Severino Varela
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Severino Varela Puente | ||
| Date of birth | September 14, 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | ||
| Date of death | July 29, 1995 (aged 81) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1932–1935 | River Plate (Montevideo) | ||
| 1935–1942 | Peñarol | 74 | (46) |
| 1943–1945 | Boca Juniors | 67 | (43) |
| 1946–1947 | Peñarol | ||
| National team | |||
| 1935–1942 | Uruguay | 24 | (19) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 2008. |
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Severino Varela Puente (September 14, 1913 – July 29, 1995) was an Uruguayan football striker who played for the Uruguay national team on 24 occasions, scoring 19 goals.
Varela started his playing career in 1932 playing for River Plate de Montevideo. In 1935 he signed for Peñarol where he was part of the team that won four successive league titles between 1935 and 1938.
Varela was part of the Uruguay national football team that won the South American Championship, still remaining the equal 3rd highest scorer in the history of Copa América with 15 goals.
In 1942 Varela joined Boca Juniors of Argentina for $32.800. Boca also transferred Emeal and Laferrara to Peñarol as part of the transaction. During the first year of his career in the club of La Ribera, Varela continued living and working in Uruguay (where he shipped each Sunday after the match). Due to the many goals he had scored for Boca Juniors in that year, the club offered him to sign a new contract with a much better salary, but under the condition he had to move to Buenos Aires to live there and to train with the rest of the squad. Varela refused the offer explaining that he could not leave his current job, because, unlike football, it would be his job for the rest of his life.
As a footballer, Varela was a great header, skilled to control the ball, with a fierce attitude to play. He also never missed when shooting a penalty kick. His wearing of a white beret on the field gave him a distinctive range. During his tenure in Boca Juniors, he scored 43 goals within 3 years. 16 of them were headers, 14 from penalty kicks (he did not miss anyone) and 13 of free-kicking shots.
Varela gained recognition amongst Boca Juniors' fans because of his goals to River Plate (playing a total of 6 derbies and scoring in 5). The most remembered of his goals happened in September 26, 1943, when Varela headed the ball after a long pass by Carlos Sosa, diving into the goal and scoring before the ball went outside the field. This goal (defined by Crónica newspaper as El golazo del misterio - The great goal of mystery) allowed Boca to win that match 1-0 and therefore the Xeneizes became new Argentine champions, acclaiming Varela as its new great idol.
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