Diego Armando Maradona, considered the best football player of the 20th century by many experts in this sport, emerged from Argentine football where he always declared himself a fanatical supporter of Boca Juniors, the team where he first played in 1981 and then between 1995 and 1998.
And although the 'Pelusa' did not win important trophies with the 'Xeneize' jersey, his individual quality was never in doubt, and that is why in a study conducted in 2017, the eternal '10' was placed in the historical eleven of Boca Juniors, where other important international figures can also be seen, such as Hugo Gatti in goal, Juan Roman Riquelme in midfield, and Martin Palermo in attack.
Similarly, in the best team of all time for the blue and yellow squad, you can see the legendary Peruvian defender Julio Meléndez. 'El Negro' defended the shirt of this Argentine team from 1968 to 1972, a period in which he won two National Championships and one Argentine Cup.
'El peruano y su ballet' (The Peruvian and his ballet), that's how they also described the national defender in Argentina, due to his elegant style of play and the security he provided in Boca's backline. Meléndez, on the other hand, is the player from our country with the most appearances for that club, with a total of 154 appearances for the xeneizes.
¿For which Peruvian teams did Julio Meléndez play?
Meléndez made his debut in the first division in 1961 with Defensor Lima and hung up his boots in '79 with León de Huánuco, and throughout his career he played for a total of eight teams in Peru. It is worth mentioning that his time at Boca Juniors was his only experience abroad.
- Defensor Lima
- KDT Nacional
- Sport Boys
- Defensor Arica
- Atlético Chalaco
- Unión Tumán
- Juan Aurich
- León de Huánuco