World Cup 2010 Blog: Francisco Varallo, Veteran of the 1930 World Cup Final, Now 100 Years Old

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Francisco Varallo, Veteran of the 1930 World Cup Final, Now 100 Years Old Posted: 19 Feb 2010 11:49 AM PST In writing the World Cup team history posts recently, I never once stopped to wonder whether anyone from the first ever World Cup final in 1930 was still around. I just assumed they weren’t. I was wrong. Francisco Varallo, who played for Argentina in the 1930 World Cup final, turned 100 recently. Varallo was 20 years old at the time of the inaugural World Cup, and apparently the youngest player at the tournament. He is the only surviving player. Varallo celebrated his centenary near Buenos Aries, Argentina with a screening of the famous game from 80 years ago, which Uruguay won 4-2. “Never in all my years have I been honoured this way,” Varallo said, smiling, as tears rolled from his eyes, after entering the theatre in La Plata where hundreds of people had gathered to pay tribute to him on Friday. Varalloa was a striker, and apparently had such a powerful shot that he went by the magnificent nickname of Cañoncito (The Little Cannon). Imagine getting in the way of one of his shots? With one of those heavy old leather footballs? No thank you. Varallo had missed the semi-final with a knee injury, but was determined to play in the 1930 final. However, even 80 years later the striker is understandably disappointed about the result. “I played my heart out in the second half and I could feel it in my knee. We were down to 10 men and as the match went on, another was injured, and another,” Varallo told the FIFA website. “I aggravated my injury when hitting the bar with a shot that could have won it for us. I couldn’t even walk. “From that point on they (Uruguay) started to get stronger and, with all due respect to my team-mates, we weren’t gutsy enough. How I cried that day. Even now when I look back it still makes me angry,” he said. Varallo had plenty of other successes though. He won three Primera División titles with Boca Juniors and the 1937 South American Championship (forerunner to the Copa América). Just as impressive, his record of 181 goals for Boca Juniors made him the club’s all-time leading scorer from 1938 until 2008, when Martin Palermo finally surpassed him. Varallo was awarded the FIFA Order of Merit in 1994. Now, time to start a rumour. Argentina famously need a strong #9 going into World Cup 2010. Diego Maradona has shown a willingness to recall older players. So how about recalling Francisco Varallo for World Cup 2010 duty?

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