Real Madrid and the world of football are in mourning. This morning we learned of the sad death of Paco Gento, legend of the white team, at 88 years of age.
known as The Cantabrian Galena, Gento began his career as a footballer in his native Cantabria with the dream of one day being able to play for Racing de Santander, the biggest Cantabrian club. And Gento not only made his dream come true but he achieved much more.
In the 1952/1953 season he made his debut with Racing, with whom he played 14 games, and the following year he became a Real Madrid player under the president, Santiago Bernabéu. For 18 seasons, Gento defended the white shirt until he decided to hang up his boots in 1971 after having played 600 games.
In those 18 years, Gento made his name a legend and thanks to him and his great friend Alfredo Di Stéfano, among many other players, he was a fundamental part of the club’s professionalization and made Real Madrid a benchmark, strengthening the pillars of what would become the best team of the 20th century.
Considered the fastest winger of his time and one of the fastest in all of history, he was part of Di Stéfano’s Real Madrid team that won the first five consecutive European Cups in history and in 1966 won the sixth, becoming the only player in the history of this sport to win six European Cups.
To his record must be added 12 Leagues, being the player who has also won the most in this competition, 2 Spanish Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Little World Cup and 2 Latin Cups. In total 24 titles that have made him the most successful player in the club’s history, along with Marcelo who has just equaled that figure.
He was also international with the Spanish National Team on 44 occasions, winning the first European Championship in history for La Roja in 1964. After his retirement, Gento made the leap to the bench coaching Castilla, Castellón, Palencia, Granada and the regional team of Cantabria.
Thanks to his professional successes and everything he did for Real Madrid, in December 2015 he was named Honorary President of the club, a position he held until the day of his death and in which he replaced Alfredo Di Stéfano. With this well-deserved recognition, Madrid gave Gento back a part of everything he had given to the club.
But the greatness of a player like him goes far beyond the titles, the records and the awards he received for his unique and unrepeatable career. There are many of us who could not see Gento play live and direct, but the memory of that fast winger will always live in our memory and his name will be written in golden letters in the history of this sport.
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