In 1993 El Gráfico asked 57 Argentinian correspondents to choose the best player in their history. Not surprisingly Jose Manuel Moreno still had some power left in his legacy to take away some votes from Diego Armando Maradona. Maradona obtained 84% over the rest. Out of 57 votes Maradona received 48 and Moreno 5. The rest was divided among several other players.
José Moreno was also the greatest foreigner to ever play in Chilean football, according to the Chilean magazine “minuto 90”. (1993)
But was Moreno the greatest ever ? Better than Maradona or Pelé ? Many that viewed him will attest he was.... the mystery will continue for ever.
I would imagine so. The difference between South Americans and Europeans on Alfredo Di Stefano is one of the most interesting things to see. Omar Sivori as well I guess, to a lesser extent.
By the late 1970s he was accredited by Argentinian journalists as best Argentinian player ever and voted in a poll in the 1960s as the greatest Argentinian NT player ever. Also in the top 3 (he was voted more than anyone) in a 1966 voting of who was the best player to ever play in Argentinian league football. 1. Moreno 2. Pedernera 3. Erico
When Moreno went to play his football in Mexico he also left an indelible impression. Luis Artime stated that people considered him better than Pele and below a Mexican columnist in 1986 had regarded him as the best, with Maradona unable to reach his level. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/best-football-players-of-all-time.2011432/page-51#post-35931140
Moreno played only 1.5 years in Chile, being the star in the 1949 title for U.Catolica. Roberto Coll, had a younger brother, Oscar, playing 5 years in Spain. Well, Roberto "Muñeco" Coll was the leading star in the Palestino's title in Chile (a midtable club). Regarded as one of the most complete players ever in chilean league, reached his peak at mid 1950s, he was also talked to being naturalized chilean in order to play with the #8 at the WC 1962, since Enrique Hormazabal had discrepancies with the trainer, finally Jorge Toro gets the place due to his very good form.
Interesting that being both Inside Forwards and playing in their differents types of this role (close to the striker and a more withdrawn type), I've been saying, that of the two, Moreno was seeing more of a midfielder, as a team player, meanwhile Pele was seeing more as a striker, a pragmatic player in constrast to Moreno as a virtuoso.
It’s impressive that in less than 2 years Moreno was voted as best all-time foreigner by 1993. I’d expect him to be included perhaps in the greatest starting 11 of his club side but best foreigner ever ? It’s quite an accomplishment. Arguably that same view was shared in Mexican football because of all the praise he received in that country as well. It’s unknown if in Colombia that sentiment is the same.
I think that foreign players in México at mid 40s were better than foreign players in Colombia at mid 50s. Also, Moreno played few matches in Colombia
And he was at the end of his career in Colombia, but even then I’ve read some match reports when he was there where he was viewed the best on the pitch.
And so by 1980 there was a voting by Argentinian journalists to elect the best Argentinian athletes in the history and the top 5 nominations for football were: Moreno, Sastre, Pedernera, Di Stefano and Maradona Soon will reveal the winner.
You mentioned a fellow named Adelino Peres Domingues in this post: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/all-time-argentina-squad.1993487/page-7#post-28769901 Was he also part of the interview in this magazine that you posted? I didn't see him.
In 1999 El Gráfico made a top 10 all-time list that surfaced on this forum but its results were clearly in contradiction with the 1980 poll or the 1993 poll. Not only is the 1999 list drastically different but Moreno, Sastre and Pedernera are not listed, instead Di Stefano and Passarella make the top 3 best Argentinians. Clearly there was a new change of guard that went along with what was more “in” as the previous old guard had either passed away or were no longer intervening with these polls.