Sergio Livingstone

Serjio Robert Livingstone Pohlhammer (Santiago, March 26, 1920-Santiago, September 11, 2012), historically written as Sergio Livingstone, was a footballer and Chilean sports journalist.

He played as a goalkeeper in clubs in Chile and Argentina, being one of the leading Chileans in history and the most prominent in the 1940s. The International Federation of Football History and Statistics ranked him as the "ninth best South American goalkeeper of the 20th century". He was the captain of the Chilean team, with which he participated in the 1950 World Cup, he was the "best player" in the 1941 Copa América, and he is (along with Lionel Messi) the one who has played the most games. played in the history of this last tournament, with 34.

He was a sports commentator for Televisión Nacional de Chile, where he was the presenter of the programs Zoom deportivo and La noche del fútbol; and journalist at Radio Agricultura. He paired up with Pedro Carcuro for forty-three years hosting various broadcasts of sports events and programs.

Biography

He was born in 1920 into a family of Scottish origin. His mother was Ana Pohlhammer; His father, Juan Livingstone, was one of the pioneers of soccer in Chile and was even the first to bring a soccer ball to the country, and he played for Santiago National. At the age of 8, when he entered Colegio San Ignacio, he began to play archery.

He formally began his soccer career at the age of fifteen, when he joined Club Unión Española, where he practically did not play. He left the activity and entered the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile to study Law.

Livingstone 1943 with Racing.

Feast of the first Catholic University champion team, with Livingstone, Moreno and other players.

Some time later he played again, this time for Universidad Católica, a group from his home of studies and where he made his professional debut in 1938. During his first spell in the ranks of Católica he stood out as a magnificent goalkeeper and earned his inclusion among the best South American goalkeepers of the moment. He remained at the Catholic University until 1942.

In 1943, Racing Club took over his services after paying 280,000 pesos (24,000 dollars), a whole record for the time, especially bearing in mind his status as goalkeeper. His debut in the ranks of Racing Club took place on April 11, 1943 before more than fifty thousand people in a friendly against Boca Juniors, in which he did not have much luck, they scored four goals, —one Olympic— and the his team fell 2: 4. Although he only played one season in Argentina, he left a good memory in the Avellaneda entity and his departure from Racing was not the product of poor performance but rather the nostalgia he felt for a woman who was his first wife.

He was featured on two covers of El Gráfico magazine; the first in no. 1181 of February 27, 1942, with a photo as a goalkeeper for the Chilean team, and then in no.

"What could I earn a lot more money if I stayed in Racing, for example, or had I been looking for a chance elsewhere? Accepted, but my happiness was to play at Catholic University"

In 1944 he returned to his country to rejoin the staff of Universidad Católica, the team of his loves and the one of his whole life. In his second stage at Universidad Católica he won the Chilean league titles in 1949, under the technical direction of Alberto Buccicardi, and 1954. Throughout his career, which lasted for twenty-two seasons, he was always linked to the ranks from Universidad Católica, except for his time in Argentina and one of his last seasons as an active player, in 1957, when he was sent on loan to Colo-Colo. He finally retired at the end of that time at Católica, where he has been remembered as an idol and one of the best players to have passed through the institution.

"Even in the year I was in Racing, and that year at Colo Colo, I was still attached to Catholic University with all my affections."

National team

He made his debut with the Chilean national team on February 2, 1941 in a match played in the South American Championship against the Ecuadorian national team that ended with the Chilean victory by 5:0, championship in which he obtained the Performance and Correction Award.

He played for the Chilean national team in the 1950 World Cup, the 1952 Pan-American Soccer Championship and six Copa América (1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1949 and 1953).

Between 1941 and 1954, he played a total of 52 matches for his country's national team.

Participations in Copa América

Tournament	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties
South American Championship 1941	ChileChile	Third place	4
South American Championship 1942	Uruguay Uruguay	Sixth place	4
South American Championship 1945	ChileChile	Third place	6
South American Championship 1947	EcuadorEcuador	Fourth place	7
South American Championships 1949	Brazil	Fifth place	7
South American Championship 1953	Peru Peru	Fourth place	6

Participations in World Cups

World	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties
1950 World Cup	Brazil	First round	3

Clubs

Club	Country	Year
Catholic University	ChileChile	1938-1942
Racing Club	Argentina	1943
Catholic University	ChileChile	1944-1959
→ Colo-Colo (given)		1957

Honours of Prizes

National Championships

Title	Equipment	Country	Year
Opening Consuelo Tournament	C.D. Catholic University	ChileChile	1949
First Division			1949
First Division			1954
Second Division			1956

Individual distinction

Football references

He was a goalkeeper who won games by himself, conceding few goals at a time when goalkeepers were violated on a more daily basis. On one occasion, for the World Cup qualifiers, his performance was so notorious that the rival forwards of the Paraguayan team, in a recognition after the game, carried him out of the stadium. The Spanish press said of him that "he was a safe and spectacular goalkeeper - a goalkeeper who knows what generally American goalkeepers do not know how to do, which is to leave on time anticipating all danger."

Trajectory in the media

He was popular for his work on the radio stations Carrera (1960-1962), Corporación (1963), Magallanes (1964-1966), Minería (1967-1974, 1978-1985), Chilena (1975), Cooperativa (1976- 1977), Nacional de Chile (1986-1993), Agriculture (1994-1998, 2000-2012) and Monumental (1999) and on television, where he had worked since the early years of television in Chile (since 1967 on Channel 13 and from September 1969 onwards on Televisión Nacional de Chile). He obtained the National Award for Sports Journalism in 1987.

Old fans and historians of Chilean soccer held him in very high regard for his status as a great goalkeeper and a legendary figure as one of the best goalkeepers in the history of Chilean and South American soccer of his time. Proof of this was the note published by the magazine Estadio at the time: «Above all, there was the indelible memory of a personality, of a revolutionary of style, of an amalgamation of skill, imagination, elasticity, boldness and even recklessness. The memory of an example of vocation».

Tributes

In life

Livingstone (sensed) together with President Sebastián Piñera. The exporter was honored by “his sporting career and his contribution to the activity”.

In the last quarter of 2009, the indoor grandstand of the San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium (Fundadores Grandstand), belonging to the Universidad Católica Sports Club, was named the "Sergio Livingstone Pohlhammer Grandstand" in his honor. Said recognition was also made to other idols of the club's soccer team, by naming the other stadium stands as Alberto Fouillioux, Ignacio Prieto and Mario Lepe.

On December 6, 2011, the Chilean government awarded him for "his sporting career and his contribution to the activity." President Sebastián Piñera pointed out that Livingstone “is part of the history of our sport. He had a successful career, but never lost his humility. He always stood out for his ability to share his successes, to give advice, to dedicate his time and attention to helping others ».

A couple of streets bear his name: one in the Achupallas population of the Viña del Mar commune, a sector characterized by having names of athletes and another (until his retirement in June 2018) in the Independencia commune, inaugurated in April 2009. Likewise, in the region of Coquimbo and in Osorno, there are amateur soccer teams that bear his name.

Posthumous

At the farewell mass for Don Sergio Livingstone, Sergio Jadue, president of the ANFP, announced that starting in 2012 the "Sergio Livingstone Award" to the most correct soccer player of the year in Chile.

In December 2013, based on the extensive personal archive of the former goalkeeper himself, the journalist Francisco Sagredo published a book-tribute entitled: Sergio Livingstone. The personal file of him .