Álvaro Rodríguez Ros (16 January 1936 – 16 June 2018), commonly known as Alvarito, was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Club career

Alvarito was born in

Ujo Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other munitions) that did not explode when they were deployed ...

Mieres Mieres is a municipality of Asturias, northern Spain, with approximately 38,000 inhabitants. The municipality of Mieres is made up of the capital, Mieres del Camino and the villages of Baíña, Figaredo, Cenera, Loredo, La Peña, La Rebollada, ...

. After playing for two clubs in his native

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, he joined the professionals in 1955, going on to spend two seasons in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

also in his region of birth. In summer 1957, he joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

alongside teammate Toni Cuervo, also a fullback.Siempre quiso jugar en el Atleti (He always wanted to play for Atleti)

Mundo Deportivo ''Mundo Deportivo'' (; ) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since 1929 daily. It is the oldest sports ...

, 13 October 2004 (in Spanish) Cuervo returned to Oviedo shortly after a health problem halted his progression, but Alvarito stayed with Atlético, helping them to back-to-back

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

conquests, both won at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. He never appeared in more than nine league games for the club during his six-year spell as no substitutions were allowed at that time, and often played understudy to Isacio Calleja; he also suffered a

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

and

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) 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. ...

injury, in a match against

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

. Alvarito's last season in his country's top division would be 1963–64, playing the most he had in years to help

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

finish in 12th position and scoring his first and only goal in the competition on 16 February 1964, in a 1–0 home win over former team Oviedo. Subsequently, he plied his trade in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, Canada and the United States – very briefly returning to Spain to appear for

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

– acting as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for Shelbourne. He retired in 1970, at the age of 34. Subsequently, Alvarito worked as a manager, never in higher than

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

.Fallece a los 82 años Álvaro Rodríguez Ros, 'Alvarito', ex entrenador de la U.D. Melilla (Death of former U.D. Melilla manager Álvaro Rodríguez Ros, 'Alvarito', at the age of 82)
Melilla Hoy, 17 June 2018 (in Spanish)

International career

Alvarito earned two

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for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in July 1960, in as many away friendlies: on the 14th, he made his debut in a 4–0 win against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Ten days later, he appeared in a 0–2 loss with

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Death

Alvarito died on 16 June 2018 in Huércal-Overa,

Province of Almería Almería (, also ; ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It was named after the Arab ruler of Taifa, Banu Al-Miri. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homony ...

, at the age of 82.La RFEF lamenta el fallecimiento de Álvaro Rodríguez Ros "Alvarito" (RSFF mourn passing of Álvaro Rodríguez Ros "Alvarito")
;

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the natio ...

, 16 June 2018 (in Spanish)

Honours

Atlético Madrid *

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

: 1959–60, 1960–61

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarito 1936 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Mieres, Asturias Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Caudal Deportivo footballers Real Oviedo players Atlético Madrid footballers Real Murcia CF players Córdoba CF players League of Ireland players Shelbourne F.C. players Vancouver Royals players Spain men's B international footballers Spain men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Spanish football managers Shelbourne F.C. managers Segunda División B managers UD Melilla managers Spanish expatriate football managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen