Beto Alonso

A gifted left-footed number 10 and one of River Plate’s great idols, Beto Alonso played with that rare mix of elegance, arrogance and end product that makes an attacking midfielder dangerous in several languages. He could slow a match down, split a defence with a pass, beat a man with soft feet or punish a goalkeeper from distance and dead balls. More than a pure creator, he scored heavily for River, finishing among the club’s leading historical goalscorers, which for a playmaker is not exactly a polite detail. He was central to River’s 1975 revival and later part of the 1986 Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup triumphs. Not always as celebrated globally as Argentina’s biggest icons, but at El Monumental he was royalty. A proper enganche, with silk in the boot and venom in the left foot.