CARLOS CASZELY: WORLD CUP'S RECORD MAN
- Charles
- Feb 1, 2021
- 2 min read
When I say the name "Carlos Caszely" you probably don't know who he is, but he is the owner of 2 World Cup records that will always belong to him.
But first, who is Carlos Caszely?
Born in Santiago, Chile in 1950, the "king of the square meter" is one of Chile's most iconic players, being Colo-Colo (only chilean club with a Copa Libertadores) all time top scorer with 208 goals in 368 games.
HIS ADVENTURE IN SPAIN
After loosing the 1973 Copa Libertadores final against Independiente de Avellaneda (being the tournament's top scorer with 9 goals), he went to Spain in a time chilean players didn't used to succeed outside of the country (In an interview he said that Real Madrid and Pele's Santos were interested in him, but thanks to his political opinions those deals didn't succeed). Valencia was his new destination, Levante trusted in the chilean and he delivered, 41 goals in 56 games over 2 seasons. He then went to Barcelona to play for Espanyol but he dind't played as well as in Levante, injuries arrived. Even thoug he scored 29 goals in 61 games, he wanted to returned to Chile and Colo-Colo recieved him back.
INTERNATIONAL CAREER
He played in the 1974 and 1982 world cup for Chile with amazing players like Elias Figueroa and Francisco Valdés, managed by Luis Alamos in 1974 , Caszely's manager in Colo-Colo and manager of the iconic "Ballet Aul" in the 60's, one of Universidad de Chile's most succesfull eras.
In the 1974 World Cup, Chile faced West Germany, East Germany and Australia. In the first game against the future champions, Caszely created his first world cup record, recieving the first red card in a world cup. Chile loose 1-0 with a goal scored by Paul Breitner. They later draw agaisnt East Germany and Australia, finishing 3rd in the group with 2 points behind East and West Germany. But that wasn't Caszely's worst mistake in a world cup.
After failling to qualify to the 1978 world cup, Chile went to the 1982 world cup with more hope and a more experienced team. They faced Algeria, West Germany and Austria. On the first game against Austria, Chile were 1-0 down when Chile recieved a penalty. And then, tragedy. Carlos became the first player to miss a penalty in World Cup history. Chile went home with 0 points and Caszely is still remembered as the guy that missed THAT penalty.
Even though those records are not the ones you would like to own, Caszely was still an amazing player with great skills, speed and technique that make him one of the best players in Chile's history.
CASZELY'S RED CARD 1974
CASZELY'S PENALTY 1982
Colo-Colo do be goated
What a player! Shame he has those records but still an icon nonetheless