The record man in Argentine soccer: 333 matches in a row in the First Division

Juan Pablo Estevez

07/27/2021 12:29 PM

• Clarín.com

• Zonal

Updated 07/27/2021 12:29 PM

On Tuesday, July 27, it will be 35 years since the start of a historic streak in Argentine football that is in the hands of

Pedro Catalano

, who, while tackling Deportivo Español between 1986 and 1994, played 333 consecutive games as a starter in the First Division and left an unforgettable mark in the fans of the Bajo Flores team.

Catalano was born and lived in Avellaneda until he was 16 years old, then he left for Quilmes and finally moved to

Gerli

in 1974

, in the district of Lanús, the neighborhood in which he currently lives.

His path in the world of football occurred in a peculiar way:

he did not make lower divisions

in any club and just made his debut in an AFA tournament at the age of 23 defending the Villa Dálmine goal in the First C.

Pedro Catalano in his days in Deportivo Español.

Photo: Clarín Archive

"I always loved football, but I played it in the neighborhood with friends. We had a team called

Santa Paula

and that competed on Sundays in the Lanús League, which had two divisions: First and Reserve. on another flyer ", Pedro recalls about his beginnings.

At that time the neighborhood tournaments had a high level and did not go unnoticed by the "scouts" of the Argentine ascent teams: in this way he arrived at

Villa Dálmine

, the club where he debuted and with which he achieved promotion to First B but in the one that was only there for a short time because

Deportivo Español

immediately bought it

.

"It

was very hard going from Lanús to Campana

. I worked as a supervisor in a metallurgical factory in Barracas: I entered at six in the morning and only left at 14. From there I took the bus to Constitución, the subway to Retiro and then the train to Campana. I would arrive at the club at 4:30 p.m., because at that time he was training in the afternoon, and then I had to go back. Many times I was stranded there and that, added to the fact that my son was born that year, made I would turn to go to Spanish, which was much closer to me, "he recalls.

Pedro Catalano, posing for Clarín in one of the Spanish training sessions.

Photo: Clarín Archive

With Catalano in the arc Dálmine rose to B, but he, as detailed previously, preferred to return to play in C in order to be close to his family.

And without knowing it, he made one of the best decisions of his life, because with the passage of time he became one of the maximum idols of the institution.

"Before it was impossible to stay alone with football salary: I continued working in the metallurgy until 79, when

Ríos Seoane

-remembered president of Español- assured me that the club was going to cover the part of my salary from my other job: he wanted that I only dedicate myself to stop ", explains Catalano.

And so it was: Pedro dedicated himself exclusively to tackling and starred in the best years of Spanish, achieving promotion to the First B in 1979 and then being the protagonist of the historic promotion to

First Division in 1984

, in which the Galician became champion in a memorable campaign in which he beat teams such as Racing Club de Avellaneda, Colón and Gimnasia La Plata in the table.

Pedro Catalano is the coordinator of the lower divisions of Deportivo Español.

Already being the focus of the flashes in the maximum Argentine tournament, Catalano wrote great pages in the history of local football: on July 27.

Against Gimnasia La Plata, he started a streak of 333 consecutive games, cutting off as a starter in Spanish, a record that remains intact and that seems difficult to overcome.

"In the middle I had several setbacks: one of the most remembered was when in '93 I cut myself with a glass in my house two days before playing against San Lorenzo in Huracán court. They had to give me 38 points in the right arm And I didn't know if I was going to be able to play, but the doctor told me that if I bandaged myself well I could do it, that I might miss some point or other. Finally, I was able to be on the court that day even though my arm bothered me ", remember.

Before the games, he even suffered muscle injuries and cracked ribs, but nothing could keep him from defending so many times in a row the three sticks of his beloved Deportivo Español.

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pedro Catalano (@ pedro1catalano)

"I loved training and playing, I was always very professional and did not want to miss any game for the world. At home they respected my schedules and let me take a nap, besides I always had a very healthy diet; that was the key to having played so long ", highlights who made his debut in the First Division with Gallego at the unusual age of 33 years.

Although he holds one of the highest records in Argentine football, Pedro acknowledges that he never cared too much about numbers: "One day Oscar López and Oscar Cavallero came, who were the Spanish coaches at that time, and they told me that he was getting to the 100 games and then it started little by little. Likewise, I never set out to reach a number, this happened because I always wanted to play and I didn't like leaving the goal or having another person take my place. " 

Today Pedro is the coordinator of the lower divisions of Deportivo Español, a position in which he has been for several years and one of the stands on the court bears his name.

"The love that the Spanish people give me is incredible, there is even a group that bears my name. I will always be grateful to the club and the fans for all the love they give me," he closes.

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