Varallo died in his home-town of La Plata on 30 August 2010, aged 100. He was the last surviving player from the 1930 World Cup.[6]
Club career
Early years
Varallo was born in Los Hornos, a district of La Plata Partido in Buenos Aires Province, on 5 February 1910. He made his debut aged 14, and early in his career gained the nickname cañoncito (in English: "little cannon") for his shooting ability.[2]
Aged 18, Varallo had a trial with Estudiantes de La Plata, scoring eleven goals in three games for the club. However, the board of the club where Varallo was a youth team player were supporters of Estudiantes' town rivals Gimnasia y Esgrima, and therefore denied him the opportunity to join Estudiantes. Varallo ultimately joined Gimnasia, making his debut for the club's reserve side, before making his debut for the first team in 1929.[2] During his first season with Gimnasia, Varallo won the Primera División championship with the club after beating Boca Juniors by 2–1 in the final.[7]
In 1930, the forward was loaned for free by Gimnasia to Vélez Sársfield to play for the team during their Pan-American tour.[8] He totaled 17 goals during the tour.[8][1][9]
Varallo moved to Boca Juniors for the start of the 1931 season (the first professional season in Argentina)[7] for a fee of approximately $8000.[10]
He continued to play for the club for the next nine years during which time he won the Primera División title three times, in 1931, 1934 and 1935, as well as coming runner up in 1933, when he was the top goalscorer in the league and of South America scoring 34 goals.[2]
In his nine years at Boca Juniors he became the club's 2nd. top goal-scorer (after Roberto Cherro, although both would be surpassed by Martín Palermo in 2010),[11] with 194 goals in 222 games (scoring average 0.87 per game),[3][12] a record that stood until 2008 when it was broken by Martín Palermo.[7]
During the 1930s Varallo formed strong partnerships with teammates Roberto Cherro and Delfín Benítez Cáceres, who both also scored over 100 goals for the club. In 1938, he was only able to play one game because of a bad knee injury and, although he played more frequently the next year, was forced to retire in 1940, aged 30.[7]
International career
Varallo with the Argentina national team on a cover of El Gráfico magazine in 1933
Varallo represented Argentina at the inaugural World Cup in 1930, held in Uruguay, where he was the youngest player.[13] He played in all three of the team's group games; scoring one goal in the match against Mexico, but missed the semi-final against the United States due to injury.[citation needed] However, he was fit to play in the World Cup final against Uruguay and started at inside right forward.[7] Argentina were leading 2–1 at half time, but eventually lost to the hosts 4–2.
Varallo was also a member of the Argentine team that won the South American Championship in 1937. He scored three goals during the tournament, including a brace in the 2–1 win over Chile.[2]
In his late 90s Varallo had joked that he would have to come out of retirement should Martín Palermo overtake his record of 181 professional goals for Boca.[2]
He marked his 100th birthday in February 2010 in his hometown near Buenos Aires by recalling the 1930 clash between his country and neighbouring Uruguay. In an interview he gave to FIFA to mark his birthday, he stated that losing in the final to Uruguay was his 'greatest disappointment'.[14]
Varallo died on 30 August 2010, in his hometown of La Plata aged 100.[2] Leading tributes to the former player, FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that "The news that Francisco Varallo is no longer with us fills us with great sense of loss, both for his qualities as a person and an ambassador for our beloved sport ... In these grief-filled moments I can take immense pride from the fact that a character such as Francisco Varallo, whom we shall never forget, represented the football family with such dignity".[15] The president of the South American Football ConfederationNicolás Léoz also released a statement expressing sadness at Varallo's death.[16]
Following his death, both of his former clubs, Gimnasia and Boca announced a day of mourning, while the South American Football Confederation announced that a minute's silence was to be held during all Copa Sudamericana fixtures the following week.[17]
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