25/4/1949
Record updated 24-Apr-06
Vicente Alberto PernÃa was born in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, known as El Tano (the Neapolitan), he is a former Argentine professional soccer player who went on to a second career as a racing driver.
El Tano started his football career with Estudiantes de La Plata in 1969, where he played until his transfer to Boca Juniors in 1973. After a chain of successes under coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo, he moved to Vélez Sársfield at the end of 1981, where he played until he retired.
PernÃa was widely hailed as the best Argentine right defender of his time, but Argentina national team coach Cesar Menotti chose not to call him to the 1978 World Cup squad, after some rude altercations in friendly matches.
Menotti instead improvised fullback Jorge Olguin in the position. Olguin played both the 1978 and the 1982 World Cups. It was rumoured that the personal preferences of some members of the military junta that ruled Argentina also played a part in the decision.
In the 1980s PernÃa turned to driving, entering Argentina's TC and TC2000 categories. He won a few races, culminating in winning the 1996 Subchampionship of Turismo Carretera.
In 2005, Argentine football giants Boca Juniors and River Plate prepared their own racing teams for the Top Race V6 competition that started in March 2005. Pernía, after 14 years, dressed again the blue-and-yellow colours of Boca Juniors, along with fellow drivers Guillermo Ortelli and Ernesto Bessone.
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