Emilio Recoba

Who was Emilio Recoba?

Emilio Recoba was a Uruguayan footballer who was part of the team that won the first World Cup in 1930 for Uruguay, but he did not play any matches in the tournament. He was a club player of Nacional Montevideo.

When Emilio Recoba died on 12 September 1992 he was the last surviving member of Uruguay's 1930 World Cup-winning squad. At 2010, Recoba was also the longest-lived player, having died aged 88, before he was overtaken by French midfielder Célestin Delmer, who died aged 89 in 1996, and Delmer's countryman, forward Lucien Laurent, who died aged 97 in February 2005 and Peruvian goalkeeper Juan Valdivieso, who died at the age of 96 in January 2007.