This episode is for my friend Antonio in Guayaquil, who told me the story.
He was a Basque missionary priest.
He played as a striker.
He scored the only goal of the night against the three-time champions of South America, on their unbeaten home ground.
And then he disappeared.
55 years ago today, in La Plata, Argentina, Father Juan Manuel Bazurko received a pass from the great Alberto Spencer in the 63rd minute and beat goalkeeper Gabriel “Bambi” Flores. 1-0. Final whistle. The first home defeat Estudiantes had ever suffered in the Copa Libertadores.
Estudiantes were the three-time defending champions. Their fans had a mocking chant they sang before kick-off: “Mozo, tráigame otra copa.” Waiter, bring me another cup.
Then the priest scored.
From the radio came the line that football lives for:
“¡Benditos sean los botines del padre Bazurko!” Blessed be the boots of Father Bazurko.
Bazurko’s route to that goal is one of football’s strangest. Born in Mutriku, in the Basque Country. Wanted by Real Sociedad as a young player. Chose the seminary instead. By 1969 he was in Ecuador as a missionary in San Camilo, and the Church had given him permission to keep playing professionally.
Barcelona Sporting Club came for him — the Ecuadorian club founded in Guayaquil in 1925 by a Catalan immigrant named Eutimio Pérez, who named his new team after his home city’s club. The crest deliberately echoes the original. Spencer himself, the great Peñarol scoring legend, was on the same team.
Bazurko played a few more matches after the goal, then left football. Returned to Spain. Left the priesthood in 1973. Married. Taught philosophy. Died in 2014.
He had one night.
It was enough.
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📩 Got an episode idea like Antonio’s? otd@17lawsguy.com.
Yesterday: 28 April 1923 — The White Horse Final.