Ubaldo Fillol

Ubaldo Matildo Fillol (; born 21 July 1950), nicknamed el Pato , is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He took part in the 1974, 1978 (where he won the championship with his team and was voted Best Goalkeeper) and 1982 World Cups representing the Argentina national team. He also played in the South American qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup, but he was finally not chosen for the final team that played (and won) in Mexico. He is considered one of the best Argentine goalkeepers ever.

Playing career Born in San Miguel del Monte, Fillol took his first steps as goalkeeper in an amateur club of the city, where he spent four years. Former River Plate player and manager Renato Cesarini would be his mentor after seeing him play at the regional league. In 1965 Fillol arrived to Quilmes A.C. to play at club's youth divisions. At the age of 18, Fillol debuted in the Argentine top division playing for Quilmes vs. Huracán on 1 May 1969. He soon drew public attraction due to his agility and quick reflexes that allowed him to make acrobatic saves.

In the 1970 Metropolitano championship Fillol stopped the first penalty in his career to Gimnasia y Esgrima LP forward Delio Onnis. That same year Quilmes would be relegated to Primera B, where Fillol played 23 matches with the club. In 1972 Fillol was signed by Racing Club de Avellaneda, debuting in the 1972 Metropolitano tournament. In that championship, Fillol set a record of six penalties saved, the highest in Argentine football for a single season. In November that year, he moved to Brazil to play for Flamengo. There, he won the Taça Guanabara with the club in 1984.

Fillol's debut in European football was in 1985 when he was transferred to Atlético Madrid at the age of 35. With Fillol as goalkeeper, the club won the 1985 Supercopa de España. In 1986 Fillol returned to Racing, where he won the first edition of the Supercopa Sudamericana in 1988, which was also the club's first international title since the 1967 Intercontinental Cup

At the age of 40, Fillol retired from football ending his career in Vélez Sarsfield in the last match of the 1990 Apertura championship, a 2–1 win over River Plate at the Estadio Monumental on 22 December 1990. Fillol had an outstanding performance, even stopping a penalty from forward Rubén da Silva. Fillol also held the record of 26 penalties stopped, the highest in Argentine football, sharing this record with Hugo Gatti.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Fillol served as goalkeeping coach for the Argentine national team until he became the head coach for Racing Club in 2003. After a short tenure as Racing manager, Fillol returned to his role as goalkeeping coach for Argentina, also working at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Fillol continued his career coaching goalkeepers at River Plate, but he resigned after a match against San Lorenzo in which Juan Pablo Carrizo refused to accept his gesture of support after a mistake that allowed the rival team to score a goal. Fillol alleged he felt "humiliated" by Carrizo and showed his desire to continue in the club but only working with youth players, as he had done before. Finally, Fillol would return to River Plate in 2014, serving as director of club's goalkeepers section.

Rivalry For his River Plate career, he was the counterpart of Hugo Orlando Gatti, another Argentine goalkeeper who played in the nemesis team, Boca Juniors. Fillol was the image of professionalism and seriousness; "Madman" Gatti, on the other hand, looked eccentric, unorthodox.

Trivia At the 1978 World Cup, Fillol wore the number 5 jersey, instead of 1 which is the standard for goalkeepers. This happened because Argentina, at that time, gave players their numbers alphabetically. The number 1 jersey was worn by offensive midfielder Norberto Alonso. For the same reason, Fillol wore the number 7 jersey at the 1982 tournament while Osvaldo Ardiles (another midfielder) wore the number 1. This practice was last permitted in 1986, when FIFA stated that the number 1 shirt should only be worn by goalkeepers.

Honours

River Plate Primera División (7): 1975 Metropolitano, 1975 Nacional, 1977 Metropolitano, 1979 Metropolitano, 1979 Nacional, 1980 Metropolitano, 1981 Nacional Copa Libertadores runner-up: 1976

Flamengo Taça Guanabara: 1984 Taça Rio: 1985

Atlético Madrid Supercopa de España: 1985 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1985–86

Racing Club Supercopa Libertadores: 1988

Argentina FIFA World Cup: 1978

Individual Footballer of the Year of Argentina: 1977 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1978 Silver ball South American Player of the Year: 1978, 1983, 1984 El Grafico 3d Best South American Player of the Year: 1981 AFA Team of All Time (published 2015) IFFHS Argentina All Times Dream Team (Team B): 2021 South American Team of the 20th Century