Adolfo Pedernera
Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995) was an Argentine football player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" for his skill, he is considered one of the best players of the 1940s and one of Argentina's greatest.
He played mainly as an inside forward. He began with Huracán, then joined River Plate, making his first-team debut in 1935 at 16. With River Plate he was part of La Máquina and won five Argentine league titles (1936, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1945). He also played for Atlanta and Huracán before moving to Colombia.
In 1949 he joined Millonarios in Bogotá, where he starred alongside Alfredo Di Stéfano and Néstor Rossi. He helped Millonarios win multiple titles, including the Colombian championship and the Small Club World Cup in 1953. He served as player-manager from 1951 to 1953 and led the team to three straight league titles (1951–1953) and the Copa Colombia in 1953. Millonarios earned fame in Europe after beating Real Madrid during a 1952 tour.
Internationally, Pedernera earned 21 caps for Argentina and scored seven goals. He won the Copa América with Argentina in 1941 and 1946, and was named the best player of the 1946 tournament.
As a coach, he led many clubs in Argentina, Colombia and elsewhere, and also managed the Argentina and Colombia national teams. He helped Colombia reach its first World Cup in 1962, while Argentina missed qualification for the 1970 World Cup under his guidance. In 1993 he published his autobiography, El fútbol que viví ... y que yo siento.
Pedernera died in Avellaneda, Argentina, in 1995 at the age of 76.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:24 (CET).