Eduardo Vilarete

Eduardo Emilio Vilarete died on Friday 9 October 2026, in the early hours of the morning, at the Clinica Los Nogales in Bogota. He was 73 years old. His death came after a prolonged illness: doctors had detected a sarcoma in his left leg some months earlier, and the tumour's aggressive behaviour eventually required an amputation that his medical team judged necessary to save his life.

The surgery was initially reported as successful, and Vilarete appeared to be recovering well in the weeks that followed, a period during which he received visits of support from Ramon Jesurun, president of the Colombian Football Federation, and Carlos Mario Zuluaga, president of DIMAYOR, who went to the clinic to express their solidarity. In the following weeks, however, complications linked to the cancer worsened and he did not recover.

His family confirmed the death publicly, with his daughter Angelica Vilarete announcing the news on social media. The family thanked relatives, friends, people across Colombian football and the medical, care and administrative staff of the Clinica Los Nogales for their support during his illness.

Tributes followed quickly from across Colombian football. DIMAYOR, under its president Carlos Mario Zuluaga, and the Colombian Football Federation both issued statements lamenting his death and recalling his career with Atletico Bucaramanga, Atletico Nacional, Union Magdalena, Deportivo Pereira, Deportes Tolima and the national team. Clubs and former teammates also shared condolences and memories of the player nicknamed El Loco.

An initial wake for Vilarete is to be held in Ibague, the city where he had been living in his later years. The family has said it will then travel to his native Santa Marta for a further ceremony, so that supporters of Union Magdalena, the club most associated with his hometown, can say a final goodbye.

Eduardo Emilio Vilarete Fernandez was born on 20 June 1953 in the El Ancon neighbourhood of Santa Marta, on Colombia's Caribbean coast. As a young player he came through the youth teams of Millonarios in Bogota, but he did not break into the club's first team and had to look elsewhere to start his professional career.

Vilarete made his first division debut with Atletico Bucaramanga in 1974, at the age of 21. In 1975 he was the club's top scorer with 18 goals, playing alongside Misael Florez and Alfredo Arango.

In 1976 he was expected to join Junior, but a dispute between club directors meant he signed instead for Union Magdalena, where he played only the opening tournament. For the closing tournament he moved to Atletico Nacional and, to the surprise of many, became one of the key players in the side that won the 1976 Colombian championship. He returned to Bucaramanga for 1977 and 1978, then rejoined Nacional in 1979. In the 1980 season he scored 24 goals in 43 appearances, the best total of his career, and in 1981 he won a second league title with Nacional, finishing among the club's 20 highest scorers of all time.

In 1982 Nacional sold him to Deportivo Pereira for 13 million Colombian pesos, then a large fee, and he scored 14 goals in 32 matches that season. He went on to Deportes Tolima and back to Union Magdalena, where he stayed until early 1985.

That year he moved abroad for the first time, joining Deportivo Quito in Ecuador and scoring 18 goals, fourth best in the league. He played for Liga de Quito in 1986, returned to Deportes Tolima in 1987, then had a season with Audaz Octubrino in Ecuador and a brief third spell at Bucaramanga. He finished his career in Peru with Deportivo Pacifico, helping the club win its regional northern zone championship, and retired in 1990 at the age of 37.

For Colombia he played at the 1976 Pre-Olympic Tournament, where he scored four goals, and in qualifying for the 1978 World Cup, in which he scored the team's only goal, against Paraguay. He was in the squad for the 1979 Copa America and played again in qualifying for the 1982 World Cup. His last international was a 1 to 0 friendly win over Poland on 12 February 1985, in which he played the full match.

Vilarete was widely known in Colombian football by the nickname El Loco. Little about his private life was published during his lifetime. His daughter, Angelica Vilarete, shared news of his illness and death with the public on social media, and the family thanked relatives, friends and the football community for their support.

Vilarete is remembered as one of the most prolific Colombian strikers of the 1970s and 1980s, credited with more than 200 official goals across clubs in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. He was a two time Colombian champion with Atletico Nacional, in 1976 and 1981, and a member of the national team generation that played the 1979 Copa America. The Colombian Football Federation and DIMAYOR, the body that runs the professional league, both paid tribute to him after his death.