Severino Varela was a former Uruguayan footballer who used to play as a striker. Born on 14 September 1913, Varela's football journey began 22 years later in 1932. He started his football career with Uruguayan club River Plate Montevideo. This was followed by stints at South American clubs Peñarol and Boca Juniors. Between these heroics at club level, he was an integral part of the Uruguay national side.
In fact, the Uruguay striker is still known to this date for being the country's all-time top scorer at the Copa América with 15 goals.
Let us now rewind the years and look back at his career:
Player profile
Looking back at his style of football, Varela was excellent when it came to ball control and his heading skills. His fiery attitude to the game was another major positive. He is also said to have never missed a penalty kick during his career.
The Uruguayan also stood out in terms of appearance. He was known for wearing a white beret on the field, which is said to have given him a distinct range. Varela's time at Boca Juniors was also a testament of his diverse goalscoring abilities. Out of his 43 goals for the club in 3 years, 16 of them were headers, 14 from penalty kicks (with 0 misses) and 13 of free-kicking shots.
Early football years and international glory
After spending 3 years at his first club River Plate Montevideo, the Uruguayan signed for Peñarol in 1935. It was at Peñarol that he won the league title 4 times in a row between 1935 and 1938.
4 years later in 1942, he was a part of the legendary Uruguay squad which won the 1942 South American Championship. Varela’s contributions for his nation remain historic. He is still the third joint top scorer in the history of Copa América with 15 goals.
The Boca stint
It was in the same year of 1942 that Varela joined Argentine club Boca Juniors for a fee of $32.800. As a part of the deal, Boca transferred their players Emeal and Laferrara to Peñarol as well.
An interesting fact is that Varela continued to live and work in Uruguayan during his first year at Boca, despite the club being based in Argentina. In fact, he shipped each Sunday after a match. Despite this, the player scored many goals for his club that year.
This resulted in Boca offering him a new contract with better payment, under the condition that he move to Buenos Aires to live there and to train with the rest of the squad. Surprisingly, the Uruguayan striker denied the excellent offer he was presented with. He explained that he could not leave his current job, because, unlike football, it would be his job for the rest of his life.
Varela became prominent among the Boca fans due to his excellent performance against rivals River Plate. In the 6 derbies that he played against them, he managed to score 5 goals.The most memorable goal out of these was during the derby on September 26, 1943. This was when a long pass by teammate Carlos Sosa reached Varela, who dived into the goal and scored before the ball went outside the field.
It was a legendary goal, as it allowed Boca to win that match 1-0 and therefore become the new Argentine champions. This was the match that solidified Varela as a legend of Boca.
After winning a few more league titles in 1943 and 1943, Varela eventually left the club as a free agent. Once his run in Boca Juniors was finished, Varela returned to Peñarol, where he played out his career. The Uruguayan legend retired from football in 1947, leaving behind a legacy that'll never be forgotten.
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