Eusebio Ríos Fernández (30 March 1935 – 10 May 2008) was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender and manager.

Playing career

Born in Portugalete,

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Ríos started his career in his native Basque Country, representing two teams. In 1958 he moved to

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

after signing with Real Betis, going on to play ten seasons with the club (nine in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

) before retiring in 1968 at 33; his debut in the top flight occurred on 21 September 1958 in a 4–2 win against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

, in what was the first official match held at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium.Fallece el ex entrenador del Deportivo Eusebio Ríos (Former Deportivo coach Eusebio Ríos dies)
La Voz de Galicia, 11 May 2008 (in Spanish) Ríos earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, featuring the second half of the 2–1 friendly loss to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, on 15 November 1964.

Coaching career

Ríos began coaching in 1970, shortly after retiring. After two years with

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Jaén, Spain, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Nuevo Estadio de La Vict ...

in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

and three with

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Basque football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in , holding home stadium is '' Lasesarre'', with a 7,960 Seat Capacity. History Barakaldo pla ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, he signed with Recreativo de Huelva in the latter level, achieving the oldest club in Spain's first-ever top flight promotion, followed by immediate relegation. In the following years, Ríos helped another two teams promote to the top division,

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

and Real Murcia, spending three seasons with the latter. After one and a half campaigns with

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

in the second tier he was appointed at his former side Betis, being sacked on 30 November 1988 following a 6–2 away loss against Atlético Madrid, in a relegation-ending season; he later worked with the club as director of football. Ríos' last job was with Rayo Vallecano (two seasons), being one of two managers in 1991–92 – the other was a young José Antonio Camacho – as the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

outskirts team returned to the top flight. He was part of

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

's coaching staff in two separate seasons ( 1997–98 and 2001–02).

Personal life

Ríos' son, Roberto, was also a footballer and a defender. He played his entire career with Betis and Athletic Bilbao, also going on to represent the national team.

Death

Ríos died in his hometown of Portugalete on 10 May 2008, at the age of 73.

Honours

Murcia *

: 1982–83El Murcia se aferra a la estadística para creer en el ascenso (Murcia cling on to statistics to believe in promotion)
La Verdad, 25 September 2018 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rios, Eusebio 1935 births 2008 deaths Footballers from Portugalete Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Arenas Club de Getxo footballers SD Indautxu footballers Real Betis players Spain men's international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Tercera División managers Real Jaén managers Barakaldo CF managers Recreativo de Huelva managers Real Valladolid managers Real Murcia CF managers Deportivo de La Coruña managers Real Betis managers Rayo Vallecano managers Real Betis non-playing staff Athletic Bilbao non-playing staff 20th-century Spanish sportsmen