Enrique Guaita

Enrique Guaita (es; 11 July 1910 – 18 May 1959), also known as Enrico Guaita (it), was an Italian Argentine footballer who played for both Argentina and Italy as a forward. He helped win the 1933–35 Central European International Cup & the World Cup in 1934 with Italy. He played most of his footballing career in Argentina with Estudiantes and Racing Club, but also played in Italy with Roma where he was nicknamed Il Corsaro Nero. An ambidextrous, courageous and fast outside striker, he was able to cover all roles in the attack, so much so that he was also deployed as a center forward during his career years in Rome (a role in which he excelled thanks to an excellent opportunism and sense of goal). With grit and effort, his main characteristic was a powerful shot and was nicknamed El Indio and El Corsario Negro. Regarded as one of the best wingers of all time.

Enrique Guaita

Enrique Guaita in 1931
Personal information
Full name	Enrique Guaita
Date of birth	(1910-07-11)11 July 1910
Place of birth	Lucas González, Argentina
Date of death	18 May 1959(1959-05-18) (aged 48)
Place of death	Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1927–1928	Estudiantes
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1928–1933	Estudiantes	165	(33)
1933–1935	Roma	61	(43)
1935–1937	Racing Club	57	(28)
1937–1939	Estudiantes	27	(9)
Total		310	(113)
National team
1933, 1937	Argentina	4	(1)
1934–1935	Italy	10	(5)
Honours Representing Italy and Argentina FIFA World Cup 1934 Italy Central European International Cup 1933–35 Central European International Cup South American Football Championship 1937 South American Football Championship
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Guaita's first football club was Estudiantes La Plata. He made his debut for the first team on 12 April 1928 in a match against Independiente (4–4), in which he scored three goals. While playing for Estudiantes, he co-founded the quintet "Los Profesores" (The Professors) with Manuel Ferreira, Alejandro Scopelli, Alberto Zozaya and Miguel Lauri, which scored a record 104 goals in the 1931 season.

In 1934, the footballer moved to Italy, becoming a player of AS Roma. He moved to Italy together with Alejandro Scopelli and Andrés Stagnaro. This trio was nicknamed "Tre moschettieri" (The Three Musketeers). He finished the first season with 14 goals in 32 games, and AS Roma finished fifth. The next season was much better. Guaita with 27 goals became the league's top scorer, which allowed them to take fourth place in the league. The striker became famous for scoring three goals against AS Livorno, after which he earned the nickname "Il Corsaro Nero" (The Black Corsair) from the black color of Roma's kits that season.

In the summer of 1935, the Italo-Abyssinian War broke out. Wanting to avoid being drafted into the army, Guaita (along with Scopelli and Stagnaro) decided to return to Argentina. In his homeland, he became a player of the Racing Club, where he spent two seasons. In 1938, he again played for Estudiantes, where he played until the end of his career in 1940.

International career

Guaita is considered to have made his debut for Argentina in a friendly match held on January 21, 1933, in a 2–1 defeat in Montevideo to Uruguay, in which he scored the Argentine goal. On February 5, the two teams played another friendly in Avellaneda, with a local triumph by 4–1. Guaita's move that same year to Italian football ended up preventing more matches for the Albiceleste.

At the time, however, these matches were actually played by a combination of players from the Argentine professional league, with a uniform even different from the traditional Albiceleste shirt (it was white with green details). The association recognized by FIFA remained officially amateur and the split remained until the end of 1934, with amateur players representing Argentina in that year's FIFA World Cup. In 1935, the amateur association was absorbed into the professional league and the combined games ended up being validated as national team.

After returning from Italy, Guaita returned to represent Argentina on January 30, 1937. It was for the final round of the Copa America that year, held in the country. He replaced Carlos Peucelle, a starter in the previous matches, in a duel against Brazil. The Argentines won 1-0, a result that equalized both in the lead and forced an extra game.

In the tiebreaker, Guaita was again a starter, in a 2-0 victory obtained in extra time, in the first final between the two countries. The match was controversial, with the Brazilians even calling it a "game of shame" because of the opponent's intimidation preventing them from even leaving the field. Tim, one of the defeated Brazilians, however, would acknowledge after years that "to tell the truth, we lost because they played better." Guaita was even one of the Argentines who cordially visited the Brazilian locker room, and some opponents joined in the Olympic return. It was his last match for the national team, having always been a starter. He, Alejandro Scopelli (also called up to the tournament) and Raimundo Orsi are the only ones who defended Argentina before and after playing for another country (all three, for Italy).

Guaita made his debut for Italy in 1934, on 11 February, in a 4–2 friendly loss to Austria in the middle of Turin. That and the fact that the opponent played without their best player, Matthias Sindelar, imposed great pressure on Italy's preparation for that year's FIFA World Cup, held a few months later - in contrast to the tranquility previously experienced in a tight-knit team that had won 17 times, drawn six and lost only three between 1930 and 1933. The Argentine, however, stood out by scoring both goals for the Azzurri in the space of two minutes, provisionally reducing to 3-2 a defeat that was on the scoreboard of 3-0.

The team's next game was on March 25, against Greece.[citation needed] This was the only Italian commitment in the first World Cup qualifiers, on the only occasion in which the host country had to play them. Regarding the players present in the defeat to Austria, Italy kept only four starters: Guaita, also Argentine Luis Monti, Brazilian Anfilogino Guarisi and Giuseppe Meazza. The precaution paid off and the Azzurri, who also used another Brazilian, Otávio "Nininho" Fantoni II, won 4-0. Guaita was called up to the World Cup, along with other Argentines: Luis Monti, Raimundo Orsi, both also starters, and Atilio Demaría. They swore that they would refuse to play in an eventual clash against Argentina.

In the World Cup, Guaita made his debut in the second match, in Florence, replacing the Brazilian Guarisi, despite the latter having played in a 7-1 victory (over the United States) in the debut. Guaita was a left winger, but was moved to the opposite wing to keep the lineup of Orsi, also a left winger, following the order of coach Vittorio Pozzo. The next match was against Spain. The opponent won 1-0, with the Italians struggling to get the equalizer, achieved in a move considered foul on goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora. Despite the Spanish protests, the referee ignored the foul and the score remained 1-1 at the end of extra time, with Guaita wasting a good chance on a counterattack, saved by Zamora. The regulations of the time forced an extra game the next day. Some players were exhausted, not playing in the play-off. Guaita, however, was in both matches.

Guaita's first goal in the World Cup came in a reunion with the Wunderteam of Austria, which this time would have Sindelar. It rained heavily in Milan, muddying the pitch, something that would have harmed a more flashy football, mainly affecting the Germans. Guaita scored in the 19th minute of the game, after bumping into goalkeeper Peter Platzer on a cross from the left, surprising the poorly positioned opposing defense, caught on the counterattack. The 1934 FIFA World Cup final was against Czechoslovakia, who opened the scoring in the 31st minute. Italy, through Argentine Raimundo Orsi, equalized five minutes later, which did not fail to worry the host fans: it was the fourth match in ten days for the Azzurri and 300 minutes played in contrast to the 180 of the opponent, who had played only twice.

Five minutes into extra time, however, the Italians took the lead. On the right midfield, Angelo Schiavio and Guaita shared with two defenders, with the Argentine getting the better of the dispute. When Guaita was expected to shoot, he then played to Schiavio, who managed to score despite a shot pressed by Josef Čtyřoký, whose deflection on the ball covered goalkeeper František Plánička, who had kneeled to wait for a shot that was apparently low. After the goal, the Italians successfully locked themselves in to secure the title.

After the World Cup, Guaita played four more times for Italy, against England in London (3-2 defeat on 14 November 1934), Hungary in Milan (4-2 on 9 December, with two goals from the Argentine provisionally turning the score opened by György Sárosi to 2-1), France in Rome (2-1 on 17 February 1935) and finally Austria, 2–0 winners in Vienna on 24 March 1935. That match also marked the farewell of another Argentine from the Azzurri, Orsi, who returned to his homeland. Guaita would do the same that year, fleeing a call-up from the Italian army, which had invaded Abyssinia.

Death

Guaita died young, in 1959, victim of cancer.

Honours

International

Italy

• FIFA World Cup: 1934
• Central European International Cup: 1933–35

Argentina

• South American Championship: 1937

Individual

• Serie A Capocannoniere: 1934–35 (28 goals)
• FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament: 1934

Other websites

• Enrique Guaita at National-Football-Teams.com
• Futbol Factory profile at the Wayback Machine (archived October 20, 2007) (in Spanish)