De la Fuente, Louis

Luis de la Fuente and Hoyos ( Spanish: Luis de la Fuente y Hoyos ; January 17, 1914 , Veracruz - May 28, 1972 , Veracruz ) - Mexican footballer , midfielder . Considered the best player in Mexican football history after striker Hugo Sanchez . According to the IFFIIS survey, he takes 2nd place among the best football players of the 20th century in Central and North America.

Luis de la Fuente
general information
Full name	Luis de la Fuente and Hoyos
Nickname	Pirate ( Spanish: El Pirata )
Born	January 17, 1914 ( 1914-01-17 ) Veracruz , Mexico
Died	May 28, 1972 ( 1972-05-28 ) (58 years old) Veracruz , Mexico
Citizenship	Mexico
Position	midfielder
Youth clubs Espanya (Veracruz) Club career [* 1] 1930-1934 Aurrera 1933-1934 Real Espana 1934-1935 Racing (Santander) 20 (5) 1935-1937 Espanya (Veracruz) 1937-1939 America (Mexico City) 1939-1940 Atletico Corrales 1940-1941 Veles Sarsfield 1941-1943 Deportivo Marte 1943-1954 Veracruz ? (83) National Team [* 2] 1934-1950 Mexico 9 (7)
Awards and medals
Central America Games and the Caribbean Gold Panama 1938 football
↑ The number of games and goals for a professional club is considered only for various leagues of national championships. ↑ Number of games and goals for the national team in official matches.

He had excellent dribbling , plasticity, with a developed sense of pass, a strong and accurate blow from both legs, he played great with his head. De la Fuente was considered a thunderstorm for all goalkeepers.

He, the son of a Mexican mother and Spanish father, was born in the Mexican port city of Veracruz, where he began to train at the Spanish youth club Espana . Luis spent most of his youth in his father’s homeland, in Santander and Extremadura , where he attended school. Returning to Mexico, the capital of Mexico City , Luis, a student at Alfonso XIII College, was invited by the local Aurrera team for a test training, but the school principal refused permission to go, and then Luis simply left college and began to play for Aurerra. Soon he moved to another club - Real Espana , but he didn’t stop there either: having flashed in qualifying matches for the 1934 World Cup , he was bought by Racing from Santander . During a performance for this club, the midfielder regularly flew to Mexico, missing his homeland. De la Fuente did not stay long in Racing: a civil war broke out in Spain ^[1] . Returning to Mexico, Louis tried to get into his old club - Real Espana, which he was denied. Then the footballer moved to another metropolitan club - “America” , where he performed so well that the management of Real Espanyi even wanted to return the footballer back to the team ^[2] .

After playing in Paraguay , Argentina , the Marte club (with whom he won the championship 1942/1943), Fuente returns to Veracruz, with whom he signs a long-term contract (which happened a year before the appearance of the professional Mexican football league), which was valid until the end of his career, until the farewell match on March 13, 1954 , at the Estadio Asul stadium of the Cruz Asul club in Mexico City ^[3] .

Luis de la Fuente and Hoyos died of a heart attack on May 28, 1972 ^[4] . His name is called the stadium "Veracruz" - Estadio Luis "Pirata" Fuente ^[5] .