Horacio Casarín

Horacio Casarín

Personal information
Full name	Horacio Casarín Garcilazo
Date of birth	25 May 1918
Place of birth	Mexico City, Mexico
Date of death	10 April 2005 (aged 86)
Place of death	Mexico City, Mexico
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1936–1942	Necaxa
1942–1948	Atlante F.C.
1948–1950	Barcelona
1950	Real Club España
1950–1951	Necaxa
1951	Veracruz
1951–1953	Zacatepec
1953–1955	Atlante F.C.
1955–1956	América
1956–1957	Monterrey
National team
1937–1956	Mexico	16	(15)
Teams managed
1978–1979	Zacatepec
1979	Tecos
1981–1984	Atlante
Honours Representing  Mexico Men's Football Central American and Caribbean Games 1938 Panama Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Horacio Casarín Garcilazo (25 May 1918 – 10 April 2005) was a Mexican football player and coach who established himself as one of his country's most popular sports figures in the 1940s and 50's. A symbol for Atlante F.C., the team Casarín served for the majority of his career, the skilled forward also played for Necaxa, Leon, Asturias, Club América, Real España, CF Monterrey and Zacatepec in his country, as well as FC Barcelona in Spain and the Selección de fútbol de México (Mexico national team).

Career history

At age 17, Casarín debuted for Necaxa. Over the course of his career in Mexico, Casarín scored 236 goals at the amateur and professional levels (the Mexican League was founded in the early 1940s) and represented his country at the 1950 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil and scored a goal during the run of the tournament. A well-known anecdote involving Casarín takes place during a 1939 game between Casarin's Necaxa, and Asturias. After scoring a goal in the first few minutes of the game, defenders sought out Casarín and fouled him mercilessly, until the goalscorer was forced to abandon the pitch after only twenty minutes had gone by. The game ended in a 2–2 draw, but outraged Necaxa fans expressed their ire by burning Asturia's wooden stadium.

With Atlante, Casarín scored 95 goals and helped the Potros win the 1946–47 season championship, while cementing his popularity by acting in the football-themed movie, "The sons of Don Venacio". Word of Casarín's role in the film spread, and the movie became a box-office success in Mexico. Casarín played his last game as a professional on 18 November 1956, scoring a goal for CF Monterrey. He scored 174 goals in the Primera División during his career.^[1]

As a coach, Casarín's biggest achievement was coaching the Mexican U-20 national football team to a second-place finish in the inaugural FIFA U-20 World Cup in Tunisia in 1977. Casarín's squad lost the final game 9–8 in penalty kicks against the USSR. He also coached Atlante and Tecos UAG.

Casarín's failing health finally gave out on 10 April 2005, only a few months after his wife, Maria Elena King, had died. He died of complications arising from Alzheimer's disease.

References

1. "Murió el domingo Horacio Casarín" [Horacio Casarín died on Sunday] (in Spanish). El Siglo de Torreón. 11 April 2005.

External links

• Casarín bio hosted in a fans site (in Spanish in geocities.com) at the Wayback Machine (archived January 14, 2005)
• Profile at MedioTiempo