Gaspar Rubio Meliá (14 December 1907 – 3 January 1983) was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Club career

Born in

Serra, Valencia Serra () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Camp de Túria in the Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most pop ...

, Rubio amassed

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 ...

totals of 61 games and 37 goals over the course of five seasons, representing in the competition

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

(1928–30),

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 ...

( 1934–35),

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

( 1940–41) and Recreativo Granada ( 1942–43). With the first club, he netted 72 times in 75 competitive appearances. In 1930–31, he also played briefly in Cuba with Juventud Asturiana and in Mexico with

Real Club España Real Club España is a Mexican sports club located in Mexico City. The club hosted a large variety of sports and other activities such as aerobics, basque pelota, billiards, canoeing, climbing wall, football, gymnastics, jai alai, mountaineering ...

. Nicknamed ''El rey del astrágalo'' (King of the

astragalus ''Astragalus'' is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to tempe ...

) due to the many ailments he had in that foot bone, Rubio subsequently worked as a manager with several teams – including as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

– but never in the top flight. In 1957 he moved to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

where he would settle after his retirement from football, coaching

Atlante F.C. Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943. Atlante has won three national league championships, t ...

and Deportivo Toluca FC.

International career

Rubio gained four

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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 ...

in less than one year, scoring nine goals. Seven of those came in his first two appearances, with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(5–0) and four against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(8–1), thus becoming the first Spanish footballer to score two international hat-tricks. His record remained untouched for more than 60 years, until

Emilio Butragueño Emilio Butragueño Santos (; born 22 July 1963) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker. He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed ''El Buitre'' (The Vulture), he was a member of the '' La Quinta del Buitre'' ...

netted his second international hat-trick on 19 December 1990 against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, and remained unbroken for more than 80 years, until both

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

and

David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish strikers of all time. ...

scored their third hat-trick for Spain on 20 June 2013 against

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

in a 10-0 win. Rubio also played a major role in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's first ever loss outside the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, netting twice in a 4–3 triumph in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

on 15 May 1929.

Death

Rubio died in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

on 3 January 1983, at the age of 75.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubio, Gaspar 1907 births 1983 deaths People from Camp de Túria Sportspeople from the Province of Valencia Spanish footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Levante UD footballers Real Madrid CF players Atlético Madrid footballers Valencia CF players Real Murcia players Granada CF footballers Real Balompédica Linense footballers UD Melilla footballers Real Club España footballers Spain international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cuba Expatriate footballers in Mexico Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Granada CF managers Levante UD managers UD Melilla managers Hércules CF managers CD Atlético Baleares managers Orihuela Deportiva CF managers UE Lleida managers Atlante F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cuba