Mario Kempes facts for kids
Kempes with Valencia in 1982
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 15 July 1954 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bell Ville, Argentina | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Striker, attacking midfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1961–1968 | Club Atlético y Biblioteca Bell | |||||||||||||||
| 1968–1969 | Talleres | |||||||||||||||
| 1969–1970 | Instituto | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1970–1973 | Instituto | 13 | (11) | |||||||||||||
| 1973–1976 | Rosario Central | 107 | (85) | |||||||||||||
| 1976–1981 | Valencia | 142 | (95) | |||||||||||||
| 1981–1982 | River Plate | 29 | (15) | |||||||||||||
| 1982–1984 | Valencia | 42 | (21) | |||||||||||||
| 1984–1986 | Hércules | 38 | (10) | |||||||||||||
| 1986–1987 | First Vienna | 20 | (7) | |||||||||||||
| 1987–1990 | St. Pölten | 96 | (34) | |||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Kremser SC | 39 | (7) | |||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Pelita Jaya | 18 | (12) | |||||||||||||
| 1995 | Fernández Vial | 11 | (5) | |||||||||||||
| 1996 | Lushnja | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 555 | (302) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1982 | Argentina | 43 | (20) | |||||||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Pelita Jaya | |||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Lushnja (player-manager) | |||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Mineros de Guayana | |||||||||||||||
| 1999 | The Strongest | |||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Blooming | |||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Independiente Petrolero | |||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Casarano | |||||||||||||||
| 2002 | San Fernando | |||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (born 15 July 1954) is a famous Argentine former football player. He was known as a great striker or attacking midfielder. People often call him one of the greatest players ever.
Kempes was a fantastic goalscorer. He was the top scorer in La Liga (Spain's main football league) twice while playing for Valencia. He scored an amazing 116 goals in 184 league games for them.
He was the star player for Argentina when they won the 1978 World Cup. In the final match, he scored two goals. He also won the Golden Boot for being the top scorer in the tournament. On top of that, he won the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. This makes him one of only three players in history to win all three awards at a single World Cup! The other two are Garrincha (1962) and Paolo Rossi (1982).
In 1978, Kempes won several big awards. These included South American Footballer of the Year and Onze d'Or European Footballer of the Year. In 2004, FIFA celebrated its 100th anniversary. They named him one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers. Fans gave him the nicknames El Toro (The Bull) and El Matador (The Killer).
Contents
Club Football Journey
Mario Kempes was born in Bell Ville, a city in Córdoba, Argentina. He started playing football at just seven years old. By the time he was fourteen, he joined the reserve team for Talleres.
His professional career began at Instituto. He then moved to Rosario Central, where he became known for scoring many goals. He scored 85 goals in 105 matches! This impressive record led Valencia in Spain to sign him.
At Valencia, Kempes helped his team win important trophies. These included the Copa del Rey (Spain's main cup), the European Cup Winners' Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup. He also won the Pichichi Trophy twice in a row. This award is given to the top goalscorer in La Liga. He scored 24 goals in the 1976–77 season and 28 goals in the 1977–78 season.
Kempes was known for being a hard-working forward. He often scored goals from outside the penalty area with powerful runs. He wasn't just a player who stayed in the box. Many defenders found it very difficult to stop his attacking style.
Before the 1978 FIFA World Cup, Kempes was the only player in Argentina's national team who played for a foreign club. Coach César Luis Menotti picked him for the team. Menotti said Kempes was "strong, skilled, creates spaces, and shoots hard." He believed Kempes could make a big difference in games.
Kempes had been the top scorer in La Liga for two seasons. He wanted to prove himself at the World Cup in his home country. He had not scored in the 1974 World Cup when he was 19. Even after the first round of the 1978 tournament, he still hadn't scored. But he would soon change that!
After leaving Valencia in 1984, Kempes played for Hércules for two years. Then, he spent six years playing for different clubs in Austria. Later in the 1990s, he played for clubs in Indonesia, Chile, and Albania before ending his playing career.
Playing for Argentina
Mario Kempes played 43 games for the Argentina and scored 20 goals. He played for his country in three World Cups: in 1974, 1978, and 1982. The biggest highlight was winning the World Cup in 1978.
In the 1978 tournament, he was the leading goalscorer with six goals. He scored two goals in three different matches. He scored two goals against Poland and two against Peru. His most important two goals came in the final match against the Netherlands. Argentina won that game 3–1. His second goal in the final, scored in extra time, was the winning goal.
During the same tournament, in a match against Poland, Kempes famously stopped a goal with his hand. This led to a penalty kick for Poland. However, Argentina's goalkeeper, Ubaldo Fillol, saved the penalty. Kempes' goals in the 1978 World Cup Final were his last for Argentina. He was only 23 years old at the time.
In 1978, he was named the South American Football Player of the Year. In March 2004, Pelé himself included Kempes in his list of the top 125 greatest living footballers.
Life as a Coach
After his playing career, Mario Kempes became a football manager. His first full-time coaching job was in Albania with Lushnja. He later managed teams in Venezuela and Bolivia. He also worked as an assistant coach for Valencia and was a player-manager for Pelita Jaya in Indonesia.
Working in Broadcasting
Today, Mario Kempes works as a football analyst and commentator. He provides commentary in Spanish for ESPN Deportes, which is ESPN's Spanish-language channel.
He is also known for his voice in video games. He provides commentary for the Latin American versions of the FIFA video games. He started with FIFA 13 and continued up to FIFA 23. He also comments on the new EA Sports FC series, starting with EA Sports FC 24.
Honours and Awards
Team Achievements
- Rosario Central
- Primera División runner-up: 1974 Metropolitano, 1976 Nacional
- Valencia
- Copa del Rey: 1978–79
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1979–80
- UEFA Super Cup: 1980
- River Plate
- Primera División: 1981 Nacional
- Pelita Jaya
- Galatama: 1993–94
- Argentina
- FIFA World Cup: 1978
Individual Awards
- Argentine Primera División top scorer: 1974 Nacional, 1976 Metropolitan
- Pichichi Trophy (La Liga top scorer): 1977, 1978
- FIFA World Cup Golden Boot (top scorer): 1978
- FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (best player): 1978
- FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1978
- Ballon d'Or: 1978 (awarded later as "new winner")
- Onze d'Or: 1978
- Olimpia de Plata: 1978
- South American Footballer of the Year: 1978
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup top scorer: 1979–80
- FIFA 100: 2004 (named one of the 125 greatest living footballers)
- Golden Foot: 2007 (as a football legend)
- Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes: In 2010, a stadium in Córdoba, Argentina was named after him.
- AFA Team of All Time (published 2015)
- IFFHS Argentina All Times Dream Team (Team B): 2021
Images for kids
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Heroes of Valencia 79
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See also
In Spanish: Mario Kempes para niños
