René Alejandro Pontoni (May 18, 1920, in Santa Fe, Argentina – May 14, 1983) was an Argentine footballer. He played club football in Argentina, Colombia and Brazil as well as representing the Argentina national football team on 19 occasions.

Biography

Pontoni started his career with Gimnasia y Esgrima de Santa Fe before joining Newell's Old Boys in 1940. Pontoni made his debut for the Argentina national team in 1942. He went on to score 19 goals in 19 games for his country, helping them to become South American champions in 1945, 1946 and 1947. In 1944 Pontoni joined San Lorenzo where he helped the team to win the Primera División in 1946. In 1948 he suffered a career threatening injury but he recovered, moving to Colombia in 1949 to play for Independiente Santa Fe where he remained until 1952. In 1953 Pontoni moved to Brazil, where he spent one season with Portuguesa in São Paulo before returning to Argentina for one last season with San Lorenzo in 1954.

Titles

News Old Boys San Lorenzo Independiente Santa Fe Argentina

Later years

In 1963 former Boca Juniors player Mario Boyé and former San Lorenzo de Almagro player René Pontoni, brothers-in-law who had both been members of Argentine national teams, set up a pizzería in Belgrano, Buenos Aires, La Guitarrita, which expanded into a chain, still run by Pontoni's grandson. Pontoni also had several spells as a football manager in the lower leagues of Argentine football.