Victorio Luis Spinetto (3 June 1911 – 28 August 1990) was an Argentine

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 ...

player and manager. He played as a

centre half 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 ...

, mostly for Vélez Sársfield in the

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 ...

, debuting with the club in 1932 and retiring in 1940. After retiring, Spinetto took managerial duties in the team, and held the position for 14 years. Apart from his career in Vélez, Spinetto played briefly for Platense and Independiente, and managed several other teams, most notably the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...

(in a three-men staff during 1959, and alone in the period 1960–1961).

Early life

Victorio was born on 3 June 1911 in

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 ...

to Juan Bautista Luis Spinetto and Margarita María Batigne. He studied in the

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires (''National School of Buenos Aires'') is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, affiliated to the University of Buenos Aires. In the tradition of the European ''gymnasium'' it provides a free educatio ...

Playing career

Club

Spinetto started his career in Platense in 1932. That same year, Vélez Sársfield's executive José Amalfitani offered him to join the club for a salary of $30 Argentine pesos per match. The defender accepted, and debuted with the first team after only one game with the reserves. Spinetto's success was so quick that the club raised his salary to $250 monthly, and $30 for every point won by the team. Despite playing in the defensive position of

, Spinetto was a prolific goalscorer. He made a total 44 goals for Vélez, including four in a game against

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine association football, football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Gre ...

in 1937, when he helped his team come back from a 0–2 to win 5–2. During his career, the defender rejected offers from

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 Italian

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

, finally joining Independiente in 1938 for a $12,000 Argentine pesos transfer fee, plus the loan of a player. He played one year in Independiente, being part of the team that played against River Plate the first game in the Estadio Monumental's history. Upon his return to Vélez, in 1940 Spinetto was part of the team that was

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

from the Argentine first division for the first (and to date only) time in the club's history. Unable to recover from an injury, the defender retired subsequent to the relegation.

International

Spinetto played for the

between 1934 and 1936.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Spinetto took up the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

position in Vélez Sársfield, helping the team return to the first division in 1943. He also coached the team that was runner-up in the 1953 Argentine Primera División season. In 1959, he coached along

José Della Torre José Della Torre (born 23 March 1906 – 31 July 1979) was an Argentine footballer. He played as a right-back for Argentina in the 1930 FIFA World Cup final in 1930, which the team lost 4–2 to Uruguay. After retiring as a player, Della Torr ...

and José Barreiro the

that won the 1959 South American Championship. Spinetto also coached

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

in three periods (1962–1963, 1972–1973 and 1978), totaling 155 games. He then went on to coach in Vélez Sársfield's youth divisions until his death in 1990.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spinetto, Victorio 1911 births 1990 deaths Footballers from Buenos Aires Men's association football defenders Argentine men's footballers Argentine football managers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Platense footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield managers Club Atlético Atlanta managers Argentina national football team managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Argentinos Juniors managers Racing Club de Avellaneda managers Ferro Carril Oeste managers 20th-century Argentine sportsmen