Continued....
Nasazzi's international career began in the 1923 South American Championship on home soil, with his debut coming at right full-back in the opening game against Paraguay. Uruguay won that game and the two that followed to claim the championship, and Nasazzi was named player of the tournament. The following year, the national team travelled to Europe for the first time to play in the Olympic Games in Paris. Under Nasazzi's captaincy Uruguay stormed through the tournament, winning all five matches by a combined margin of 20 goals to two to claim the gold medals. Despite this international success, the amateur status of Uruguayan football meant that throughout the 1920s he kept his job of cutting marble for a living.
He would lead Uruguay to further success in the next two South American Championships in which they appeared. Titles were claimed on home soil once more in 1924, and in Chile in 1926, after conflicts within the national association had led them to miss the 1925 edition. Nasazzi did not play in the 1927 tournament as Uruguay finished as runners-up behind Argentina, but was back in 1928 as the team returned to Europe to defend their Olympic title in Amsterdam.
Victories over the Netherlands and Germany took Uruguay into the final against great rivals Argentina, and after a draw in the initial game they claimed victory in a replay. Nasazzi had led his country to a second gold medal, and a fourth major title in just six years. In 1929 he was unsuccessful in the South American Championship for the first time as Uruguay could only finish third, having won all three previous tournaments in which Nasazzi had been in the squad. However, the main focus for the national team was now the first World Cup in 1930, which they would host.
Wins over Peru and Romania in the group stage and Yugoslavia in the semi-final took Uruguay into another final match-up against Argentina. At half-time their hopes were starting to fade as Argentina took a 2-1 lead, but Nasazzi was able to inspire his team to a second half fightback which brought three goals and World Cup glory with a final score of 4-2. As the Olympic Games had been the biggest international tournament in the world prior to the introduction of the World Cup, Nasazzi had now effectively led his country to three consecutive global titles. His impact on Uruguay's success was recognized when he was named player of the tournament.
Nasazzi was denied the chance of leading his country in a second World Cup when the holders refused to take part in the 1934 tournament in Italy in protest at the small number of European teams who had travelled to the 1930 finals. However, there was to be one final success at the end of his career at the 1935 South American Championship, the first such tournament for six years. Just as he had been 12 years earlier,
Nasazzi was player of the tournament as Uruguay took another title by winning all three games, Nasazzi's defence conceding just one goal.
Playing style and Domestic league - Nasazzi helped Bella Vista to win the Uruguayan Second Division with an unbeaten record in 1922, and from 1923 onwards led the team as they became an established force in the top division.
He developed a reputation as a strong, quick defender with excellent positional ability, and quickly caught the attention of the national team selectors. His leadership skills and the respect that he was able to command from his team-mates made him the ideal candidate for the captaincy. Nasazzi became something of a father figure to the rest of the team, even in his 20s, as his colleagues looked up to him and followed his instructions.
Despite his remarkable run of success at international level, Nasazzi had so far been unable to replicate that with his club. Bella Vista had become established as a strong top division club, but had not been able to compete with the older, more powerful clubs in the country. Their best finish had been second behind Nacional in 1924, when there were two competing league competitions. When professional football came to Uruguay in the early 1930s, it was Nacional who made an offer for the national team captain and Nasazzi moved on at the end of the 1932 season.
In his first season with Nacional, the club finished level with rivals Peñarol at the top of the league and faced a play-off, which they eventually won after three matches. At the age of 32, Nasazzi finally had a major domestic honour to go with all his success at international level. A second league title would follow in 1934, as Nacional finished three points clear at the top of the league but that was to be the last championship for Nasazzi as Peñarol went on to dominate the next few seasons.
His international career finished in 1936,
having captained his country to four continental titles, two Olympic gold medals and one World Cup. He retired from playing in 1937, aged 36, but returned as coach of the national side in 1942. In 1945 he led the team at the South American Championship but was unable to repeat the success of his club career, only finishing fourth. Following his retirement, Nasazzi spent some years working in radio before his death in 1968, aged 67. As well as being remembered as his country's greatest captain, he is also immortalised in the name of Bella Vista's home ground, the Estadio José Nasazzi.
In 1999 IFFHS polled for Best south American player of the century, they ranked him at 26 along with Nilton Santos and Ronaldo.
Code:
1."Pelé" (Brazil) 220 (Edson Arantes do Nascimento)
2.Diego Armando Maradona (Argentina) 193
3.Alfredo di Stéfano (Argentina) 161
4.Garrincha (Brazil) 142 (Manoel dos Santos Garrincha)
5.José Manuel Moreno (Argentina) 82
6.Juan Alberto Schiaffino(Uruguay) 52
7."Zico" (Brazil) 51 (Arthur Antunes Coimbra)
8.Arsenio Pastor Erico (Paraguay) 42
Elías Ricardo Figueroa (Chile) 42
10.Thomas Soãres "Zizinho"(Brazil) 40
11.Luis Alberto Cubilla (Uruguay) 25
12.Adolfo Pedernera (Argentina) 24
13.Arthur Friedenreich (Brazil) 21
"Tostão" (Brazil) 21 (Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade)
Obdulio Jacinto Varela (Uruguay) 21
16.Enrique Omar Sivori (Argentina) 19
17.Teófilo Cubillas (Peru) 17
Valdir Pereira Didi (Brazil) 17
Willington Ortiz (Colombia) 17
20.José Leandro Andrade (Uruguay) 16
Héctor Scarone (Uruguay) 16
Alberto Spencer (Ecuador) 16
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23.Mario Alberto Kempes (Argentina) 15
24.Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay) 13
Leônidas da Silva (Brazil) 13
26.Angel Amadeo Labruna (Argentina) 12
José Nasazzi (Uruguay) 12
Nílton dos Santos (Brazil) 12
Ronaldo (Brazil) 12 (Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima)
30.Romário de Souza Faria (Brazil) 11
An absolute legend of the game.
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. People use his old posts as expert opinions and bring out all the old discussions based on what he wrote. Now I love anto and I'm truely thankful for all his insights in Southamerican football, all the great stories he shared. But ffs, he's still just a football fan. He's not an authority or whatever someone called him. I value his opinion but also take it with a pinch of salt.
