La Máquina

Lore & Background

The nickname was given to them by Borocotó, a Uruguayan sports journalist working for El Gráfico, after River Plate defeated Chacarita Juniors 6–2 on 12 June 1942. Borocotó used that adjective to illustrate the performance of the forward line on the field. The core group of la Máquina were forwards Juan Carlos Muñoz, José Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera, Ángel Labruna, and Félix Loustau. Other players that were part of the attacking line were Aristóbulo Deambrossi, Carlos Peucelle, Alberto Gallo, and Renato Cesarini. In La Máquina also debuted Alfredo Di Stéfano and goalkeeper Amadeo Carrizo. The first time they played together was on June 28, 1942, in Estadio Monumental v. Platense. River Plate won by 2-0, with Félix Loustau replacing Aristóbulo Deambrossi as left winger. From 1943 to 1946 the team did not win any league titles, finishing as runner-up in 1943 and 1945.

In Their Own Story

The bus idles outside the stadium. The driver kills the engine and the silence that follows is thick, almost sacred. A midfielder steps out, pulls his blue jersey tighter, and looks up at the stands. Ten thousand faces. Twenty thousand. More. The floodlights hum to life in sequence, and the pitch—that impossible green rectangle—glows like a stage set for a play only the players know the ending to. He walks to the halfway line, touches the grass, and for a moment the Máquina is not a memory. It is a promise. The whistle will sound in four minutes, and the machine will start.

Reader's Guide

Due to its style of play, 'The Machine' is often cataloged as a pioneer in the practice of the so-called Total Football, and the South American predecessor of the Hungarian national teams of the 50's, and the Clockwork Orange Netherlands national team of the 1970's. In 1941, River Plate's La Máquina coaches, Renato Cesarini and Carlos Peucelle, started using the left winger Adolfo Pedernera as a man of reference 'switching him to a more central and withdrawn role and inviting him to alternate between driving into the box to finish moves off and sitting back to direct them'. It was one of the first uses of the figure of the false nine. When Pedernera transferred to Atlanta, a young Alfredo Di Stéfano took his place.

Did You Know?

• La Máquina won a total of 4 titles, including two Primera División (1941, 1942) and two Copa Aldao (1941, 1945), among other titles.
• The team's nickname was coined by Uruguayan journalist Borocotó after a 6–2 win over Chacarita Juniors in 1942.
• La Máquina is often considered a precursor of the Netherlands national team that played the 1974 FIFA World Cup.