"You have to look back to know where you stand." -Hector Villalba to the children of 1-11-14

La Villa 1-11-14 is in Bajo Flores in Buenos Aires. It is located in front of San Lorenzo’s El Nuevo Gasómetro stadium. It is a populous villa that is home to one of the largest makets of paco, a street drug similar to crack cocaine. It is also where Hector Villalba grew up, dreaming of joining San Lorenzo. Those boyhood dreams became a reality and now Tito leaves as an icon that will not be forgotten in the club’s history.

Villalba joined San Lorenzo’s youth academy at 10 years old after being noticed at a tryout. He told Dirty South Soccer through an interpreter:

"I lived right in front of the club. I was a huge fan of San Lorenzo. At ten years old, I did a tryout with 500 other kids, that's where my journey began as a player."

He steadily moved up the ranks, earning his debut with the first team on August 19, 2012 as a substitute at 18 years old against Estudiantes. He made a few more substitute appearances before earning a start on April 13, 2013 at home against Racing. He then did this:

"He made the best goal I've seen live on a football stadium against Racing." - San Lorenzo fan Francisco Fourcade

When you score a goal like that, a goal that is compared to the great Diego Maradona effort from the 1986 World Cup or Lionel Messi’s similar run with Barcelona, you become an idol. When that goal is your first as a professional after growing up in the neighborhood across the street, you become a part of that club forever.

In his first season, he played often as a forward before moving out to the right later in his career at San Lorenzo. As you can see from his debut goal, his speed will be a handful for opposing teams in MLS.

"He is a fast forward with great skills and good in counter attacks. He is not a classic number 9 who scores a lot of goals, but he can create lots of chances and open holes on rival defenses. And of course, he can provide assists." -Fourcade

Villalba told Dirty South Soccer:

"When we get a coach, we'll see where he wants to play me. My job is to help the team."

Villalba played in 110 matches for San Lorenzo, scoring 16 times with 13 assists. 22 of those games came in South American competition in Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.

He played 48 times for San Lorenzo from August of 2013 through August of 2014, culminating in the club’s first ever Copa Libertadores title. His cross opened the scoring for San Lorenzo in the two legged final against Nacional of Paraguay.