Matías González

Matias Gonzalez (6 August 1925 - 12 May 1984) was a Uruguayan footballer, who played for C.A. Cerro. He was known as a complete defender who stood out for his leadership, man-marking, toughness tackling and pace. Commonly considered as one of the finest Uruguayan defenders of all time. He won the 1950 FIFA World Cup with Uruguay, he was in the starting lineup for the Uruguayan national team at Maracanaco, where he had a defensive performance described as "impeccable", sticking to top scorer Ademir and also annulling Friaca in the first half.
Club career
Gonzalez only defended Cerro, a small club from Montevideo that never won the Uruguayan championship. The team rose in 1946 back to the tournament's first division, from which it had been absent since relegation in 1929. From there until Gonzalez officially stopped playing for the club, aged 35, the most common placement was fifth place, as in 1949, 1950 and 1951, achieving third place as the best position precisely in 1955 and 1956. He won the Torneo Cuadrangular in 1953 and 1956. He was known as a fan favourite of the club and is recognized one of the most successful players.
International career
Because of good performances at Cerro, Gonzalez debuted for the Uruguayan national team on April 13, 1949. The date corresponded to Celeste's debut in the 1949 Copa America. He was the only Cerro player called up to the competition; the club was last in the Uruguayan league the previous year when it ended, after the first round of the second round.
The Uruguayan championship of 1948 was interrupted by a strike that would only end in April 1949, when Copa America took place. Thus, it was decided that the home title would go to the then leader Nacional, and that there would be no relegation.
The strike meant that secondary players were called to the Copa America, with youth, athletes from the interior or anyone who had not joined the protest - this was the case of Gonzalez. In the campaign that yielded only a sixth place out of eight participants, Gonzalez was in the starting line-up, as well as the only man called up for the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
He, Ruben Moran and Hector Vilches became Cerro's first players called up to a FIFA World Cup. Of them, Gonzalez was the first to debut, participating in all of the team's games in the tournament. Moran was only in the Maracanaco, enough to make Cerro the third most represented team in the decision against Brazil, behind only Nacional (with three) and Penarol (six).
Uruguay came into the World Cup in a turbulent environment; Obdulio Varela even reported that the players were close to not going to Brazil, in protest against reprisals by leaders against the recent strike. In addition, coach Juan Lopez had been chosen just a month before the tournament, after Celeste Olimpica got bad results against the Brazilians themselves, which, in addition to the defeats for the Copa Rio Branco, also included a defeat for Brazil in Pelotas and, in Montevideo, two draws against Fluminense; Uruguayan players found themselves out of shape after two months of inactivity. Before Lopez chose the Uruguayan Football Association, Penarol even vetoed the call up of its players: the AUF despised the coach of the aurinegra team, the Hungarian Emerico Hirschl, desired by the fans and the media. With little time to put the team together, Lopez called exactly the players who played in the Copa Rio Branco weeks before the world cup.
The Rio Branco Cup unfolded in three matches, with Matias Gonzalez playing all of them, repeating in the first two the defense duo with Vilches, later replaced by Eusebio Tejera, who would be Gonzalez 's partner in the world cup. Gonzalez's presence in the team was favored by the intervention of Obdulio Varela, as Gonzalez had been boycotted by colleagues for not having joined the 1948 strike. Gonzalez was a hero in a complicated game against Spain, already in the final quadrangular. The South Americans started winning, but suffered the comeback and needed a risky long-distance shot by Obdulio Varela to equalize in the last twenty minutes. The defender saved at the top of the line what could have been the Spanish victory in the last bid and he was named hero of the match. At Maracanazo, Gonzalez was the most defensive Uruguayan player, not coming out much beyond the half moon. He was in charge of personally marking top scorer Ademir, sticking to him with support from Rodriguez Andrade on the left, Gambetta on the right and Tejera in the center. Gonzalez also annulled Friaca in the first half, in which the Uruguayan tactics worked to prevent the tables between Ademir, Zizinho and Jair, key moves for the routs imposed by the Brazilians in the matches prior to the decision. Gonzalez was the absolute starting Uruguayan defender also in the Copa America in 1953, with William Martinez being his most frequent partner. Uruguay finished third; Gonzalez ended up not being called up for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, he was called up for the 1955 Copa America, but played in just one game, precisely in the 6-1 defeat suffered by champion Argentina. The Uruguayans were fourth. Gonzalez last played for the national team on October 10, 1956, date of the 2-1 defeat by Argentina in Paysandu. He had been left out of that year's Copa America, held in January in Uruguay and won by the country.
Later life and death
Gonzalez went on to work as a civil servant for the National Congress, earning a good salary without much work. He developed problems with alcoholism and died on May 12, 1984.
Honours
Club
Cerro
Torneo Cuadrangular: 1953, 1956
International
Uruguay
FIFA World Cup: 1950
Copa Rio Branco Runner-up: 1950
Copa America third place: 1953
Copa America fourth place: 1955
Individual
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1950
References
World Cup Champions Squads 1930 - 2002
A primeira grande zebra do Mundial (in Spanish)
Uruguay - Record International Players
1925 births
1984 deaths
Uruguayan footballers
1950 FIFA World Cup players
Association football defenders