Julio Losada has guaranteed a place in Olympiacos’ history that transcends time and generations. The charismatic Uruguayan was not just another foreign player who played for Olympiacos. He was a creator, an artist on the pitch, one of the players who embodied the passion, finesse and magic that accompanies the name of the storied Piraeus team.
He joined Olympiacos in 1972 – during the presidency of Nikos Goulandris – as an expatriate, even serving a conscription term in the Greek army to acquire citizenship. He remained with the Piraeus club for a full decade until 1982, playing with passion and dedication at every turn. He experienced everything, from triumph to the most difficult period at the end of that decade. In the end, he became a Greek and a synonym for Olympiacos.
During the era he played, football was more on inspiration than numbers, and Losada was the epitome of that philosophy. With a look of confidence, he exhibited a special type of football intelligence, with an airy movement on the field and a sense of play that few could emulate. The Olympiacos club of the 1970s found in him a “maestro” who would give rhythm to one of the most impressive ensembles that Greek football had ever seen.
His natural position was on the right side of the field, where he stood out for his excellent technical skills and dexterity. Despite his small stature (just 1.62 meters in height), his combativeness made him particularly popular with Olympiacos fans, who praised him in a slogan that rhymes in Greek: ‘Make Way, Losada’s Passing’. They took a fondness to him from his first minutes in the red and white, which was a friendly against Leeds.
They speak of him with awe. As if he were a great musician or painter. Julio Losada was obviously an artist. With a ball
Goals and spectacle
During his tenure with Olympiacos he made history with 314 appearances in all competitions, including 151 in the first division championship, scoring a total of 30 goals. He managed to win five Greek championships (1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1979-80, 1981-82) and two Cups (1972-73, 1974-75). In the club’s history, he is second among foreign players in terms of appearances, surpassed only by Predrag Djordjević.
A product of legendary Peñarol, one of South America’s greatest football organizations, he brought the passion and power of Uruguayan football to the Karaiskakis Stadium. In this early 1970s, Olympiacos was in transition as Goulandris had taken over as president and aimed to create a club worthy of the top European teams. As an international (he had played for Uruguay in the 1970 World Cup), Losada arrived along with other great new additions, such as Triantafyllos, Argyroudis and Viera, and immediately became one of the key components of the football “machine” built by Goulandris.
Olympiacos at that time wasn’t just a champion, but an artistic expression of football. Losada, as the “creative mind” in the midfield, brought rhythm, vision and imagination to the game. He was the player who could break down defenses with an undetectable pass, a brilliant dribble, and lead the game with his intelligence and technique. That Olympiacos team’s “primary cog” meshed with the fans and their history, with goals and spectacle in practically every game turning into a football festival.
Elegance with the ball at his feet. Losada was capable of breaking down defenses with a magical pass, a superb dribble.
A tricky bonus
One of the games that comes to mind is a legendary 11-0 against Fostiras, a historic Club located in the gritty Tavros district midway between Athens and Piraeus. It was the most lobsided game in the first division’s history. Losada and his teammates never forgot that day, which is forever inscribed in the record books.
Nikos Goulandris had an eccentric way of allocating bonuses to Olympiacos players, often pranking them, or “trolling” as today’s argot denotes, with the bonuses he offered. Before that game with Fostiras he had set out a unique condition for the bonus money.
Specifically, he announced to the team he’d give a certain amount if they won by one goal. From then on, for every additional two goals they scored, the bonus would be doubled. However, there was an unusual restriction: if the final score was an even number, then the players would get nothing! In the end, they decided to continue scoring when up 9-0. Then, it became 10-0, a dreaded even number. Olympiacos eventually scored 11 goals, securing an impressively large bonus from Goulandris and a place in history as the top offensive performance in a major league match in Greece.
The Piraeus “gunners” finished that year with 102 goals and conceding just 14 goals. It was a legendary team with Losada in the role of “maestro”.
A blessing
Julio Losada was not just a good midfielder, he was the link between the axis and the strikers, a player who knew how to read the game and shape it as he wanted. With an incredible ease in receiving the ball, a unique touch and the ability to predict the development of a play before it was even hatched, Losada seemed to see football in another dimension.
His name became synonymous with success and creativity, and his style was a blessing to his teammates and a nightmare for opponents. The way he moved around the pitch, his elegance with the ball at his feet and his ability to accurately execute fouls and long balls made him a footballer ahead of his time. At a time when Greek football relied mainly on power and intensity, Losada brought a different approach, a football “culture” reminiscent of the great South American vendettas.
314 appearances in all competitions.In the club’s history, he remains the second foreign player with the most appearances, surpassed only by Predrag Dzordjevic.
An artist
For the Olympiacos fans, Losada was not just a player. He was a football artist with the flair shown by the legends of the game, a creator who made football look like art. When people talk about him, they speak of him with awe, as if he were a great musician or painter.
It wasn’t just the titles, nor the goals. It was the way he made football look easy, the way he brought smiles to the fans’ faces and an inspiration to his teammates.
For younger generations, Julio Losada may be a name from the past. However, for older ones, he is a legend, a symbol of Olympiacos, a player who didn’t just play football, but “painted” it with his moves.
