Soccer in Sun and Shadow

Scarone

Forty years before the Brazilians Pelé and Coutinho, the Uruguayans Scarone and Cea rolled over the rivals’ defense with passes from the thigh and zigzags that sent the ball back and forth from one to the other all the way to the goal, yours and mine, close and right to the foot, question and answer, call and response. The ball rebounded without a moment’s pause, as if off a wall. That’s what they called the River Plate style of attack back in those days: “The Wall.”

Héctor Scarone served up passes like offerings and scored goals with a marksmanship he sharpened during practice sessions by knocking over bottles at thirty meters. And though he was rather short, when it came to jumping he was up long before the rest. Scarone knew how to float in the air, violating the law of gravity. He would leap for the ball, break free of his adversaries, and spin around to face the goal. Then, still aloft, he would head it in.

They called him “The Magician,” because he pulled goals out of a hat, and they also called him “The Gardel of Soccer,” because while he played he sang like no one else.