Tomás Carlovich

1965/68 Sporting of Bigand (ARG) 70 matches, 25 goals

1969/70 Rosario Central (ARG) 2 matches, 2 goals

1971 Flandria (ARG) 4 matches, 1 goal

1972/1975 Central Córdoba (ARG) 58 matches, 48 ​​goals

1975/1976 Independiente Rivadavia (ARG) 15 matches, 8 goals

1976 Rosario Central (ARG) 3 matches, 1 goal

1977 Colón de Santa Fe (ARG) 5 matches, 1 goal

1978 Central Córdoba (ARG) 2 matches, 1 goal

1978/ 1979 Deportivo Maipú (ARG) 13 matches, 7 goals

1979 Andes Talleres (ARG) 17 matches, 16 goals

1980/1983 Central Córdoba (ARG) 82 matches, 34 goals

1984 Pergamino (ARG) 10 matches, 5 goals

1985 Newell's Old Boys of Cañada de Gómez (ARG) 7 matches, 4 goals

1986 Central Córdoba (ARG) 8 matches, 2 goals

1987/88 Argentino (ARG) 40 matches, 23 goals

Tomás Felipe Carlovich

Born April 19, 1946 in Rosario (ARG)

Died May 8, 2020 in Rosario (ARG)

Argentinian, attacking-midfielder, central-midfielder, 1m83

Nickname: El Trinche

Tomás Carlovich is the son of a Yugoslav immigrant and grew up in the Belgrano neighborhood of Rosario, Argentina. Born on April 19, 1946, he is a player who learned his trade in the Rosario Central training center. In 1965, at the age of 19, he made his debut at Sporting of Bigand, a promising start, which led him to play at the age of 23 in the Rosario Central club.

But the adventure will be a complete failure, he who plays football for fun is not made for professional and high-level football. Absent from many training sessions, he is an eccentric player who annoys his coach at the time as well as the other players for his excessive use of dribbling. Excellent in this field, he would exaggerate this asset and stereotype himself in his style. Finally, he was released by the club which did not extend his contract.

After this failure, he decided to bounce back in the Flandria club where he only played 4 matches. It was in 1972, at Central Córdoba that his legend would be written. His talent was so great that he amazed the crowds. Gifted with an exceptional left foot, the one who wore the number 5 won the third division title of the country and allowed his club to access the second division of the country.

But where the player would shine was during a preparation match of the Argentine national team for the 1974 World Cup. The national team thus traveled to Rosario to face a team composed exclusively of local players. There are five players from Newell's Old Boys (Mario Zanabria, José Luis Pavoni, Armando Capurro, Alfredo Obberti and Sergio Robles) and five from Rosario Central (Mario Kempes, Mario, Killer, Carlos Aimar, Carlos Biasutto and Jorge Gonzalez), Carlovich is an exception in the team.

The match takes place in the stadium of the Newell's Old Boys club in front of more than 35,000 spectators. The team composed of local players annihilates the Argentine national team, at half-time, the team leads 3-0, led by a Carlovich just above technically. The best player on the field, and by far. It is said that it was the Argentine coach Vladislao Cap who asked for the replacement of the Argentine midfielder so as not to demotivate his national team. The crazy thing is that at the beginning of the match, Carlovich was asked to go slowly, so as not to demotivate the opposing players, so it was by not giving his all that he would have humiliated the national team. The Rosario team would easily win with a score of 3-1.

His talent is such that the Argentinian player who does not want to leave his homeland will lead the Argentinian coach Cesar Luis Menotti to call him up to the national team, while he is still playing in the Argentinian second division! With Independiente Rivadavia.

But Carlovich will never show up at the center of the Argentinian national team, several versions of this act exist, but the main one is that Carlovich did not want to travel to Buenos Aires and therefore leave his land of Rosario, he would have been stuck on an island near Rosario, but in reality, the player spent his time fishing.

Something even crazier, the player is so beautiful to watch play, it is said that he is as technical, fluid and agile as Maradona and Riquelme. During a match, the player forgot his papers to participate in a match, it is finally the opposing club, that of Los Andes who will have done what is necessary for him to play, so that "our fans can see him in action".

Having made a brief return to the Argentine first division in 1977 at Rosario Central, the player would go on to suffer a series of injuries that would hinder him during the end of his career. In 1979, when he was already at the end of his career, he played a friendly match against AC Milan with his small local club Andes Talleres, a 3-2 victory and an XXL performance from Carlovich who humiliated the players of the Italian club for 90 minutes. A humiliation such that the players of the Italian team had only one goal, to tackle the player to injure him, something that they simply would not manage to do.

In 1988, at the age of 42, he finally retired and concluded his adventure with these words: "For me, playing at Central Córdoba was like playing for Real Madrid". The one who was called Trinche had the admiration of Maradona who said: "The greatest of all is already here. His name is Carlovich [...] Trinche, you were better than me."

Tomás would have had a career marked by a desire to stay in his local region, and not to play in the big clubs of the country, a choice of pure passion, for the one who loved football enormously, less professionalism.

El Trinche is a character with many legends, among those present, we can note the one that claims that he holds the world record for the time he was in possession of the ball, with 10 uninterrupted minutes, this long possession of the ball would have been stopped by a violent tackle from a rival defender who would have received a red card so much was the tackle pressed.

In another match, he would have been sent off after a collision with another player, the reaction of the public was not long in coming, and the public booed the referee who was forced to cancel his decision and leave the Argentine midfielder on the field.

Tomás Carlovich is considered one of the best Argentine football players of all time despite a reduced professional status and a lack of matches at the highest level. José Pékerman, a great Argentine coach who used to watch Central Córdoba matches, would say of Carlovich: "He is the most beautiful player I have ever seen play". César Luis Menotti, Argentinian football legend, would say: "Carlovich is one of those children whose only toy has been a ball since birth. Watching him play football was impressive."

Carlovich was an elegant left-hander, charismatic on the pitch, he had the aura of great players, he is considered by many to be one of the greatest dribblers in history, handling the ball with ease. It is said that he invented the double-cross, yes yes, the double-cross, dribbling twice the same player, the ultimate humiliation. There are many frescoes and paintings bearing the image of the player in the city of Rosario, of which he is one of the greatest legends.

- Added to the Central Córdoba Hall of Fame in 2020

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