Items19The creator’s order
  1. 1Arsenio EricoArsenio EricoBorn 30 Mar 1915A Paraguayan who became an Argentine institution, Erico scored 293 league goals for Independiente between 1934 and 1946, still the record for the Argentine top flight. His leaping headers earned him the nickname the jumping devil. For European readers, think of a league's all-time scorer whose mark…0i
  2. 2Ángel LabrunaÁngel LabrunaBorn 28 Sept 1918Labruna was the scoring heart of River Plate's 1940s forward line known as La Máquina, the machine, and stayed at the club for two decades, winning nine league titles. He then won more titles as River's coach. Few players are tied to one club's identity so completely: at the Monumental his name is…0i
  3. 3Nílton SantosNílton SantosBorn 16 May 1925Nílton Santos played his entire club career at Botafogo, from 1948 to 1964, and won two World Cups as an attacking left-back at a time when full-backs were meant to stay home. Botafogo named their stadium after him. His one-club loyalty in Rio is a reminder that Brazil's golden generation was built…0i
  4. 4PeléPeléBorn 23 Oct 1940Pelé spent his prime, 1956 to 1974, at Santos, turning a club from a port city into a world touring attraction and winning two Copa Libertadores and two Intercontinental Cups. Brazil's government declared him a national treasure partly to keep him from European clubs. The best player of his era…0i
  5. 5Alberto SpencerAlberto SpencerBorn 6 Dec 1937The Ecuadorian striker scored 54 goals in the Copa Libertadores for Peñarol, still the competition's all-time record, and won it three times in the 1960s. The Libertadores is South America's Champions League, so this is the continental scoring benchmark. That a player from Ecuador set it in…0i
  6. 6Elías FigueroaElías FigueroaBorn 25 Oct 1946Chile's greatest defender did his best work in Montevideo and Porto Alegre rather than Europe. At Peñarol he won Uruguayan titles; at Internacional he captained back-to-back Brazilian championships in 1975 and 1976, heading the winner in the first final. He was voted South America's footballer of…0i
  7. 7Teófilo CubillasTeófilo CubillasBorn 8 Mar 1949Cubillas did play for Basel and Porto, where he is still fondly remembered, but his legend lives at Alianza Lima, the Lima club he joined as a teenager and returned to more than once. He was Peru's league top scorer, South American player of the year in 1972 and the scorer of ten World Cup goals.…0i
  8. 8Ricardo BochiniRicardo BochiniBorn 25 Jan 1954Bochini played his whole career, from 1972 to 1991, at Independiente and won the Copa Libertadores four times and the Intercontinental Cup twice. A slight, unhurried playmaker whose passes were his signature, he was the player a young Diego Maradona named as his idol. Independiente's stadium bears…0i
  9. 9Fernando MorenaFernando MorenaBorn 2 Feb 1952Morena is the all-time top scorer of the Uruguayan league, most of his goals coming for Peñarol, where he led the line in the 1982 Copa Libertadores win. A short stay at Rayo Vallecano and Valencia in Spain barely interrupted a Montevideo career. His scoring seasons, including a record 36 league…0i
  10. 10Zico (footballer)Zico (footballer)Born 3 Mar 1953Zico is Flamengo's all-time top scorer and led the Rio club to the 1981 Copa Libertadores and a 3-0 win over Liverpool in the Intercontinental Cup that December. Two seasons at Udinese were a footnote to his Maracanã years. Flamengo are Brazil's most supported club, and to their fans the early…0i