Evaristo Vicente Barrera was born in Cruz del Eje (Rosario-Argentina), on November 30, 1911.
He started his football career with Argentino de Rosario. In 1932 he joined Racing Club Avellaneda from near Buenos Aires. He stayed 7 seasons with "La Academia" playing 142 league games and scoring a phenomenal 136 goals. He was top goal scorer of the Primera División twice (1934, 1936).
In February 1939 he arrived in Italy with compatriots Silvestro Pisa and Enrique Flamini. They were signed by Lazio but could only play from the 1939-40 season due to bureaucratic problems.
Lazio's manager was Hungarian Géza Kertész and the Biancocelesti had a good season finishing 4th. Barrera played 16 league games with 6 goals (Milan, Bari, Bologna, Juventus, Napoli, Liguria) and 2 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Macerata). Lazio's highlights were beating Milan 2-0 away, Juventus 4-0 at home and winning the return derby 1-0. Barrera personally got all his goals from February onwards once he had settled in. His most important ones came in a 2-2 draw with Milan, a 2-2 with highly competitive Bologna and an 88th minute equaliser away to Napoli.
In fact, the following season he joined Napoli where he stayed two seasons. In the first, under Antonio Vojak, the Partenopei finished 7th. Barrera played 27 league games with 9 goals and two games in Coppa Italia. His most important goal came in a 3-2 home win over Milan. teammates included former Lazio, keeper Giacomo Blason, Umberto Busani and Luigi Milano.
In the second season under the Vesuvius things did not go as well and Napoli were relegated. Barrera played 20 league games with 3 goals. Two of his goals came against Juventus, one in a 1-1 away draw and the other in a 4-1 home win.
In 1942-43 he joined Ascoli in Serie C. He played 20 league games with 11 goals and the "Picchio" (Woodpecker) finished 2nd under Uruguayan and former Lazio player, Maximiliano Faotto.
In 1943 he moved to Piedmont and Novara but the war affected football too and the Gaudenzani played in the Campionato Alta Italia. Barrera played 7 games. By this point Barrera like many was suffering the poverty of the war years, especially having four children.
In 1945 he joined Gozzano (Novara-Piedmont) in Prima Divisione (4th tier) and the Rossoblu narrowly missed out on promotion.
In 1945-46 Barrera played for Cremonese in Serie B, playing 21 league games with 10 goals. The Grigiorossi finished 5th in the final Serie B-C Alta Italia group and would play in Serie B the following year.
He then played one last season with Mortara (Pavia) in Serie D.
He then retired and settled in Novara and in November 1956 became the manager and finished 6th in Serie B. One of his players was future Lazio, Giambattista Moschino.
In 1957-58 he stayed on but was replaced during the season by Dane Frank Pedersen. Novara finished 11th.
He then had a stint with Magenta (Milan) in Serie D before returning to the Novara youth sector in 1961-62.
In 1962-63 he was first team manager of Novara again, in Serie C. The Azzurri finished 2nd, narrowly missing out on promotion.
In 1963-64 he was manager of nearby Casale in Serie D. The Neri finished 8th.
Between 1964-67 and 1970-72 he was manager at youth level of Ramatese (Verbania-Piedmont).
Barrera died on June 7, 1982 in Novara.
Barrera was a forward. He arrived in Europe at 28 after being a formidable striker in his homeland of Argentina. He is one of Racing Club's top ever goal scorers. He also has "El Primer Grande's" record for goals in one season, 34. In Italy he played 63 games in Serie A and scored 18 goals. He was famous for his shot which was described as powerful and accurate.
At Lazio he arrived with Flamini and Pisa and of the three, "El Flaco” Flamini was the more successful but Barrera had a decent spell at Lazio scoring 6 goals. The problem was there was too much competition for places up front, with untouchable Silvio Piola plus Umberto Busani, Giovanni Costa, Silvestro Pisa and Luigi Vettraino. Barrera however made a good contribution in his one season in Rome, helping Lazio to a positive 4th place.
Appearances and goals for Lazio
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1939-40 | 18 (7) | 16 (6) | 2 (1) |
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