.jpg) Zarra in 1950 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pedro Telmo Zarraonandía Montoya | ||
| Date of birth | (1921-01-20)20 January 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Erandio,Kingdom of Spain | ||
| Date of death | 23 February 2006(2006-02-23) (aged 85) | ||
| Place of death | Bilbao, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1939–1940 | Erandio | 20 | (12) |
| 1940–1955 | Athletic Bilbao | 277 | (251) |
| 1955–1956 | Indautxu | 14 | (3) |
| 1956–1957 | Barakaldo | 12 | (2) |
| Total | 323 | (268) | |
| International career | |||
| 1945–1951 | Spain | 20 | (20) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Pedro Telmo Zarraonandía Montoya (20 January 1921 – 23 February 2006), known asTelmo Zarra (Basque:[ˈs̻ara],Spanish:[ˈθara]), was a Spanishfootballforward. He spent the majority of his career atAthletic Bilbao, from 1940 to 1955, for whom he remains the top scorer in competitive matches with 335 goals.[1]
Zarra signed for Athletic after playing one season forErandio. He became a prolific goalscorer in his 15 seasons at the club, winning thePichichi Trophy as the highest scorer inLa Liga on six occasions. During his career, Zarra scored a total of 251 league goals, a Spanish record that lasted nearly six decades before being broken byLionel Messi.[2] His 81 goals in theCopa del Rey remain a record.[3]
Despite his goalscoring records, he only played forSpain 20 times. Even so, he still managed to score 20 goals, including four in one match as Spain beatSwitzerland 6–3 on 18 February 1951. He also scored his country's winning goal againstEngland in the1950 World Cup finals as Spain reached the final four—their best performance in the competition until winning the2010 FIFA World Cup 60 years later.
After leaving Athletic in 1955, he played for one year withSD Indautxu and another withBarakaldo CF before retiring. He died of a heart attack on 23 February 2006, aged 85. TheZarra Trophy for the highest-scoring Spaniard in La Liga is awarded in his memory.
Zarra was born on 20 January 1921 at theAsúa train station inErandio, Biscay. He was the son of Telmo Zarraonandía, an engineer and head of Asúa station, and Tomasa Montoya. Zarra was the seventh of ten children, five of them boys. The family was ofRomani descent.[4]
When he was young, Zarra used to play football with his neighbours. While other children had homemade or improvised balls, Zarra had access to a real ball, as two of his brothers played football inLa Liga withArenas de Getxo:Tomás, agoalkeeper and the oldest sibling,[5] and Domingo, who died during theSpanish Civil War.
His father did not like Zarra playing football, because "it was enough with two brothers in the practice of this game." But Zarra liked the sport and began playing for several local teams, including Asia and Pitoberese. At that time, he was nicknamed "Telmito the fearful", as he would play cautiously, being ashamed and self-conscious of his skill.
Zarra signed his first professional contract withSD Erandio Club of the Second Division, and was incorporated into team during the 1937–38 season. Later he was recruited to a team from Biscay to play a friendly match against a team assembled fromGuipuzcoa, during which Zarra scored seven goals in a 9–0 win.
Around this time,Athletic Bilbao was looking for players to rebuild the team, which had been disbanded years before in the chaos caused by the Civil War. The team began recruiting young, promising players from Erandio for their team for the 1940–41 season.
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Zarra debuted with Athletic Club on 29 September 1940, in a league match againstValencia CF. The game ended in a 2–2 draw, with Zarraonandía scoring both goals for his team (including his first league goal, scored 17 minutes into the game).
During the 1941–42 season Zarra temporarily left Athletic Bilbao to join the army. He was dispatched toCeuta, and played some friendly matches with the team there. Upon his return toBilbao, Zarra experienced one of the biggest disappointments of his career while playing in the final of theCopa del Rey againstBarcelona. They had reached the end of normal time and neither team had managed to score. During extra time, Zarra had an opportunity to score against rival goalkeeperMiró, but he missed the shot; consequently, Barça won the match and Cup.
The1942–43 campaign was one of the most important for both Zarra and Athletic Bilbao. Athletic reached the Copa del Rey final after having defeatedAtlético Madrid and FC Valencia. There they metReal Madrid and this time, Zarra was able to redeem himself by scoring the only goal inthe final, winning the year's cup in addition to the league title.
Zarra's first serious injury occurred in the 1943–44 season in a match against Barcelona. He broke hisclavicle and was unable to play for a while. Once recovered, Zarra was able to return to the pitch and celebrate with a Copa del Rey title, helping Athletic record a2–0 win over Valencia.
In the 1944–45 season, with Athletic again facing Valencia in theCopa del Rey final, four minutes from time a Valencia player fell to the ground. Zarra made a move to trample the fallen player, as a joke, and he was sent off by the referee. This expulsion was the first and only he suffered throughout his career. Despite this, Athletic took the title that year thanks to a goal byRafael Iriondo that made the score 3–2.
Zarra experienced the best moments of his career in the1944–45 season with his firstPichichi Trophy, marking 20 goals scored in 26 matches. He would go on to win this award on five other occasions (1946, 1947, 1950, 1951 and 1953).
On 11 March 1945, Zarra was selected by the Spanish coachJacinto Quincoces to join theSpanish national team for a friendly match againstPortugal inLisbon. On 6 May of that year he played against Portugal again, and scored two of the four goals that won the match.
On 28 May 1950, Zarra again played in another Copa del Rey final, this time againstReal Valladolid after Valencia CF was disbanded.[citation needed] During the final, he scored four of the goals that won the game for his team. He opened the scoring at 14 minutes, but by end of regulation time the match was drawn. During extra time, Zarra scored ahat trick as Athletic won the cup. With those four against Valladolid, Zarra holds the record for highest number of goals scored in a Cup final.
Once qualified, the Spanish team played matches against theUnited States,Chile, andEngland in the1950 FIFA World Cup. He scored one of the goals in a 2–0 win over Chile in the second match. Zarra referred to the third game, against England, as "the game of the century." Zarra's goal past the English goalkeeperBert Williams won the match and sent Spain through at the expense of England. This goal, perhaps the most famous scored by Zarra, gave the victory to the Spanish team in their first World Cup semi-finals.
In the1950–51 season Zarra was able to score 38 goals in 30 league games, a Spanish record that stood until the 2010–11 season. This record was also achieved by the MexicanHugo Sánchez, although he scored his 38 goals over the course of 38 matches.
During the 1951–52 season Zarra suffered his most serious injury of his career, on 25 November 1951 in a game againstAtlético Madrid, when the opposing goalkeeper fell on Zarra's leg. An operation was required for full recovery, which kept him out for the rest of the season. On his return in the 1952–53 season, he played 29 games and scored on 25 occasions, giving a scoring average of 0.86 from both seasons.
On 29 April 1954, Zarra received a tribute and benefit match in Madrid (played between two regional selections) in recognition of his long career in Spanish football. This event was attended by several VIPs from the world of football, includingAlfredo Di Stéfano,Antonio Puchades,Estanislao Basora,Piru Gaínza,Eduardo Manchon, andCesar Lesmes.[6]
Zarra was nearing the end of this career and watched as young, promising Athletic players took over his role on the team, including a young player namedEneko Arieta, who would become his successor.
Zarra ended his Athletic career at the end of the1954–55 season. From then on he devoted himself to playing for several teams in the Second Division until his official retirement from the game in 1957; however, he continued playing football with the veteran players ofBiscay, donating the money collected from these games to charities.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Erandio | 1939–40 | Segunda División | 20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 12 |
| Athletic Bilbao | 1940–41 | Primera División | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 |
| 1941–42 | Primera División | 21 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 29 | 28 | |
| 1942–43 | Primera División | 17 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 25 | 24 | |
| 1943–44 | Primera División | 21 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 31 | 22 | |
| 1944–45 | Primera División | 26 | 20 | 9 | 14 | 35 | 34 | |
| 1945–46 | Primera División | 18 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 24 | |
| 1946–47 | Primera División | 24 | 33 | 6 | 3 | 30 | 36 | |
| 1947–48 | Primera División | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 9 | |
| 1948–49 | Primera División | 26 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 31 | |
| 1949–50 | Primera División | 26 | 24 | 7 | 13 | 33 | 37 | |
| 1950–51 | Primera División | 30 | 38 | 6 | 8 | 38[8] | 49[8] | |
| 1951–52 | Primera División | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | |
| 1952–53 | Primera División | 29 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 36 | 29 | |
| 1953–54 | Primera División | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1954–55 | Primera División | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |
| Total | 278 | 251 | 74 | 81 | 354[8] | 335[8] | ||
| Indautxu | 1955–56 | Segunda División | 27 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 17 |
| Barakaldo | 1956–57 | Segunda División | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| Career total | 337 | 282 | 74 | 81 | 411 | 363 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 May 1945 | Riazor, Spain |  Portugal | 1–1 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 2–1 | |||||
| 3 | 2 March 1947 | Dalymount Park, Dublin |  Republic of Ireland | 1–2 | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 4 | 2–2 | |||||
| 5 | 20 March 1949 | Unknown,Jamor,Oeiras, Portugal | Portugal | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 6 | 12 June 1949 | Dalymount Park, Dublin | Republic of Ireland | 1–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 7 | 3–1 | |||||
| 8 | 2 April 1950 | Nuevo Estadio Chamartín, Madrid, Spain | Portugal | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 3–1 | |||||
| 10 | 9 April 1950 | Unknown, Jamor, Oeiras, Portugal | Portugal | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 11 | 25 June 1950 | Estádio Vila Capanema,Curitiba, Brazil |  United States | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1950 FIFA World Cup group stage |
| 12 | 29 June 1950 | Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Chile | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1950 FIFA World Cup group stage |
| 13 | 2 July 1950 | Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  England | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1950 FIFA World Cup group stage |
| 14 | 16 July 1950 | Pacaembu, São Paulo, Brazil |  Sweden | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1950 FIFA World Cup final stage |
| 15 | 18 February 1951 | Nuevo Estadio Chamartín, Madrid, Spain |  Switzerland | 1–0 | 6–3 | Friendly |
| 16 | 2–0 | |||||
| 17 | 4–2 | |||||
| 18 | 5–2 | |||||
| 19 | 10 June 1951 | Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium |  Belgium | 2–3 | 3–3 | Friendly |
| 20 | 3–3 |
Athletic Bilbao[3]
Individual
Decorations
Posthumous dedications
Records
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