Leonardo Cilaurren Uriarte ( 5 November 1912 – 9 December 1969) was a Spanish international

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 professionally as a midfielder in Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico between 1929 and 1945.

Career

Club career

Born in Bilbao in the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, Cilaurren played club football in Spain for

Arenas Club de Getxo Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at Campo Mu ...

and

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 ...

prior to the Spanish Civil War. With Athletic, he won the Copa del Rey in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

and La Liga in 1933–34 before his career was interrupted by the conflict. During the 1938–39 season, he played for

Club Deportivo Euzkadi Club Deportivo Euzkadi was an association football team that played in the Primera Fuerza league in Mexico during the 1938–39 season. It was formed when the Basque Country national football team, which had been touring the world, was refused ...

(the Basque exiles' team) in the Mexican league. In 1939 he joined River Plate in Argentina where he played 19 times, scoring 3 goals. He then played for

CA Peñarol CA or ca may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * Air China (IATA airline code CA) * CA Technologies, a U.S. software company * Cayman Airways, a Cayman Islands airline * Channel America, a defunct U.S. television network * Classi ...

of Uruguay before returning to Mexico in 1943 where he played for Real Club España and was part of the team that won the League title in 1943–44, the Mexican Cup in 1944–45 and two editions of the Mexican Super Cup in 1944 and 1945.

International career

Cilaurren earned 14 caps for the Spanish national side between 1931 and 1935, and participated at the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

. From 1937 to 1939 he was part of the

Basque Country national football team The Basque Country representative football team (officially, in Basque, 'Euskal selekzioa') represents the Basque Country in football. It selects players from the Basque Country autonomous community, Navarre and the French Basque Country and is ...

which toured Europa and the Americas.

References

;General * * ;Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cilaurren, Leonardo 1912 births 1969 deaths Spanish men's footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spain men's international footballers Footballers from Bilbao La Liga players Arenas Club de Getxo footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Peñarol players Real Club España footballers Liga MX players 1934 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Men's association football midfielders Basque Country men's international footballers