Kempes in 2006
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Mario Alberto Kempes | ||
Date of birth | 15 July 1954 | ||
Place of birth | Bell Ville, Argentina | ||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
Playing position | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
Instituto | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1970–1973 | Instituto | 13 | (11) |
1974–1976 | Rosario Central | 107 | (85) |
1976–1981 | Valencia | 142 | (95) |
1981–1982 | River Plate | 29 | (15) |
1982–1984 | Valencia | 42 | (21) |
1984–1986 | Hércules | 38 | (10) |
1986–1987 | First Vienna | 20 | (7) |
1987–1990 | St. Pölten | 96 | (34) |
1990–1992 | Kremser SC | 39 | (7) |
1992–1993 | Fernández Vial | 11 | (5) |
1993–1994 | Pelita Jaya | 18 | (12) |
Total | 555 | (300) | |
National team | |||
1973–1982 | Argentina | 43 | (20) |
Teams managed | |||
1995–1996 | Pelita Jaya | ||
1996 | Lushnja | ||
1997–1998 | Mineros de Guayana | ||
1999 | The Strongest | ||
2000 | Blooming | ||
2000–2001 | Independiente Petrolero | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Mario Alberto Kempes (born 15 July 1954 in Bell Ville, Córdoba) is a retired Argentine footballer who played as a striker. His father, Mario, also a footballer, inspired him to play from a young age. At the age of seven he began playing with a junior team and at fourteen, he joined the Talleres reserves. A prolific goalscorer, at club level he is best known for playing for Valencia, finishing as La Liga's top goalscorer twice, and amassing 116 goals in 184 league games for the club.
At international level, Kempes was the focal point of Argentina's 1978 World Cup win where he scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. He also won the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament, making him one of only three players to have won all three awards at a single World Cup, along with Garrincha in 1962, and Paolo Rossi in 1982.
Kempes won South American Footballer of the Year and World Cup Golden Ball in 1978. In 2004 he was named as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration.
Kempes was nicknamed El Toro and El Matador. During his first stint with Valencia, he won two consecutive Pichichis, scoring 24 and 28 goals in 1976–77 and 1977–78. His career started at local club Instituto, where he played alongside Osvaldo Ardiles before quickly moving on to Rosario Central, where he scored 85 goals in 105 matches and established himself as a notorious goalscorer, which prompted a move to Valencia, where he would go on to win the Copa del Rey, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. Famous as a hard-working forward, he used to strike from outside the penalty area with his surging runs towards goal and was not the traditional center-forward operating solely inside the box. Many defenders found difficulty handling his attacking style.