Rubén José Suñé (7 March 1947,

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 ...

– 20 June 2019) was an

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 ...

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 ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who won eight titles with

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 ...

and also played for the Argentina national team,Argentina international players
/ref> With the Argentina national team, where he his international debut in 1969 and played a total of six games for the squad. Suñé is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders and captains in Boca Juniors' history, apart from being one of the idols of the institution. In his two periods with Boca Juniors (1967–72, 1976–80), Suñé played 377 matches, scoring 36 goals. During his entire career, he totalised 527 matches and 52 goals scored.El "Chapa" Suñé, el legendario líder
by Sergio Levinsky on ''Infobae'', 22 Jun 2019

Biography

Suñé started his professional career in 1967 with Boca Juniors where he was part of the squad that won the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

Nacional championship The Campeonato Nacional was one of the two football tournaments that formed the Primera División season (along with the Metropolitano championship) since 1967. The Nacional championship was played annually until its last edition in 1985. The Nac ...

. His first position on the field was

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, then playing as

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

(from 1972), which would be his definitive position. When legendary

Antonio Rattín Antonio Ubaldo Rattín (born 16 May 1937) is an Argentine former footballer, best known as a Boca Juniors midfielder, and because of an incident in a match at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Rattín remains as one of the greatest idols of Boca Junior ...

retired from football in 1970, Suñé was appointed as Boca Juniors

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. On 17 March

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

Suñé was involved in a notorious

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 against

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 ...

vian side

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

where all but two of the

players were sent off after an on pitch battle involving all the players except Julio Meléndez and the two goalkeepers. All the players involved in the riot were also arrested. This is considered the biggest scandal in the history of the continental competition. Due to having been one of the main actors in the violent incidents, Suñé was suspended for one year and a half although he would be pardoned by CONMEBOL. Suñé's career continued in

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 moved in 1973, then joining

Unión de Santa Fe Club Atlético Unión (; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe ) is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina, Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on 15 April 1907. Unión is mostly known for its asso ...

in 1975. Managed by

Juan Carlos Lorenzo Juan Carlos "Toto" Lorenzo (; 27 October 1922 – 14 November 2001) was an Argentine football player and coach. He became an icon for Boca Juniors fans after he coached the club to its first two Copa Libertadores titles. Biography In his teens, ...

, Unión made a great campaign in the 1975 Nacional with Suñé, goalkeeper

Hugo Gatti Hugo Orlando Gatti (19 August 1944 – 20 April 2025) was an Argentine football goalkeeper who played in the Argentine Primera División for 26 seasons

, midfielder Victorio Cocco and forwards

Ernesto Mastrángelo Ernesto Enrique Mastrángelo (5 July 1948 – 22 July 2023) was an Argentine football striker who played for both River Plate and Boca Juniors in Argentina. He also played international football for the Argentina national team. Mastrángelo ...

and

Leopoldo Luque Leopoldo Jacinto Luque (; (3 May 1949 – 15 February 2021) was an Argentine professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career In a career spanning from 1972 to 1984 he played for Unión de Santa Fe, Rosario Central, River Plate, R ...

among others. Gol sune a river

When Boca Juniors hired Lorenzo in 1976, he brought Suñé back to the club. During the next few years Boca had one of the most successful periods in its history, claiming two Primera División championships, two

titles and the 1977

Copa Intercontinental Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association * Parlia ...

. December 22, 1976 was the most remembered day in Suñé's career, when he scored the only goal of the

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 ...

final vs River Plate after shooting a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

. The final was held in Racing Club Stadium and Suñé's goal allowed Boca Juniors to win not only the ''

Superclásico ''SuperClásico'' is a 2011 Danish romantic comedy film set in 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 coun ...

'' but their 20th. league title. Suñé's professional career ended in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

when he joined

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

for one final season. In 1984, he suffered a bout of severe depression and a suicide attempt, but he recovered and took up a coaching role with the Boca Juniors youth team. Suñé died at Hospital Británico of Buenos Aires, but the cause of his death is still unclear.

The "ghost" goal

Despite the Boca–River match being broadcast on television, it was believed that there was no surviving record of that goal (only a photographic sequence published by '' El Gráfico'' served as approach). Because of that, the goal was popularly known as "the ghost goal". Nevertheless, in November 2019, Boca Juniors announced that a record of that goal had been found. A short movie depicting some moments prior to the free kick and the goal was screened at the ''Passion for Boca Juniors Museum'' of

. The release was attended by a select group of members and former players of the club.Histórico: apareció el gol fantasma de Suñé, que no se veía desde la final entre Boca y River del Nacional 76
by Pablo Lisotto, ''La Nación'', 14 Nov 2019

Titles

;

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

(1):

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

* Primera División (4): 1969 Nacional, 1970 Metropolitano, 1976 Nacional, 1976 Metropolitano *

(2):

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

* Intercontinental Cup (1):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sune, Ruben 1947 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Copa Libertadores–winning players Unión de Santa Fe footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentina women's national football team managers 20th-century Argentine sportsmen