Raúl Castronovo


Raúl Osvaldo Castronovo Zanón is an Argentine retired footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Castronovo began his career with local Rosario Central in 1968, but an economic crisis in 1970 prompted his move to Peñarol in Uruguay, where he became the top scorer of the 1971 edition of the Copa Libertadores, tied with Luis Artime at ten goals.
After playing in Ligue 1 with AS Nancy during three seasons, Castronovo moved to Spain where he remained until the end of his career, representing CD Málaga, Hércules CF, UD Salamanca and Algeciras CF and competing in both La Liga and Segunda División. On 27 April 1980, whilst a free agent, he was involved in a match fixing incident between the first and the third clubs which resulted in a two-year ban for himself, Málaga teammate Julio Orozco and Salamanca manager Felipe Mesones; he retired shortly after, aged only 31.