Miguel Ángel González Suárez (; 24 December 1947 – 6 February 2024), known as Miguel Ángel, was a Spanish professional

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He all but spent his career with

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 ...

, making 346 competitive appearances.

Club career

Miguel Ángel was born in Ourense, Galicia. During his career, after making his beginnings at

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, he played for AD Couto (later renamed Atlético Orense),

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...

and

, having an 18-year spell with the latter club and being first choice from 1974 to

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and in two of his final three seasons; he conquered six

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 ...

championships, being an active part in four of those. Miguel Ángel retired in June 1986, aged 38. Subsequently, he remained attached to Real in several capacities.

International career

Miguel Ángel earned 18 caps for the Spain national team. He made his debut on 12 October 1975 in a 2–0 win against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

for the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifiers, held in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Miguel Ángel was included in the squad for the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

, where he started. He was a last-minute addition to the 1982 edition on home soil, as manager José Santamaría preferred to select three goalkeepers; he did not play in the latter tournament.

Personal life and death

On 17 December 2022, Miguel Ángel was diagnosed with ALS; Real Madrid expressed support for his fight against the disease in an official statement. He died on 6 February 2024, at the age of 76.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80 *

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 ...

: 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1981–82 * Copa de la Liga:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1984–85 Individual * Ricardo Zamora Trophy: 1975–76 * Don Balón Award: 1975–76

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miguel Angel 1947 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Ourense Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players CD Castellón footballers Real Madrid CF players UEFA Europa League–winning players Spain men's amateur international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players Real Madrid CF non-playing staff Deaths from motor neuron disease in Spain