ARGENTINA’S 1986 WORLD Cup-winning defender Jose Luis Brown has died aged 62 following a long battle with Alzheimer’s.
“Maximum day of sadness for the Albirroja [La Plata] family, our gladiator Jose Luis Brown has left,” his former club Estudiantes de La Plata tweeted. “But his memory and love of the club will never depart.”
Known to his friends as Tata, Brown made 36 appearances for Argentina and scored the first goal in their 3-2 World Cup final victory over West Germany in 1986.
He dislocated his shoulder late in the match but refused to be substituted – a move that cemented his place in Argentinian football folklore.
Without Jose Luis Brown, we would never have won the World Cup in 1986,” Argentina legend and former team-mate Diego Maradona said on Instagram. “You never complained about a thing, Tata.”
After a playing career that included stints in Spain and France, Brown was coach, along with Sergio Batista, of the national U23 squad which won the 2008 Olympics and fielded Lionel Messi, Juan Roan Riquelme and Sergio Agüero.
