men's international footballers Italy men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) Serie A players Argentine Primera División players Uruguayan Primera División players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Italian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Copa América–winning players Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Italian men's footballers 20th-century Italian sportsmen 20th-century Argentine sportsmen