Mateo Nicolau

Mateo Nicolau Garí (18 August 1920 – 29 October 2005) was an Argentinian footballer who played as a forward for San Lorenzo in Argentina, Club América in Mexico, and most notably for Barcelona in Catalonia from 1948 to 1952.

Early life Mateo Nicolau was born in the Argentine city of General Pico in La Pampa Province on 18 August 1920, as the son of Juan Nicolau and Juana Garí, an immigrant family from Mallorca who had moved to Trenel before settling in Pico. He was the youngest of eight children, the first four born in Spain and the last four in Argentina.

His brother-in-law was the actor and film director Hugo del Carril. He then signed for San Lorenzo, making his debut against Ferro on 16 June 1940, and staying there for three years, until 1943, scoring a total of 9 goals in 48 matches. In 1944, he signed for Mexican side Club América, doing so without authorization since Mexico was not a member of FIFA. Due to bureaucratic problems with the Argentine Football Association, he had to wait until 10 October 1948 to make his debut for Barça, which ended in a 4–0 win over Alcoyano. The following day, the journalists of the Spanish weekly magazine Vida Deportiva described him as "a cool, scientific player, with a touch of the ball that is rare in our latitudes and a perfect sense of how to break free". He also started in the 1948 Eva Duarte final, helping his side to a 1–0 win over Sevilla, and in the following year, on 12 October 1949, he again started the final, and this time he even scored, but Barça still lost 7–4 in extra-time to Valencia. On 24 September 1950, Nicolau scored a brace in Barça's largest ever win over Real Madrid (7–2). In total, he scored 24 goals in 75 official goals, Barcelona sources describe him as "always threatening, seriousness and humility".

Later career A tear in his piriformis muscle kept him out for most of the 1951–52 season, at the end of which he stated that he was returning to Mexico "to make way for the youth". There, he won the 1946–47 Mexican league title with Zacatepec, with whom he played for five years, from 1952 until 1957, when he retired.

Death Nicolau died in León, Guanajuato on 29 October 2005, at the age of 85.