KEMPES SOCCER - Mario Alberto Kempes > Academia del deporte Mario Alberto Kempes

Mario Alberto Kempes was born on July 15, 1954 in Bell Ville, Córdoba, Argentina. He played in lower divisions for a team belonging to Talleres de Bell Ville and when he was only 16, he became champion with Club Bell’s First Division team. On March 10th, 1972, he was transferred to Instituto de Córdoba for a fee of $3 million pesos (old currency).

That year, he led the Córdoba team to victory, and was given the right to take part in the National Tournament 1973. That same year, on October 5, he debuted in first division against Newell's Old Boys (0-1).

Four days later he scored his first goal against River Plate.
He ended the tournament as the third -highest goal-scorer. Still in 1973, he was given the chance to wear the Argentina National Team t-shirt in the Cannes Youth Tournament in which he scored three goals in three matches. During that same year, he made his debut with Argentina national soccer team, in the eliminatories against Bolivia.

Mario Alberto Kempes In 1974, he was transferred to Rosario Central for a fee of $130 million pesos.
Since his debut against Gimnasia de la Plata on February 22, 1974, to his last match on August 1, 1976, Kempes was the best goal-scorer in the history of the club, scoring 100 goals in official and unofficial matches. At that time he was nicknamed el matador.

In 1974, he played his first World Cup, hosted in Germany. Two years later, he joined Valencia for a (then) record fee of U$S600,000 in Argentina. In Valencia, Kempes was leading goal-scorer twice consecutively in the Spain Championship and won three tournaments (Spanish League, European Recup, European Super Cup), that is one of the reasons why Valencian fans will never forget him.

In 1978, Mario led the Argentine National Team to its first World Cup title. He was the leading scorer and was regarded as the best player of the tournament and became idol of the whole nation.

Mario Alberto Kempes During the same year, he married a Valencian girl called María Vicenta Moll, mother of his three children. In 1981 he came back to Argentina to join River Plate and played in the National Tournament, which he led to victory with a head-goal in the last match.

Back in Valencia, he took part in the World Cup (Spain, 1982) where Argentina did not have a good performance. In 1984 he was transferred to Hercules de España and this modest team from Alicante ascended to First Division thanks to his goals.

The most decisive game was held in Madrid against El Real in the1984-1985 league, which he led to a 1-0 victory with his winning goal. After that, he played soccer in Australia for a while. On April 25, 1993, in Valencia, he retired from his playing career with a match played in his honor.

Then, he took a coach training and founded his soccer school in Valencia. On January 1995, Mario played the Five-a-side Soccer Little World Cup and was chosen as the greatest player of the tournament. During the same year, he was honored by Rosario Central as the best goal-scorer of all times. On August, 1995, Kempes was invited to play in Fernández Vial (a Second Division team from Chile) and it was a good surprise to see him playing at his 41.

For a while, he coached several soccer teams in Indonesia, Albania, Bolivia and Venezuela. Currently, Mario Alberto Kempes is a soccer analyst of ESPN, and he stands out for his wide knowledge about the secrets of the best sport on earth. Unlike other big soccer stars, Mario Alberto Kempes is still in contact with the elite of this sport.

Away from the fields but not from the cameras, el Matador is involved in his new project:to commentate on European soccer on television.

Today

Mario Alberto Kempes Since September 2004, Mario is enjoying his new life as a soccer analyst in Bristol, Connecticut EEUU: mother city of the prestigious TV channel ESPN Latin America. The invitation arrived by surprise when he was on vacation in Spain. From Spain to Connecticut, Kempes traveled to learn and train for his new profession.

All the experience he has gained, not only inside but also outside the fields,gives Mario a great advantage over those commentators who have never had the possibility to test the shots, to play a match in a full stadium staring at you, to feel a roaring crowd, to score a goal, to feel the pressure and the tension in the air, to lift the World Cup.

All of these points, that only one who has lived and gone through it all can know, gives Mario great authority to analyze matches, soccer players, and all that related to this amazing sport. At the same time Kempes assures that at any moment he will be back to soccer fields coaching some team, which he has confessed to be his real passion.