Oreste Corbatta

Oreste Corbatta
Corbatta on the cover of El Gráfico, 1957
Personal information
Full name Oreste Omar Corbatta Fernández
Date of birth (1936-03-11)11 March 1936
Place of birth Daireaux, Argentina
Date of death 6 November 1991(1991-11-06) (aged 55)
Place of death La Plata, Argentina
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Playing position Winger
Youth career
Estudiantes LP
1953–1955 Juverlandia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1955–1962 Racing Club 177 (72)
1962–1965 Boca Juniors 18 (7)
1965–1968 Independiente Medellín 145 (34)
1970 San Telmo 33 (10)
1971 Italia Unidos
1973–1974 Tiro Federal
National team
1956–1962 Argentina 43 (18)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Oreste Omar Corbatta Fernández (11 March 1936 – 6 November 1991) was an Argentine footballer.

Dubbed Arlequín[1] and El dueño de la raya (The chairman of the sideline), he played for five clubs in his country – six in total – mainly Racing Club and Boca Juniors, winning four major titles and scoring 86 official goals with both teams combined.

An accomplished penalty kick taker and widely regarded as the best Argentine right winger of all time, Corbatta earned more than 40 caps for the national side in the 50s/60s, and represented the country at the 1958 World Cup.

Club career

Born in Daireaux, Buenos Aires Province to an Italian immigrant from Recanati and an Argentine mother,[2] Corbatta started his professional career in 1955 with local Racing Club de Avellaneda, making his Argentine Primera División debut on 30 April in a 0–1 loss against Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, and helping La Academía to the 1958 and 1961 league titles.[3]

In 1963, Corbatta joined Boca Juniors for 12 million pesos, with which Racing was able to improve the conditions in its stadium and build new sporting facilities. On 19 May 1963, he scored all the goals in a 3–0 home win against Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield, and also featured in that year's Copa Libertadores final loss against Pelé's Santos FC; in his final two years in La Bombonera, he added a further two national championships.

Corbatta joined Independiente Medellín in 1965, remaining in Colombia for three years. He returned to his country for spells with lower league sides Club Atlético San Telmo, Italia Unidos and Tiro Federal, retiring from football at the age of 38.[3] During his professional career, he only missed four of 68 penalties.[1]

International career

Corbatta played a total of 43 games for Argentina in which he scored 18 goals, at one time ranking in joint-13th place with Domingo Tarasconi.[4] He was part of the Copa América-winning team in 1957, repeating the feat in 1959.

Corbatta also appeared in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, contributing with three goals in three games in an eventual group stage exit.[5]

Personal life / Tribute

Corbatta struggled heavily with alcoholism, playing several games in a state of full inebriation. Illiterate, he never learned to read.[1][6]

Poor and alone – he married and divorced four times – Corbatta died of larynx cancer in La Plata in 1991, aged 55.[7] In 2006, to mark the 15th anniversary of his death, he was inaugurated into the Racing Club Hall of Fame, and a bronze statue by Daniel Zimermann was unveiled. The Avellaneda municipality renamed the stadium's backstreet to "Pasaje Corbatta" in his honor.[3]

Honours

Club

Racing

Boca Juniors

International

Argentina

References

  1. 1 2 3 El que se fue solo (The departed alone); La Gaceta, 5 December 2008 (in Spanish)
  2. ↑ Alejandro Wall (2016). "Corbatta: El wing" [Corbatta: The wing] (in Spanish). Aguilar.
  3. 1 2 3 "Oreste Corbatta" (in Spanish). Racing Club. 17 December 1991. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  4. ↑ Argentina – Record International Players; at RSSSF
  5. ↑ Oreste Corbatta – FIFA competition record (archive)
  6. ↑ De noches, alcohol y Omar Orestes Corbatta (Nights out, booze and Omar Orestes Corbatta); Notas de Fútbol, 28 March 2008 (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ "Just for kicks". Newsbank. 17 December 1991. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
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