Edmundo Suárez Trabanco (22 January 1916 – 14 December 1978) was a Spanish football player and coach – better known as Mundo. He was born in

Barakaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo h ...

. He played as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for Spanish club

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

for most of his career, except for his last season, where he played for

CD Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1928 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games in '' Estadio El Collao'', with a 4,850-sea ...

Club career

''Mundo'' initially played football with various amateur teams in his native Basque Country, but the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

changed his career completely. He had a contract with Athletic Bilbao but this acquisition was made in republican territory, therefore it was not considered valid by the pro-Franco state which remained in power after the War. In 1939, the pro-Franco army created a team, named "Recovery of Levante" formed diverse players who had fought in the military region of Levante. Said team was chosen by Valencia CF as its first opponent after the war, and after seeing 'Recovery of Levante' in action, the established club did not waste the opportunity and acquired all of its players. After this acquisition, ''Mundo'' stayed in Valencia for eleven seasons between 1939–40 and 1949–50. His great physical strength allowed him to dominate Spanish football during the 1940s. Along with , , Vicente Asensi and

Guillermo Gorostiza Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes (15 February 1909 – 23 August 1966) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. In a 14-year professional career, he played for Athletic Bilbao and Valencia, amassing La Liga totals of 255 games and 178 go ...

, he formed an electric front line that transformed Valencia into a winning team: they won

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' ...

three times during that decade ( 1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47) and were runners-up twice, and claimed the

Copa del Rey 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 footb ...

on two occasions ( 1941, 1948–49) from five appearances in the final. Mundo is considered an idol for fans of Valencia because he holds, by a considerable margin, the record for the highest number of goals scored for the club with 238 in the two major domestic competitions, obtaining an average of 0.92 goals per game. He won the

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish football, the Trofeo Pichichi is awarded by the sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael "Pichichi" Moreno, the trophy has been awarded annually since the ...

(top scoring player) in the 1941–42 and 1942–43 seasons, with 27 and 28 goals respectively. He is currently the tenth highest goal scorer in the history of the Spanish league (with the fifth-highest goals-per-game ratio), and the sixth highest goalscorer in the history of the Copa del Rey. After a season in which he played only six games, he decided to leave Valencia to join in the nearby, smaller club

Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1928 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games in '' Estadio El Collao'', with a 4,850-seat ...

which was also in the first division. He remained there for the 1950–51 season, until he realised he was no longer able to play at the top level.

International career

Suárez earned three international caps with the

Spain national football team The Spain national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in international men's football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football i ...

between 1941 and 1942, scoring three goals. His international debut was on 28 December 1941 against Switzerland.

Coaching career

During the 1963–64 season, Suárez returned to Valencia and took up the position of team coach, replacing

Pasieguito Bernardino Pérez Elizarán (21 May 1925 Hernani, Guipúzcoa – 21 October 2002 Valencia), commonly known as Pasieguito, was a Spanish football player and manager. As a player, in an 18-year career, Pasieguito played at three clubs, including ...

, another legend of Valencian football. Thanks to his strong character and tactical flexibility, he went on to improve Valencia's league position, placing them in sixth place. The team's performance in the

Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...

was much better, but they lost against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

in a controversial match. After the positive results of that year, the Valencia FC board of directors allowed him to coach for one more year. However, as the team finished the league in fourth place, the directors hired another coach, Barinaga. With Barinaga, the team did not reach its expectations, so ''Mundo'' returned to his old position as coach for the next season. He started the 1966–67 season as the team's coach and achieved great success, winning the

by beating Athletic Club 2–0 in the final. His remained Valencia's coach until 13 October 1968, when he ended his coaching career due to the team's poor performance.

Club statistics

Honours

Player

Club

Valencia CF *

: 1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47 *

: 1941, 1949 *

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the nam ...

: 1949

Individual

* 2 Pichichi trophy for the highest goalscorer of the season in the Spanish league: 1941–42, 1943–44

Manager

Valencia CF * 1

: 1967

References

External links

*
Mundo in www.lfp.es

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Edmundo 1916 births 1978 deaths Spanish footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Association football forwards La Liga players Valencia CF players CD Alcoyano footballers Pichichi Trophy winners Spain international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Hércules CF managers Real Zaragoza managers UE Lleida managers Xerez CD managers Barakaldo CF managers Sporting de Gijón managers Valencia CF managers Real Murcia managers Levante UD managers CF Gandía managers Valencia CF Mestalla managers