Eusebio Tejera
Eusebio Ramón Tejera Kirkerup ("León del Maracaná") (6 January 1922 – 9 November 2002) was a Uruguayan footballer. From 1945 to 1950 he played for Club Nacional de Football, winning the Uruguayan championship in 1946, 47 and 50. He also earned 31 caps for the Uruguay national football team from 1945 to 1954. He was part of Uruguay's team championship at the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and also participated in the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He was big and tough defender, tireless fighter, physically strong and indomitable perseverance. From the beginning he had a special features: grit, toughness, sharpness and courage, virtues that were quickly brought him to fame. Versatile player of high quality. Popular "El Cato" launched a style of play "fly backs," also emphasized the long and accurate passing. Widely regarded as one of Uruguay's greatest defenders of his era.
 The Uruguay national team at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Tejera is the third from left standing. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eusebio Ramón Tejera Kirkerup | ||
| Date of birth | January 6, 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | Uruguay | ||
| Date of death | November 9, 2002 (aged 80) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1943–1945 | River Plate Montevideo | 112 | (1) |
| 1945–1950 | Nacional | 155 | (1) |
| 1950–1951 | Cúcuta Deportivo | 61 | (0) |
| 1951–1955 | Defensor Sporting | 311 | (13) |
| Total | 639 | (15) | |
| National team | |||
| 1945–1954 | Uruguay | 31 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Club career
The 1.80-metre-tall defender, known as El Cato, who was mainly used as a left-back or centre-back, began his football career at Bella Vista. From 1943 and 1945 he played for River Plate Montevideo. From 1945 to 1950 he found the sporting highlight of his career with the Montevideo club Nacional, with whom he became Uruguayan national champion in 1946, 1947 and 1950. He played 155 games for the Bolsos, in which he also scored one goal. He then played for Cúcuta Deportivo and finished his career with Uruguayan club Defensor.
International career
Tejera debuted for the Uruguayan national team on January 24, 1945, when he faced Ecuador in that year's Copa América at the National Stadium in Santiago. He was still a player for Uruguayan River Plate. The team was only in fourth place. As a Nacional player, he was in two more editions of the Copa América, in 1946 and 1947, with Celeste finishing fourth and third respectively. In 1949 the entire national team was disbanded, being represented by a youth team in the face of the long strike that had broken out the previous year.
Tejera was a starter at the 1950 FIFA World Cup even eight pounds above ideal, with photographs from the time recording a protruding belly. The summons did not cease to be widely criticized by the press of his country. Tejera was paired with Matías González from the first match, 8-0 on Bolivia. But the lack of form hampered him in the following matches. Against Spain, Uruguay started out winning, but the score was reversed to 2-1 after Tejera could not keep up with the speed of opposing winger Estanislao Basora. The South Americans got the draw thanks to an individual move by Obdulio Varela.
Against Sweden, the unfolding was similar: the Uruguayans started winning and suffered a partial upset of 2-1. Tejera was the only lineman to remain on the back foot while the rest of his teammates advanced to avoid defeat, a tactic rewarded with another turnaround, now favorable, with Celeste winning 3-2 thanks to two goals in the final fifteen minutes. On the day of the Maracanaço, Tejera and the other Uruguayans looked relaxed when they were profiled in the pre-match ceremonies against Brazil. When the two teams posed for photographs, the bulk of the reporters positioned themselves to record the Brazilians. Tejera then went on to exclaim: Come here, the champion is here
In the match, Tejera was in charge of marking Zizinho, being assisted in the task by the right midfielder Juan Alberto Schiaffino, who retreated with the other midfielder, Julio Pérez, to reinforce the marking in order to avoid the exchanges of passes between Zizinho, Ademir and Jair, plays that had made Brazil thrash their previous opponents. Tejera also occasionally assisted Matías González in marking on Ademir. The tactic took effect in the first half, which ended at 0-0 and with the most dangerous shots being created by the visitors. In the second half, he was not to blame for Friaça's Brazilian goal.
After the World Cup, Tejera went to play in the Colombian team of Cúcuta, which earned him a few years of absence in the national team, which only in the 1970s began to admit the convocation of those who played abroad. He returned to Uruguay to play for Defensor, in time to be called up to the 1954 FIFA World Cup. However, he did not play any matches, with the celestial defense being composed of José Santamaría, William Martínez and Víctor Rodríguez Andrade. Tejera's last match for Uruguay took place on 5 June of that year, the date of the last match before the World Cup, in which the defunct Saarland team was thrashed 7-1 in Saarbrücken.
Other websites
- Profile (in Spanish) Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine