lit a candle 17h agoMy father kept a shortwave radio by the stove and in 1979 we sat through the static trying to follow Uruguay's run to bronze in Japan, Bueno's name among the ones he wrote down in his notebook. I didn't understand the game then, only that it mattered to him. Sixty seven is no age at all.
Their story
Eber Bueno was a Uruguayan footballer, a forward remembered for his years at Bella Vista, his spell with San Lorenzo de Almagro in Argentina and five appearances for the Uruguay national team. Known to Bella Vista supporters as "Melón", he later became a popular figure in Ecuadorian football. He died…
Eber Bueno was a Uruguayan footballer, a forward remembered for his years at Bella Vista, his spell with San Lorenzo de Almagro in Argentina and five appearances for the Uruguay national team. Known to Bella Vista supporters as "Melón", he later became a popular figure in Ecuadorian football. He died in Portoviejo, Ecuador, in November 2026 at the age of 67, with his death announced on 6 November.
Eber Bueno Almada was born on 13 September 1959 in Artigas, in the far north of Uruguay. He came through as a forward and was part of the Uruguay squad at the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan, where the Uruguayan under 20 side took the bronze medal.
He made his name at Bella Vista in Montevideo. In 1981 he was one of the stars of the club's historic first appearance in the Copa Libertadores, scoring four goals in the competition. His form earned him a place in the senior national team, for which he played five matches between 1980 and 1981: two friendlies against Chile and three qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, home and away against Peru and against Colombia.
In 1983 he moved to Argentina to join San Lorenzo, newly returned to the first division, where he scored six goals in 26 matches over two seasons and lined up alongside fellow Uruguayans including Hernán Sosa, Alberto Bica and Rubens Navarro. He went on to play for Atlanta in Buenos Aires, returned to Bella Vista in 1989 and then moved to Ecuador, where he became an idol at LDU Portoviejo and also played for Green Cross, Técnico Universitario and Valdez. He settled in Ecuador for the rest of his life.
His son Carlos Bueno also became a Uruguay international forward, playing for Peñarol and Boca Juniors and, in 2012, scoring the goals that helped San Lorenzo avoid relegation in the promotion playoff against Instituto. Carlos later spoke publicly about having met his father only briefly after many years without contact.
His death was announced on 6 November 2026 by Club Atlético Artigas, the club coached by his son, and was mourned by the Uruguayan Football Association, Bella Vista and San Lorenzo. The cause of death was not made public.
Biography adapted from Italian Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); El Observador (6 Nov 2026); Clarín (6 Nov 2026); Montevideo Portal (6 Nov 2026); TN (6 Nov 2026).
Photos
1Eber Bueno in the Uruguay national team
by People Forever
That generation of commentators made it sound like the most important thing in the world, and for an evening it was.