Juan Alberto Schiaffino: A Fabulous Inside Forward
Football has seen several great players who have captured glory on the field. Juan Alberto Schiaffino is one of them.
He silenced all his critics who felt that he would not succeed against the toughest defenders of this sport. He made his mark as a remarkable inside-forward in the 1950s. He joined the Peñarol youth team at 17 years of age and one year later he became the first-teamer. When he was 19, he became member of the South American championship squad of Uruguay.
He performed fabulously at the World Cup, 1950. He scored five goals in this event and became the second highest scorer in it. He scored the equalizer in the final against Brazil that helped Uruguay on the course of victory. After four years, Schiaffino was injured in the semifinal match against Hungary and the South Americans were defeated.
Following the World Cup, 1954 AC Milan paid a huge price to get the services of Schiaffino. After six months he represented Italy for the first time. He played a crucial role in making his club win three Championships as well as reaching the final of 1958 European Cup.
At 33 years of age, he joined AS Roma and played two seasons for them. He finally retired in 1962 after a superb career. In 1976, he managed Peñarol for a short time. He was also the national team manager of Uruguay team for some time. He represented Uruguay in 48 matches and Italy in four matches.