Ramón Polo Pardo (13 April 1901 – 19 June 1966) 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 le ...

who played as an

outside 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 ...

, and was a former manager.

Club career

Born in Corcubión,

Province of A Coruña The province of A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical en, link=no, Corunna) is the northwesternmost province of Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the autonomous community of Galicia. This province is surrounded by the A ...

, Polo played his entire professional career with

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

also in his native Galicia, after

Real Fortuna Football Club Real Fortuna Football Club, was a Spanish football club based in Vigo, Galicia, founded in 1905. Background Vigo was one of the cities through which football entered the Iberian Peninsula, thanks to British sailors and workers. The first demon ...

merged with

Real Vigo Sporting Club Real Vigo Sporting Club, was a Spanish football club based in Vigo, Galicia, founded in 1905. Background Vigo was one of the cities through which football entered the Iberian Peninsula, thanks to British sailors and workers. The first demonst ...

in 1923. He competed with the club in

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 ...

and

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

, scoring an all-time best 159 goals in 259 games all competitions comprised even though he was not a pure striker. Having studied in his youth to be a priest, Polo was known in Argentina as the black shadow of

Américo Tesoriere Américo Miguel Tesoriere, sometimes nicknamed ''Mérico'' (Buenos Aires, March 18, 1899 – December 30, 1977), was an Argentine football goalkeeper who spent most of his career in Boca Juniors, where he became an early idol and remaining as a le ...

, as he was the only European player capable of scoring against him. In a game against

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 ...

, he converted a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

with a broken

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

. Polo retired in 1935 at the age of 34, going on to manage

SG Lucense Sociedad Gimnástica Lucense was a Spanish football club based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia. History Founded in 1943, the club immediately started to play in Tercera División, achieving promotion in 1949. After finishing 1 ...

in the second level in the early 50s. He died on 19 June 1966, aged 65.

International career

Polo gained two

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 ...

during seven years, in as many

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. His debut took place on 4 October 1925, in a 1–0 win over

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polo, Ramon 1901 births 1966 deaths Sportspeople from the Province of A Coruña Spanish footballers Footballers from Galicia (Spain) Association football forwards Segunda División players Tercera División players RC Celta de Vigo players Spain B international footballers Spain international footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División managers CD Lugo managers