Jesús 'Chus' Herrera Alonso (5 February 1938 – 20 October 1962) 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 ...

who played as a forward.

Club career

Born in

Cabueñes Cabueñes is a parish of the municipality of Gijón, in Asturias, Spain. Its population was 1,467 in 2012. Cabueñes is a residential area and a public services district which borders the municipality of Villaviciosa in the east. In this par ...

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

, Herrera made his professional debuts with Real Oviedo in Segunda División, playing two seasons in that level with the club. In 1958, he joined Real Madrid. During his spell with the latter, Herrera was used mostly as a backup to the likes of

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Fil ...

Francisco Gento Francisco "Paco" Gento López (21 October 1933 – 18 January 2022) was a Spanish footballer who played as an outside left. He was voted by IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) as the greatest Spanish footballer ...

, Raymond Kopa, Ferenc Puskás and

Héctor Rial José Héctor Rial Laguía (14 October 1928 – 24 February 1991) was a footballer who played as a forward for Real Madrid between 1954 and 1961, and was part of the team that won five consecutive European Cups. He played professional footbal ...

. In the 1959–60 edition of the European Cup, he scored three goals in five games – two against

Jeunesse Esch Jeunesse Esch (full name ''Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette'') is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and have won th ...

(7–0 home win) and one against OGC Nice (2–3 away loss) – helping the team renew their supremacy in the competition. On 4 September 1960, Herrera netted the fourth goal in a 5–1 defeat of C.A. Peñarol in the Intercontinental Cup (also the aggregate score). Shortly after, however, he was deemed surplus to requirements at Real Madrid and, in January 1962, was loaned to fellow

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' ...

side Real Sociedad until the end of the campaign, which ended in relegation for the Basques.

International career

Herrera played one game with

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 ...

, appearing in a friendly with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 13 March 1960, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

(3–1 win).España, 3 – Italia, 1 (Spain, 3 – Italy, 1)
Mundo Deportivo, 14 March 1960

Death

Shortly after arriving at Real Sociedad, Herrera retired from football. On 20 October 1962, aged only 24, he died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in Oviedo.

Personal life

Herrera's father,

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator * Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footba ...

, was also a footballer and a forward. He was a leading figure for Oviedo in the 1930s/1940s.«Chus» Herrera ha muerto («Chus» Herrera is dead)
ABC, 21 October 1962

Honours

;Real Madrid *

: 1960–61 * European Cup: 1958–59, 1959–60 * Intercontinental Cup:

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Chus 1938 births 1962 deaths Footballers from Gijón Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Real Oviedo Vetusta players Real Oviedo players Real Madrid CF players Real Sociedad footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's B international footballers Spain men's international footballers Deaths from cancer in Spain