Osvaldo Castro Pelayo (born 14 April 1947) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played league football for clubs in Chile and Mexico, as well as playing international football for Chile.[2]

Osvaldo Castro
Personal information
Full name Osvaldo Castro Pelayo
Date of birth (1947-04-14) 14 April 1947 (age 77)
Place of birth Copiapó, Chile
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1968 Unión La Calera 95 (71)
1969–1971 Deportes Concepción 109 (65)
1972–1975 América 88 (45)
1975–1978 Jalisco 130 (91)
1978 Universidad Católica 5 (0)
1979–1981 Deportivo Neza 85 (45)
1981–1982 Atlético Potosino 36 (24)
1983–1984 Pumas UNAM 53 (9)
Total 601 (350)
International career
1966–1977 Chile 28 (7)
Managerial career
1984– Pumas UNAM (youth)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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Castro started his career Chilean club Unión La Calera in 1965, before joining Deportes Concepción.[3] After three seasons he transferred to Mexican side Club América.[4]

Castro joined Club Jalisco for the 1975–76 season, scoring 26 goals in 32 league appearances. In all he scored 91 league goals for the club in his four seasons with them. Following Jalisco's removal from the Primera División, Castro returned to Chile and joined Universidad Católica for about a month.[5][3] Next, he joined Deportivo Neza in 1979–80, before moving on to Atlético Potosino for 1981/82. He played his last Mexican seasons with Pumas de la UNAM, finishing with them in 1983/84.[6]

He played for the Chile national football team on four occasions during the 1978 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.[7]

Following his retirement, he has worked as coach for the Pumas UNAM youth ranks.[3]

Personal life

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His nickname was Pata Bendita (Blessed Foot) since he was a young player, due to his strong shoots.[8]

Castro made his home in Mexico City, working as a football coach, also founding the Escuela de Fútbol Colo-Colo (Colo-Colo Football Academy), where footballers such as Pablo Barrera and Luis Pérez began their career.[3] In addition, Castro worked for the American football team Los Angeles Rams, helping players to develop strong shoots.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Osvaldo Castro (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  2. ^ Osvaldo Castro at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ a b c d "Osvaldo Castro: "Pata bendita"". Apuntes de Rabona (in Spanish). 16 October 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Osvaldo Castro". footballzz.com. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  5. ^ Vera Valdés, Juan (11 June 2020). "Osvaldo "Pata bendita" Castro: "Sólo Deportes Concepción una vez me invitó a un homenaje"". ADN (in Spanish). ADN Radio Chile. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  6. ^ Castro's Mexican career stats at mediotiempo
  7. ^ FIFA Profile
  8. ^ a b Navarrete, Luis; Fernández, Denís (15 May 2016). "Osvaldo Castro: El genio de la pata bendita" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
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