Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a retired Mexican professional
footballer and current
manager. A prolific goalscorer known for his spectacular strikes and volleys, Sánchez is widely regarded as Mexico's greatest-ever footballer, and one of the greatest of his generation. In 1999, the
International Federation of Football History and Statistics voted Sánchez the 26th best footballer of the 20th century, and the best footballer from the
CONCACAF region. In 2004 Sánchez was named in the
FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. He is the
fourth highest scorer in the history of
Spain's top division.
Golden Aspirations
For Hugo it all began while watching his brother’s training sessions with Mexico’s amateur side, as a 15-year-old. The youngster would plead with the coaching staff to allow him to join in, and although he was repeatedly refused due to his age, they did eventually succumb to his wishes. Upon witnessing his terrific abilities, there was only one thing for them to do – invite him to join the team!
With Sánchez on board, and his exquisite performances in the Toulon Tournament and victory in the 1975 Cannes Youth Tournament, he earned the nickname
‘Niño de Oro
’ (‘Golden Boy’). Sánchez had become a prized youth player of UNAM Pumas during his early years at the club (1972-’75).
GOOOOOL!
In 1976, the 18-year-old signed his first professional contract with UNAM Pumas, a professional team representing the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Sánchez, not having lost sight of his studies, was on his way to attaining a Dentistry degree while playing for the first team.
Interestingly, Sánchez had started his career playing as a left winger, until his coach Velibor “Bora” Milutinović’s enlightened decision in making Sánchez the driving force of the attack. It was claimed that whenever Sánchez scored, as the Mexican commentator at the stadium cried “Goooooool!”, Sánchez would see how many backflips he could perform during those seconds!
With UNAM Pumas, Sánchez got to play regular football, scoring 99 goals in 183 matches in the domestic league alone. During his 5 seasons at the club, they won 2 Mexican Primera División championships (’77 and ’81), the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup (’80), and the Copa Interamericana (’81). During this period, Sánchez also won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in ’77 with Mexico’s national team.
Madrid’s Calling…
Sánchez’s exploits in front of goal caused quite a stir, and so, when Spain’s Atlético de Madrid came knocking, Sánchez answered…
In 1981, Sánchez transferred to Atlético Madrid, after having turned down many an offer, including that of English side Arsenal FC. But the youngster struggled to adapt to the style of play and lifestyle during his first year at the club. With a low goal tally and too much time on the bench, many thought that he would return to Mexico. Rumours were further stirred by Mexico’s (El Tri’s) shock elimination from the qualifiers for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. It was thanks to the support and encouragement from Atlético Madrid’s president, Vicente Calderón, who enabled Sánchez to finally find his feet and realise his dreams.
As Sánchez’s playing time and goal tally rose, he launched his journey to stardom and had a positive effect on Atlético Madrid’s end of season standings. In 1981-’82, Los Rojiblancos had finished the season in 8th spot, but for each of Sánchez’s following seasons, the team never finished below 4th position.
By the time the 1984-’85 season had arrived, it would ring in his best and last with Atlético Madrid. Los Rojiblancos won the Copa del Rey, finished in 2nd place in La Liga, behind FC Barcelona, and won the Supercopa de España. And to top it all off, Sánchez won his 1st Pichichi trophy as La Liga’s top goalscorer of the season, with 19 goals. By 1985, his tally with the club had reached 65 goals in 134 appearances in all competitions.
With all eyes on this marvel, it was not long before a club from nearby was bound to steal him away.
Magical Flight
By the time the 1985-’86 season came around, Sánchez was in a Los Blancos shirt at the Santiago Bernabéu – the timing of his arrival was impeccable as Real Madrid got Sánchez at his absolute best. He found himself surrounded by superstars, playing alongside the team’s nucleus, La Quinta del Buitre (‘Vulture’s Cohort’), consisting of Butragueño, Michel, Vázquez, Sanchís and Pardeza. Real Madrid was in the midst of a highly successful period in Spain and Europe during the latter part of the 80s, and Sánchez was given the platform on which to flourish!
Sánchez rallied glamourous performances. He had superb pace; was lethal in the air and from long range; and his perceptiveness guaranteed him to be in the ideal spot to receive the ball. All this, accompanied with a sublime touch and enthralling acrobatics, made Sánchez quite the catch for any club. His memorable bicycle-kicks (Huguinas) followed by celebratory somersaults (dedicated to his gymnast sister) and fist pumps immediately afterwards, created a spectacular show for the fans, including the opposing goalkeeper who happened to have the best seat in the house!
For Sánchez, the 1989-’90 season with Los Blancos could not have been more
perfect. His 5th Pichichi (4th with Real Madrid), earned him the nickname ‘Pentapichichi’ and made him only one of two others, Di Stéfano and Quini, to have 5 Pichichi trophies. (Only the legendary Telmo Zarra has 6.) Sánchez was also awarded the European Golden Shoe, equalling Zarra’s (1950-’51) Spanish league season’s record of 38 goals. It took 21 years for this record to be broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2011, when he scored 40 in La Liga. During this season, Sánchez scored one of his most extraordinary goals against Logroñés – an impeccably executed overhead-kick, which later became labelled the ‘Señor Gol’ (‘Great Goal’).
His glorious 7-year spell with Los Blancos (’85-’92) consisting of 207 goals in 283 games (in all competitions) earned the club 5 consecutive La Liga titles (’86-’90); 1 Copa del Rey (’89); 3 Supercopa de España (’88, ’89 ’90); and 1 UEFA Cup (’86).
Swift Expeditions
The next few years saw Sánchez travel around the globe to play for various clubs, but alas without any repeats of his previous form: Mexico City-based club América (’92-’93), winning the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup with the team in ’92; Rayo Vallecano (’93-’94); Atlante (’94-’95), Linz (’95-’96); Dallas (’96); and finally, Atlético Celaya (’97), where, after 450 goals in 756 career appearances, he retired aged 39.
Prior to his retirement, Real Madrid had organised a tribute match in honouring one of their legends. On the 29th May 1997, in a packed Santiago Bernabéu stadium – the match against Paris Saint Germain – Sánchez found himself in the place where he had achieved fame and which was overcome with memories of his glittering spell. Real Madrid was victorious, with Sánchez scoring a hat-trick in their 4-1 win, sealing one of his goals with a soaring scissor-kick!
Trials and Misfortunes
In 1977, Sánchez was selected to play for Mexico’s senior national team. By the age of 19, he represented his country at the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. It proved to be a disappointing campaign as El Tri finished bottom of their group and without any points, after having suffered defeats to Poland, West Germany and Tunisia.
Despair for Mexico ensued as they did not qualify for Spain 1982, receiving much criticism from their national media, and were disqualified from the 1990 FIFA World Cup, including all other international competitions, due to having utilised over-age player/s in qualifying for the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship.
Wave of Hope
Eight months prior to the FIFA World Cup hosted by Mexico, the country was hit by a severe earthquake in September ’85. As no damage had been caused to the stadiums, the preparations for the tournament continued. Mexico’s hosting of the event did not put pressure on El Tri; rather, the fans’ support was a huge motivational factor for the players. This World Cup, which began in May ’86, was not only in the year declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Peace, but it also gifted the world with the phenomenal Mexican wave!
Although Sánchez missed a penalty in the group phase, in a 1-1 draw with Paraguay, it had no consequence on the outcome of their group. Paradoxically, although Sánchez was heartbroken to have missed the penalty, he felt it showed people that he was only human, especially after his incredible performances in Spain. With Milutinović at the helm, Mexico wrapped up their group stage in top spot, followed by a 2-0 triumph over Bulgaria in the knockout stage. Mexico lost to West Germany 4-1 on penalties in the quarter-finals, after extra-time’s 0-0 scoreline – Mexico having had a legitimate goal disallowed.
At this tournament, the world also witnessed Argentina’s captain, Diego Maradona, score the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal in the quarter-finals against England, and Argentina going on to win the trophy after beating West Germany 3-2 in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca.
From 1977 ’til 1994, Sánchez was capped on 58 occasions and netted 29 goals.
