Holiday Auction Closing December 7 ,2019
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/7/2019
The Paraguay national soccer team won their first South American championship in 1953 after defeating Brazil 3-2 in the tournament final in Lima’s Estadio Nacional. Paraguay jumped out to a 3-0 lead after goals from Higinio Atilio Lopez, Manuel Gavilan, and Ruben Fernandez scored in the first half. The Paraguayans withstood two goals from Baltazar in the second half to lift their first trophy in the tournament now known as the Copa America.
Offered in this lot is a medal awarded to Paraguay’s coach Arsenio Pastor Erico, the greatest player in Paraguay’s soccer history. Erico, who played for Independiente in Argentina from 1933 to 1946, is still the all-time high scorer in the Argentina Primera Division with 295 goals in 325 league appearances. This offered medal features an enameled C.N.D. logo on the front, with a high relief etching reading “Consejo Nacional de Deportes / Asuncion Paraguay”. The back of the rectangular medal is etched with “A Su Defensor / Arsenio Pastor Erico / 1953”. This historic medal is a tremendous artifact from the career of an all-time soccer great!