Argentine football said goodbye this Thursday to one of its most emblematic figures: José Francisco Sanfilippo died at the age of 91 in Buenos Aires. Undisputed idol of San Lorenzo, champion with the Argentine National Team and owner of a personality as impactful as his goal-scoring ability, the "Nene" became a reference that was impossible to ignore both on and off the pitch.
The news was confirmed by the Boedo club, which honored him with a message full of emotion: "At 91 years old, José Francisco Sanfilippo left this plane. An indelible legend of San Lorenzo and Argentine football who will forever rest in our hearts. Thank you for so much, Nene".
Born on May 4, 1935, in the Flores neighborhood, just a few blocks from where the blue-and-red headquarters would be built decades later, Sanfilippo built a career marked by goals. Coming up through the ranks of San Lorenzo, he debuted in the First Division in 1953 and quickly became one of the great figures of Argentine football.
His name is forever etched in the club's history: he scored 205 official goals wearing the blue-and-red jersey, a record that still keeps him as the top scorer in the team's history. Between 1958 and 1961, he was the top scorer of the Argentine championship for four consecutive seasons and had his best year in 1960, when he scored 34 goals in 40 matches.
