Luciano Sánchez García (28 May 1944), known as Vavá II, is a retired 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 a

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Club career

As a youngster, Luciano gave himself the nickname Vavá II, due to his admiration for the Brazilian striker, he began his career with his hometown team, CD Béjar Industrial. In 1963 he signed for Elche CF, although the first season he played for the reserve team, Deportivo Ilicitano, 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 ...

. He made his debut on

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

on 18 October 1964, in a match against

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

in which he scored a goal. In 1965, he played a friendly match for

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 ...

. The following year, the 1965/66 season, he was the top scorer in the Spanish League, with nineteen goals, making him the only player in the history of Elche CF to have 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 ...

. A few months later, he also became the first Elche player to wear the Spain national team shirt. In 1969 he was runner-up in 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 footbal ...

, the greatest sporting success in the history of Elche CF. In the final,

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

won 1-0 and Vavá played the entire match. Despite losing the category in the 1970/71 season, he continued to play for Elche in Segunda División. For the 1973/74 season he signed for Deportivo de La Coruña, where he played for one season. In 1974 he retired from professional football, and he played for

Melilla CF Melilla Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1946 as ''Club Deportivo Tesorillo'' and dissolved in 1976, it played for four consecutive seasons in Segunda División. History Founded in ...

, Mérida Industrial and Don Benito for the following seasons until 1979, when he ultimately retired.

International career

In the Spain national team, he played two matches without scoring a goal. He made his debut on 23 October 1966 in a match against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Career statistics

Clubs

Source:

International

Honours

Individual

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 ...

: Top Scorer 1965–66

References

External links

* * * {{La Liga top scorers 1944 births Living people People from Béjar Sportspeople from the Province of Salamanca Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Castile and León Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Elche CF Ilicitano footballers CD Don Benito players Elche CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players Spain men's international footballers Pichichi Trophy winners