 Juanito in 1981 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Gómez González | ||
| Date of birth | (1954-11-10)10 November 1954 | ||
| Place of birth | Fuengirola, Spain | ||
| Date of death | 2 April 1992(1992-04-02) (aged 37) | ||
| Place of death | Calzada de Oropesa, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Fuengirola | |||
| 1969–1972 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1972–1973 | Atlético Madrileño | ||
| 1973–1977 | Burgos | 104 | (25) |
| 1977–1987 | Real Madrid | 284 | (85) |
| 1987–1989 | Málaga | 71 | (15) |
| 1991 | Los Boliches | 5 | (0) |
| Total | 464 | (125) | |
| International career | |||
| 1970–1972 | Spain U18 | 9 | (0) |
| 1976 | Spain amateur | 2 | (0) |
| 1976–1982 | Spain | 34 | (8) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1991–1992 | Mérida | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Juan Gómez González (10 November 1954 – 2 April 1992), known asJuanito, was a Spanishfootballer who played as aforward.
A player with tremendous dribbling ability whose career was overshadowed by a fierce character, he was best known for hisReal Madrid years. He died in aroad accident at the age of 37.[1]
Growing up, he supportedReal Zaragoza, but as he approached his adulthood he began supporting Real Madrid. Upon his presentation in 1977, he said: "Playing for Real Madrid is like touching the sky, Real Madrid has always been my first choice as a team andMadrid has always been my favorite as a city".[2] Over 13 seasons, he amassedLa Liga totals of 350 matches and 99 goals.
Juanito earned more than 30caps forSpain, representing the nation in twoWorld Cups and oneEuropean Championship.
Born inFuengirola,Province of Málaga, Juanito played as a youth withhis local club before joiningAtlético Madrid in 1969. While still underage, he allegedly forged his papers so he could play for their under-18 team. He scored twice on his debut, but a fracturedtibia ended his career at Atlético and he never played for the senior side.[2]
Juanito would revive his career atBurgos, helping them to win theSegunda División in1975–76.[3] He made hisLa Liga debut in a 2–1 win overEspañol in thefollowing season, and was eventually awarded Spanish Footballer of the Year byDon Balón.[4]
Juanito soon attracted the attention ofReal Madrid, which signed the player in June 1977. He became a prominent member of the successful sides during the late 1970s and 1980s, in a squad which also featuredSantillana,Uli Stielike,Vicente del Bosque andJosé Antonio Camacho. Having scored ten goals in hisdebut season he was instrumental in helping thecapital team to five league titles, twoCopa del Rey and twoUEFA Cups – among his personal highlights were netting twice in the1980 domestic cup final, incidentally played againstCastilla, the club's reserves (6–1).[5] On 11 May 1983 he scored through apenalty in theEuropean Cup Winners' Cupfinal, a 2–1 loss againstAberdeen, and, in thesubsequent league campaign, he won thePichichi Trophy after finishing as joint top scorer with 17 goals; over ten seasons with theMerengues he played 284 top-flight games and scored 85 times, adding 55 appearances in variousEuropean competitions (17 goals).[6]
After leaving Real Madrid, Juanito spent two seasons withMálaga, helping the side to promote from the second tier in hisfirst year, as champions – as legendaryLászló Kubala was the manager[7]– and scoring one of his five goals ofthe following campaign against former teammateFrancisco Buyo,[8] before retiring in 1991 after a very brief spell with amateursLos Boliches, also in his nativeAndalusia. He subsequently began a working as a coach withMérida, leading the team to a seventh place in division two in1991–92; however, on 2 April 1992, after watching Real playTorino in aUEFA Cup match, he was killed in a road accident inCalzada de Oropesa,Toledo, while returning toMérida.[9]
Juanito played 34 times forSpain, scoring eight goals. His debut came on 10 October 1976 in a1978 FIFA World Cupqualifier againstYugoslavia, inSevilla: at the 30-minute mark, he replaced teammate del Bosque in a 2–0 win;[10] in the second match with this opponent, on 30 November 1977 inBelgrade (1–0 victory), he was hit with a bottle as he was being replaced and made an obscene gesture towards the crowd.[2]
Juanito represented Spain at the 1978 and1982 World Cups, and atUEFA Euro 1980.[11] During the 1982 competition, on home soil, he netted a penalty against Yugoslavia in another win (2–1).[12] In1976, heplayed Olympic football.[13]
Juanito was considered by most of Real Madrid fans to represent the essence of what the club is about, his spirit often being called upon before matches where the team need to make an unexpected comeback (because of all the comebacks he often led while donning the white shirt). One of these was againstCeltic in the quarter-finals of the1979–80 European Cup, with Real losing 2–0 in the first match inGlasgow: in the second leg the team managed to come from behind after scoring three times without response (the third by him), thus reaching the last four; other comebacks in this period included the downings ofInter Milan andAnderlecht.[14][15][16][2]
Since his death, Juanito continued to be remembered in the seventh minute of every home game, as theUltras chanted "Illa illa illa, Juanito maravilla".[17]
During his career, Juanito was involved in several violent incidents: in 1978, he received a two-year suspension from European competitions after assaultingrefereeAdolf Prokop in a match againstGrasshoppers.[2] In a UEFA Cup tie against anotherSwiss side,Neuchâtel Xamax, he spat on former teammate Stielike. He was again banned in 1987, this time for four years – an error in communications fromUEFA meant that the sanction was originally thought to be five – after deliberately stamping onBayern Munich'sLothar Matthäus' face;[2][18][19][20][21] as an apology, he later gave the German a bullfighter's cape and rapier.[22]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Atlético Madrileño | 1971–72 | Tercera División | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| Burgos | 1973–74 | Segunda División | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 3 | |||
| 1974–75 | Segunda División | 18 | 7 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | 21 | 8 | ||||
| 1975–76 | Segunda División | 28 | 6 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 32 | 7 | ||||
| 1976–77 | La Liga | 32 | 9 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 36 | 9 | ||||
| Total | 104 | 25 | 12 | 2 | — | — | — | 116 | 27 | |||||
| Real Madrid | 1977–78 | La Liga | 32 | 10 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | 36 | 14 | |||
| 1978–79 | La Liga | 29 | 6 | 7 | 0 | — | 4[a] | 4 | — | 40 | 10 | |||
| 1979–80 | La Liga | 31 | 10 | 6 | 4 | — | 4[a] | 1 | — | 41 | 15 | |||
| 1980–81 | La Liga | 33 | 19 | 4 | 2 | — | 9[a] | 3 | — | 46 | 24 | |||
| 1981–82 | La Liga | 30 | 9 | 7 | 2 | — | 6[b] | 1 | — | 43 | 12 | |||
| 1982–83 | La Liga | 28 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9[c] | 4 | 1[d] | 0 | 49 | 17 | |
| 1983–84 | La Liga | 31 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 1 | — | 40 | 21 | ||
| 1984–85 | La Liga | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7[b] | 3 | — | 30 | 4 | ||
| 1985–86 | La Liga | 28 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9[b] | 0 | — | 43 | 4 | ||
| 1986–87 | La Liga | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 5[a] | 0 | — | 33 | 1 | |||
| Total | 284 | 85 | 50 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 55 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 401 | 122 | ||
| Málaga | 1987–88 | Segunda División | 37 | 10 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 41 | 11 | |||
| 1988–89 | La Liga | 34 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 36 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 71 | 15 | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 77 | 16 | |||||
| Los Boliches | 1990–91 | Segunda División B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||||
| Career total | 464 | 125 | 74 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 55 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 602 | 165 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1976 | 1 | 0 |
| 1977 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1978 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1980 | 10 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 10 | 4 | |
| 1982 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 34 | 8 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 March 1977 | Rico Pérez,Alicante, Spain |  Hungary | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 4 October 1978 | Maksimir,Zagreb,Yugoslavia |  Yugoslavia | 1–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1980 qualifying |
| 3 | 24 September 1980 | Népstadion,Budapest, Hungary | Hungary | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 18 February 1981 | Vicente Calderón,Madrid, Spain |  France | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 5 | 23 June 1981 | Azteca,Mexico City, Mexico |  Mexico | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 6 | 2–0 | |||||
| 7 | 28 June 1981 | Olímpico,Caracas, Venezuela |  Venezuela | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 8 | 20 June 1982 | Luis Casanova,Valencia, Spain | Yugoslavia | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1982 FIFA World Cup |
Real Madrid
Burgos
Málaga
Individual
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