José Martínez Sánchez (born 11 March 1945), nicknamed Pirri, is a Spanish former
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 ...
. A
central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in the early part of his career, he finished up as a
sweeper.
He spent the vast majority of his career with
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 ...
, appearing in 561 competitive matches and scoring 172 goals while winning 15 titles. He also served as
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the club.
A
Spanish international for 12 years, Pirri represented the country in two
World Cups
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
.
Club career
Born in
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
, Pirri signed with
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 ...
in 1964 as a 19-year-old, from
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
club
Granada CF
Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...
who received 200 million
pesetas. He made his debut with the former on 8 November of that year as a replacement for suspended
Ferenc Puskás
Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...
, in a 4–1 home win against
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Founded ...
; late in the same month he scored the first of his 123 goals 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 ...
, contributing to a 2–0 home victory over
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...
also at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...
.
During his tenure for Real, Pirri won ten national championships, netting in double digits in five of those seasons including a career-best 13 goals in
1975–76. He added nine appearances in the
1965–66 European Cup (for a total of 57 with 18 goals in
the competition), including
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
against
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
(2–1 win in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
); he was part of a generation of players of the team dubbed
Yé-Yé
''Yé-yé'' () (''yeyé'' in Spanish) was a style of pop music that emerged in Western-Southern Europe in the early 1960s. The French term "''yé-yé''" was derived from the English "yeah! yeah!", popularized by British beat music bands such as ...
.
In 1980, Pirri signed for Mexican
Liga MX
The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year.
The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
side
Puebla FC
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
. He scored his first goal for them on 28 September, in a 2–0 home defeat of Atletas Campesinos.
Pirri retired from the game at the age of 37 due his club's poor economic situation, even though he had one year more running in his contract. He then completed his studies to qualify as a physician, and joined Real Madrid's medical staff; in late December 1999, he was named their
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
after
Jorge Valdano
Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine former football player, coach, and the former general manager of Real Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator for beIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosophe ...
(who later replaced him) rejected the offer.
International career
Pirri earned 41
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
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 ...
, scoring 16 goals. He made his debut in the group stage opener of the
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
, netting in the 2–1 loss to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in an eventual group stage exit.
The 33-year-old was also in squad for the
1978 World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by ...
held in Argentina, playing twice in another group phase elimination.
[
]
Style of play
Pirri was well known for his ferocity, leadership skills and versatility. Other than his two main positions, he was also deployed as a makeshift forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
.[
Pirri played the ]1971 European Cup Winners' Cup Final
The 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a association football, football match contested by Chelsea F.C., Chelsea of England and Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid of Spain. It was the final match of the 1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup, 1970–7 ...
with his arm in a cast, and the decisive game of the 1974 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 footbal ...
with fever and a broken clavicle
The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the rig ...
.[ For his services to Real Madrid, he was only one of two players to have the ''Laureada'' being bestowed upon him by president Santiago Bernabéu – the other being ]Goyo Benito
Gregorio "Goyo" Benito Rubio (21 October 1946 – 2 April 2020) was a Spanish footballer who played as a central defender. He spent most of his 16-year professional career with Real Madrid.
Club career
Benito was born in El Puente del Arzobispo ...
.
Personal life
In 1969, Pirri married Spanish actress Sonia Bruno. In February 2009, he started working as a commentator for Radio Nacional de España
Radio Nacional de España (acronym RNE, branded rne, "National Radio of Spain") is the national state-owned public service radio broadcaster in Spain.
RNE is the radio division and Televisión Española (TVE) is the television division of R ...
's ''Tablero Deportivo''.
Career statistics
:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pirri goal.''
Honours
Real Madrid
*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 ...
: 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80[
*]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 footbal ...
: 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80[
*]European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
: 1965–66[
]
See also
*List of La Liga players
This article outlines all individuals who have made at least 400 appearances 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 an ...
(400+ appearances)
*List of Real Madrid CF records and statistics
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is a Spanish professional association football club based in Madrid. The club was formed in 1902 as ''Madrid Football Club'', and played its first competitive match on 13 May 1902, when it entered the semi-final of ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirri
1945 births
Living people
People from Ceuta
Spanish footballers
Footballers from Ceuta
Association football defenders
Association football midfielders
Association football utility players
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Granada CF footballers
Real Madrid CF players
Liga MX players
Club Puebla players
UEFA Champions League winning players
Spain youth international footballers
Spain amateur international footballers
Spain international footballers
1966 FIFA World Cup players
1978 FIFA World Cup players
Spanish expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Mexico
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Real Madrid CF non-playing staff