José Soriano (footballer)

José Eusebio Soriano Barco (17 April 1917 – 22 March 2011) was a Peruvian football goalkeeper who played for the Peru national team and spent most of his career in the Argentine league. He was the last surviving member of the legendary River Plate team known as "la máquina" (the machine).

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Soriano and the second or maternal family name is Barco.
José Soriano
Personal information
Full name José Eusebio Soriano Barco
Date of birth (1917-04-17)17 April 1917
Place of birth Chiclayo, Peru
Date of death 22 March 2011(2011-03-22) (aged 93)
Place of death Buenos Aires, Argentina
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
000?–1940 Alfonso Ugarte
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1940–1942 Alfonso Ugarte
1942–1943 Banfield 46 (0)
1944–1946 River Plate 71 (0)
1947 Atlanta 10 (0)
National team
1942 Peru 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

José Soriano was born on 17 April 1917 in Chiclayo, Perú. He began his playing career in 1940 with Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín of Trujillo nicknamed "los diablos rojos" (the red devils). His good displays attracted the attention of several of the biggest teams in Peru such as Universitario and Alianza Lima and he played one game for the Peru national team without ever having played in the Peruvian top flight.

Playing in Argentina

After a number of strong performances at the 1942 South American Championship he attracted international attention and was signed up by Banfield of Argentina. He played 46 games for "el taladro" (the drill) between 1942 and his leaving the club in 1944 to join Argentine giants River Plate.

Soriano in black, the goalkeeper and captain of River Plate's 1945 championship winning team

He was signed by River Plate alongside three other players (Vaschetto, Fachetti and another goalkeeper Besuzzo). he played 71 league games for River Plate in the legendary team nicknamed "la Máquina" (the machine). His teammates included Adolfo Pedernera, José Manuel Moreno, Ángel Labruna, Félix Loustau and "Pipo" Rossi. The Peruvian goalkeeper was well liked and was considered one of the true gentlemen of the game. He was made the captain of River Plate and in 1945 he led them to the Primera División championship.[1] During his time as a River Plate player the directors of the Argentina national team offered him the chance to play for the Argentina national team but he declined the offer.

In 1947 he joined Atlanta who were ambitiously trying to build a dream team.[2] The team included other star players from the Primera División including Adolfo Pedernera, León Strembel and Higinio García but they did not perform well suffering relegation at the end of the 1947 season prompting Soriano's early retirement from the game.

Later life

After his retirement as a player he continued his involvement with football, he was an important early figure in the Futbolistas Argentinos Agremiados (Argentine players union)[3] and had a role in the organisation of the 1948 strike which resulted in the departure of a number of players to play in Colombia during the era of "dorado colombiano" (Colombian gold). Soriano rejected offers to come out of retirement from several Colombian clubs such as Millonarios, América de Cali and Cúcuta Deportivo deciding instead to set himself up as a businessman.

Despite having never played in the Peruvian top flight Soriano is considered one of the greatest Peruvian goalkeepers of all time and is also fondly remembered as one of the great River Plate goalkeepers.[4] He died in a Buenos Aires clinic on 22 March 2011 at the age of 93 after several days of treatment after breaking his hip in a fall.[5]

Titles

River Plate

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References
  1. Argentina 1945
  2. La legión extranjera Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine at Sentimiento Bohemio (in Spanish)
  3. El adiós a un gran caballero at Olé (in Spanish)]
  4. River Plate goalkeepers Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  5. Murió el peruano Soriano, arquero de “La Máquina” Archived 2012-12-03 at Archive.today (in Spanish)
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