Amadeo Carrizo, the goalkeeper who started playing with his feet, dies
River Plate legend, dead at 93
All Argentine goalkeepers are children of Amadeo Carrizo. He defended the River Plate goal for 24 years - he debuted at age 19 - and he still had the strength to play two more years in Millonarios de Bogotá. Carrizo, considered the best South American goalkeeper of the 20th century, taught in his 25-year career that the goalkeeper could also play with his feet.
In training he liked to exercise as a striker to practice that foot play that allowed him to leave his area to play the ball in a time when the goalkeepers only used to stop between the three sticks. His mastery of the ball also allowed him to start his team's attacking game with precise long passes.
Reed he left the area to haggle opponents and was able to catch the ball with one hand at the exits. His idea was to demonstrate that the goalkeeper was also a footballer, that he had chosen to be a goalkeeper when it seemed that only the chubby or the least gifted went to the goal. His peculiar way of playing earned him the admiration of Lev Yashin, considered the best goalkeeper in the world in his time, who gave him the gloves the only time they met.
Carrizo was an idol of River, but he lacked success with the selection. He never recovered from a 6-1 win at the World Cup in Sweden 58 against Czechoslovakia.
But his figure was so great that the Argentine Senate established the date of his birth, June 12, as Archer's Day. His house was River, there he was recognized as honorary president. And with that shield he was unbeaten for 761 minutes, until in a match against Vélez a young Carlos Bianchi broke the record.
At 93 he has died in Buenos Aires.
