Norberto
Alonso (January 4, 1953 — ), known as El Beto, is a former
Argentine football player, who was with Club Atlético River
Plate for most of his career, and is arguably one of River
Plate's top players ever.
Alonso was born in Vicente López, Buenos Aires province, but
grew up in the poor suburb of Los Polvorines. An offensive
midfielder, he rose through the ranks of River's juvenile
divisions as the team was undergoing its infamous mufa (18 years,
1957 to 1975, without a championship title). When Angel Labruna
took the reins in 1975, Alonso was the team's anchor as holder
of the No. 10 jersey.
With reinforcements Roberto Perfumo and Ubaldo Fillol, and the
maturing of players like Daniel Passarella, Carlos Morete, Jota
Jota López and Reinaldo Merlo, Alonso led the squad that won
both the Metropolitano and the Nacional tournaments for 1975,
ushering in a series of seven local titles in the period
1975-1981.
In 1976, Alonso was traded to Olympique Marseille, but he was
unsuccessful and quite unhappy away from his adoring fans. River
Plate arranged for his return in 1977.
Alonso was not in the plans of coach César Luis Menotti for the
1978 World Cup, but he got on the roster nonetheless, allegedly
as a result of pressure by Admiral Lacoste, an influential
member of the military government. Menotti gave Alonso only a
few minutes of play during the tournament. (Other talented
midfielders such as Ricardo Bochini were even more unlucky, as
they did not have a top-ranking military conection. Menotti used
Daniel Valencia and later Mario Kempes in his position;
Argentina won the world title with Kempes as top scorer.
In the years 1979-1981, River won four local titles, and was one
of the most expensive teams in the world, with a first unit
(Alonso-Luque) playing in league games and an equally
prestigious second unit (Carrasco-Ramón Díaz) used mostly in
Copa Libertadores matches.
After the conflictive political transition that went hand in
hand with River Plate's 1981 Nacional title, Alonso was put on
the transfers list and was sold to Vélez Sársfield on 1982.
After playing alongside veteran Carlos Bianchi, he returned to
River Plate once again for the 1984 season.
In 1983, national coach Carlos Bilardo gave Alonso some play
time in Argentina matches, but later on gravitated towards
younger players: Diego Maradona, Jorge Burruchaga, and Carlos
Tapia. Tapia was one of many talented midfielders that grew up
in River Plate during Alonso's reign (others were Alejandro
Sabella, Nestor Gorosito and Pedro Troglio).
Alonso was a key player of the successful team of 1985-1986 that
conquered River Plate's first Copa Libertadores and
Intercontinental Cup. During 1985, his main partner was Enzo
Francescoli. By the time of his retirement, he had scored 166
goals in 464 matches.
After retiring from the pitch, Alonso opened an insurance agency.
He was also a partner in several commercial ventures, even
though he was not an advertising figurehead—after the 1986 World
Cup, Argentina's banner player was Maradona.
Together with Merlo, Alonso coached River Plate in 1989, and
were dismissed in mid-season when new club president Davicce
made good on an election promise to bring in Passarella as coach.
River eventually went on to win the championship.
Reputedly, Alonso is River Plate's greatest idol ever. The chant
Alooo... Aloooo... was the war cry of the Monumental stadium for
years; rivals would reply with chants of their own, some of them
berating Alonso. But all Argentine fans acknowledge Beto as an
elegant and effective player. |
