| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ricardo Gallego Redondo[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1959-02-08)8 February 1959 (age 66)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 1973–1977 | Real Madrid | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1977–1980 | Castilla | 87 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 1980–1989 | Real Madrid | 250 | (22) | |||||||||||
| 1989–1990 | Udinese | 30 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Rayo Vallecano | 31 | (1) | |||||||||||
| Total | 398 | (29) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1977 | Spain U18 | 3 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 1977 | Spain U20 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1978 | Spain U21 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1980–1981 | Spain B | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1982–1988 | Spain | 42 | (2) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Ricardo Gallego Redondo (born 8 February 1959) is a Spanish formerfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder.
Most of his professional career was associated toReal Madrid, for whom he appeared in 372 competitive games in nine years, winning a total of ten titles.[2]
Gallego earned almost 45caps forSpain, representing the nation in twoWorld Cups and as manyEuropean Championships.
A product ofLa Liga powerhouseReal Madrid's youth system,Madrid-born Gallego made a quick impression with the first team, appearing in 26 matches in hisfirst year and being a midfield mainstay the following seasons as he totalled 250 top-division matches with the conquest of, among others, four leagues, twoCopa del Rey and consecutiveUEFA Cups (1985–86); blessed with physical and technical ability alike, he could operate with equal efficiency assweeper.[3]
In the1986–87 campaign, Gallego contributed 37 appearances and two goals (more than 3,000 minutes) as Real Madrid won the national championship,[4] alsoreaching the semi-finals of the domestic cup.[5] On 15 March 1987, however, he landed onMiguel de Andrés' knee, and theAthletic Bilbao player ended his career after that game, a 2–1 win at theSan Mamés Stadium.[6]
Following a brief spell with Italy'sUdinese Calcio, Gallego returned to Spain and the Spanish capital, spending one season withRayo Vallecano in theSegunda División andachieving promotion. Retiring at 33, he then worked with his first and last clubs in directorial capacities.[7][8]
Gallego played 42 times forSpain,[9] his debut coming in afriendly prior tothe impendingFIFA World Cup on home soil, a 24 February 1982 victory overScotland: after replacingFC Barcelona'sVíctor Muñoz in the second half, he closed the score at 3–0.[10][11]
After being used only once in that tournament, Gallego became a nuclear defensive player in the next two competitions:UEFA Euro 1984 (a runner-up finish) and the1986 FIFA World Cup, retiring from international play afterEuro 88.[9] In mid-August 2011, he reunited with his former Spain and Real Madrid teammateJosé Antonio Camacho, acting as his assistant in theChina national team.[12]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 24 February 1982 | Luis Casanova,Valencia,Spain |  Scotland | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly[10] |
| 2. | 26 May 1984 | Charmilles,Geneva,Switzerland |  Switzerland | 0–2 | 0–4 | Friendly[13] |
Castilla
Real Madrid
Spain squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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