Antonio Puchades Casanova (4 June 1925 – 24 May 2013) was a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defensive midfielder.

Club career

Born in

Sueca, Valencia Sueca () is a city in eastern Spain in the Valencian Community. It is situated on the left bank of the river Xúquer. The town of Sueca is separated from the Mediterranean Sea to the east by the Serra de Cullera, though the municipality posses ...

, Puchades played solely for Valencia CF during his career, signing in 1945 and going on to spend 12 seasons in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. In his first season with the first team, however, he appeared in only four games as the club won the national championship, becoming a regular from then onwards. Puchades retired from football in 1958 at the age of 33, being awarded a testimonial match the following year against

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

. He subsequently lost all connection to the football world, going on to work in family businesses.

International career

Puchades won 23 caps for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

over five years. He was a member of the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

squad, appearing in all six games as the nation finished fourth in Brazil.

Death

Puchades, affectionally known as ''Tonico'', died in his hometown of Sueca on 24 May 2013, two weeks shy of his 88th birthday.

Honours

: 1946–47 *

Copa del Generalísimo The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 1948–49,

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

* Copa Eva Duarte: 1949

References

External links