Marcelino Martínez Cao (; born 29 April 1940), known simply as Marcelino, is a Spanish retired

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 striker.

Club career

Marcelino was born in Ares,

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 At ...

, Galicia. In 1959 he signed with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

from local

Racing de Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio ...

, going on to remain with the former club until his retirement 11 years later. During his spell with the Aragonese, always spent 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' ...

, Marcelino scored 117 official goals, contributing solidly to the conquest of three major titles, including two

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 footb ...

trophies. He was part of an efficient attacking unit dubbed ''Los Magníficos'' (The Magnificent) which also featured Canário,

Carlos Lapetra Carlos Lapetra Coarasa (29 November 1938 – 24 December 1995) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. He spent ten of his 11 years as a professional with Zaragoza, appearing in 279 official games (62 goals) and winning three major ti ...

Eleuterio Santos Eleuterio Santos Brito (9 November 1940 – 28 January 2008) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the vast majority of his professional career with Real Zaragoza, appearing in 280 official games and scoring 96 goals. Cl ...

and Juan Manuel Villa.

International career

Marcelino played 14 times for the Spain national team, participating in the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1966 FIFA World Cup. In the former tournament he scored the decisive 2–1 in the final against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, through a header.

International goals

Honours

Club

Zaragoza *

Copa del Generalísimo 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 footb ...

: 1963–64, 1965–66 * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1963–64

International

Spain *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Marcelino 1940 births Living people People from Ferrol (comarca) Sportspeople from the Province of A Coruña Spanish footballers Footballers from Galicia (Spain) Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Racing de Ferrol footballers Real Zaragoza players Spain B international footballers Spain international footballers 1964 European Nations' Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players