José María Piriz

Piriz was born in Rivera and played for Rampla Juniors. He transferred to Ecuadorian soccer in 1966 to play for Deportivo Quito.^[1]

The following year, he played in the Copa Libertadores de America with Emelec, where his performance impressed the manager of Colo-Colo of Chile who signed him up; he excelled in the 'Araucanian cacique'.^[2]

Despite this, Piriz had a reputation as an "evil genius" in the Chilean club, because, in a game against Rangers de Talca, he assaulted another player, Aldo Valentini. The conflict between the two 'colocolinos' was initiated by Piriz, who insulted Valentini. Piriz landed a severe blow on the other player. The referee Ricardo Romero, according to the regulations, sent off the Uruguayan player while Valentini spent several minutes trying to recover from the assault.^[3]

Piriz was nevertheless champion of Chilean soccer with Albos in 1970, playing alongside Carlos Caszely and Francisco Valdés.

• Rampla Juniors 1965
• Deportivo Quito 1966
• Emelec 1967
• Colo-Colo 1968–1970
• Emelec 1971–1974
• LDU Portoviejo 1974