The Slovenian national soccer team failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, but a friendly played against Argentina held in La Plata just before the big event captured almost as much media attention -- at least in Slovenia. It was truly a game of David versus Goliath, and one for which the Slovenian team spent days practicing at Buenos Aires’ Bonbonera stadium. What few sports fans knew was that the famed stadium had another, less obvious, connection to Slovenia: It was designed, in part, by a Slovenian architect.

Viktor Sulčič was born in the town of Santa Croce, not far from Trieste, in 1895. The town was a predominantly Slovenian community in what was then Austria-Hungary, but the region had close cultural ties with Italy, and Sulčič decided to pursue his passion for architecture by studying in Florence and Bologna.

After World War I, Santa Croce was awarded to Italy, and conditions deteriorated for the Slovenian community, which suddenly found itself a vulnerable minority in an increasingly nationalist country. Mussolini assumed power in 1922, and the Fascist authorities began to persecute ethnic Slovenians in an attempt to deprive them of their culture and their language. Sulčič decided to join thousands of other Slovenians seeking a better – and safer -- life in Argentina. In 1924, he emigrated to Buenos Aires.

In the Argentinian capital, Sulčič became a prominent member of the sizeable Slovenian community – he published various literary articles in the Slovenian-language press --, but he left his biggest mark on his new home as an innovative architect.

Sulčič formed a partnership with Argentinian architects José Luis Delpini in Raúl Bes to form the studio Delpini-Sulcic-Bes Ingenieros-Arquitectos. Sulčič had little choice: Since his diploma had not been recognized in Argentina, he was prevented from entering architectural competitions on his own.

Even so, the team worked well together and the three architects went on to design several prominent Art Deco buildings in Buenos Aires, including the graceful Abasto vegetable market in 1934 and, several years later, La Bonbonera, one of the world’s most modern stadia. Opened in 1940 as the home stadium for Boca Juniors, the country’s most popular soccer team, it got its unusual nickname for its box-like shape. (“Bonbonera” means “candy box” in Spanish.) Built from reinforced concrete, it was unique in that it allowed many of the team’s passionate fans to sit just a few meters from the action.

Sulčič went on to design the neo-gothic Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus in the town of San Justo and developed earthquake-resistant hosing for Argentina’s quake-prone San Juan province.

After the death of his son, however, Sulčič retired from architecture and embarked on a second career as a landscape painter. He also penned several books, ranging from poetry to a profile of a Slovenian-Argentinean explorer. He died in 1973 at the age of 78.

Sulčič’s architecture, however, lives on. The Abasto market was converted into a shopping mall in 1998 and continues to be admired for its Art Deco elegance. Meanwhile, la Bonbonera still serves its original purpose as the iconic and beloved home of Boca Juniors – now one of the best soccer teams in the world.