This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams. This blog was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team here. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017. His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. He also copied many many of my blog entries.
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| Galician national team in 2005 |
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Basque, Catalonia, Castile without Madrid players, Madrid Community, Andalusia, Valencian Community, Asturias, Aragon.
Galicia is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Cantabrian Sea to the north. It had a population of 2,701,743 in 2018 and a total area of 29,574 km2 (11,419 sq mi). Galicia has over 1,660 km (1,030 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada, and the largest and most populated, A Illa de Arousa.
The most popular and well-supported teams in the region are Celta Vigo and Deportivo La Coruña. When the two sides play, it is referred to as the Galician derby. Deportivo were champions of La Liga in the 1999–2000 season.
The Galician national football team is the football team made up of Galician players, which represents the Galician Football Federation. , Since this body is not a member of FIFA or the IOC , the Galician national team cannot participate in official tournaments and only play international friendly matches. The first game of the Galician national football was held in 1922. During the Spanish Civil War and the years under Franco, the national team was inoperational. In 2005, they played their first game again.
The team is familiarly known as "A Irmandiña", recalling the history of medieval Galicia, in which Brotherhoods were formed to defend the people against the abuses of the lords.
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| Galician national team in the 1920's |
Team
Franisco Buyo at the time of his retirement was the third highest keeper in La Liga appearance record. He spent over a decade with Real Madrid (1986-1997), winning 13 titles with them. Before Real Madrid, he played for Mallorca, Deportive La Coruna and Seville. He earned 7 caps for Spain between 1983 and 1992. He went to the European Championship of 1984 and 1988 as a backup.
GK: Miguel Angel
Miguel Ángel was born in Ourense, Galicia. During his career, after making his beginnings at handball, he played for AD Couto (later renamed Atlético Orense), CD Castellón and Real Madrid, having an 18-year spell with the latter club and being first choice from 1974 to 1978 and in two of his final three seasons; he conquered six La Liga championships, being an active part in four of those. He had 18 caps. He was in the squad for the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups.
GK: Juan Acuna
Juan Acuna was one of the best Spanish keeper in his times. From 1941 to 1951, he won four Zamora trophies, tied for 2nd in the total number of awards won. Deportivo La Coruna named one of its award after him. He played 278 times for Deportivo La Coruna. Internationally, he played once for Spain in 1941 in a match against Switzerland. He narrowly missed a spot on the 1950 World Cup team.
RB: Michel Salgado
Known as a hard player, Michel Salgado started with Celta before moving to Real Madrid in 1999, where he stayed until 2009. In 2009, he joined Blackburn Rovers and played three seasons. Salgado earned 53 caps for Spain. He went to Euro 2000 and Germany 2006, but missed Euro 2004 and Japan/Korea 2002 due to injuries. He is married to Malula Sanz, daughter of former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz.
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| Michel Salgado |
After one season with hometown's SD Compostela he joined Atlético Madrid in 1981, first playing with the reserves. He made his La Liga debut in 1984–85 and never again lost his starting XI berth, going on to make 483 competitive appearances for the club. Tomás earned 19 caps for the Spain national team, and was selected for the 1986 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988 (appearing in a total of eight matches and completing seven).
CB/RB: Luis Otero
Otero spent a decade at Real Vigo Sporting where he won four Galician Championships. He left the club shortly after it merged with Fortuna de Vigo to form Celta de Vigo. He signed for Deportivo de A Coruña in 1924, which was one of the triggers that started the historical rivalry between the Vigo and A Coruña teams. Luis Otero went down in history as one of the eleven players who played the first game of the Spanish team in 1920.
CB/RB: Luis Pasarin
Luis Pasarín started his professional career with RC Celta de Vigo. One of the club's first captains, he appeared in its first ever official tournament, the 1923 Galician Championship, which ended in conquest. Pasarín then spent six seasons with Valencia. Pasarín earned six caps for Spain, and represented the nation at the 1924 Summer Olympics
CB: Pedrito
Predrito made his debut with the first team of Deportivo de A Coruña, in the first match of the Copa Galicia 1935/36 , against Racing de Ferrol in Campo de Riazor, but the Spanish Civil War broke out. He played defense and played for 14 years at Deportivo de La Coruña , playing around 300 games, 154 of them in the First Division. He earned a single cap for Spain in 1945.
CB: Jose Santamaria (Born in Uruguay, but capped by Spain)
Jose Santamaria was a member of Real Madrid's all-conquering team of the late 1950's. He spent his 18-year career with Nacional and Real Madrid, winning 17 major titles the two teams combined, including four European Cups with the latter. He was considered one of the best ever center-backs. He played for Uruguay at the 1954 World Cup Finals, but played for Spain 4 years later in 1958.
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Jose Santamaria |
RB/LB: Jorge Otero
Jorge Otero started with Celta de Vigo in 1987, being an undisputed starter since the age of 18. In 1994, Otero signed for Valencia CF, achieving a personal best – in the top flight – runner-up place in the 1995–96 season. He later played with Real Betis, Atlético Madrid and Elche CF, the latter exclusively in Segunda División. He had 9 caps for Spain.
LB: Severino Reija
Born in Lugo, Severino Reija was a leftback. From 1957 to 1959, Reija played for Deportivo La Coruna. Then, he spent 10 seasons with Real Zaragoza, winning two Spanish Cup and Inter-City Fairs Cup in 1964. He participated with the national team at the 1962 FIFA World Cup, the 1964 European Nations' Cup, and the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He had a total of 20 caps between 1962 and 1967.
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| Severino Reija |
Nicknamed El Gallego (The Galician), Lorenzo Fernández played for Capurro, River Plate, Montevideo Wanderers FC and C.A. Peñarol. Fernández also played 31 times and scored 4 goals for Uruguay, with which he won the 1930 World Cup, the gold medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics, and the 1926 and 1935 Copa Americas. A center-half in the 2–3–5 footballing system.
DM: Jose Diego
Jose Diego started playing football for local Sociedad Deportiva. In 1974, José Diego was signed by neighbouring Real Sociedad. He became a very important unit for the Txuriurdin, going on to contribute with 96 matches and seven goals in three seasons combined as they won La Lig in 1981 and 1982, adding the second position in 1980. He was capped once.
CM/CB: Quique Costas
Costas began his career with local RC Celta de Vigo in 1965. He played 26 second division games in his first season. In 1971, Costas moved to league powerhouse FC Barcelona after 170 overall appearances. Almost never an undisputed starter he was still used regularly, and helped the Catalans to the 1979 conquest of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in his penultimate year. He was capped 13 times.
LM: Fran (Spain)
Fran made it to Deportivo La Coruna first team in 1988. He is considered one of the greatest players for the club. He played 17 seasons with them, winning the 1999-2000 La Liga. He amassed more than 600 overall appearances. He was capped 16 times. He played for Spain at Euro 2000. His last international was against Yugoslavia over there.
Luis Suarez Miramontes was considered to be Spain's greatest player until 1970's. He won Ballon d'Or in 1960. In 1964, he led La Roja in winning the European Championship. For club football, he played as a midfielder for Deportivo de La Coruña, CD España Industrial, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Sampdoria. He was a member of "Grande Inter" and won two consecutive European Cups.
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| Amancio Amaro and Luis Suarez Miramontes |
Nicknamed "El Brujo", Amancio Amaro played outside right for Deportivo de La Coruña before joining Real Madrid in 1962. He was considered the star of the team in the 1960's. He scored one of the most beautiful goal in European Cup history when Real Madrid lifted the title in 1966. He was capped 42 times. He won the 1964 European Football Championship.
RW: Jose Ufarte
Born in Spain, Jose Ufarte moved to Brazil as a child. He started with Flamengo and Corinthians in Brazil before he returned home and signed with Atletico Madrid. He played on the great Atletico Madrid side of the 1960's. he played for them between 1964 and 1974. In 1974, he later played with Racing Santander. For international football, he earned 16 caps. Ufarte represented Spain at the 1966 World Cup in England.
FW: Hermidita
At the age of 19, he made his debut for Real Club Celta , where he played for 12 years, playing a total of 170 games in which he scored a total of 113 goals , making him Celta's top scorer in its history. It wrote down 107 goals in the first Spanish division , being one of the maximum historical goleadores of this category. In addition, he scored three goals in the second division and as many in Promotion matches. In 1956 he signed for Córdoba CF , where he played two seasons.
Known simply as Marcelino, he signed with Real Zaragoza from local Racing de Ferrol, going on to remain with the former club until his retirement 11 years later. He was part of an efficient attacking unit dubbed Los Magníficos (The Magnificent). Marcelino played 14 times for the Spain national team, participating in the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1966 FIFA World Cup. In the former tournament he scored the decisive 2–1 in the final against the Soviet Union.
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| Marcelino Martínez |
ST: Pahiño
Pahiño joined RC Celta de Vigo in 1943, immediately becoming a starter. n summer 1948, both Pahiño and Miguel Muñoz signed for Real Madrid. he played for Deportivo La Coruna between 1953 and 1956. Pahiño earned three caps for Spain, over seven years. He scored on his debut on 20 June 1948, against Switzerland, adding a brace in his final appearance, a 2–2 draw with the Republic of Ireland in another friendly.
ST: Chacho
Chacho was born and died in A Coruña. During his career he played for Atlético de Madrid (1934–1936) and Deportivo de La Coruña (1927–1934, 1936–1946), and earned 3 caps and scored 6 goals for the Spain national football team, and participated in the 1934 FIFA World Cup. He later coached Deportivo, and a statue erected in his name can be found by the Riazor stadium.
ST: Iago Aspas
Aspas has spent most of his career with Celta, appearing in 380 official games across 12 seasons and scoring 166 goals. He is considered to be one of their greatest ever players. He made his La Liga debut with the club in 2012 and moved to Liverpool the following year, returning to Celta in 2015 after a loan at Sevilla. Aspas first appeared with the Spain senior team in 2016. He represented the country at the 2018 World Cup.
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| Iago Aspas |
Honorable Mention
Agustín, Deigo Lopez, Isidro, Amador, Jonny Otto, Balbino Clemente, Marcos Vales, Arsenio Iglesias, Jesús Martínez, Hugo Mallo, Lucas Vázquez, ST José Luis Veloso, Ramon "Moncho" Gil, Manolete, Brais Méndez, Moncho Gil, Ramón González, Berto, Borja Oubiña, Juan Monjardín, Manuel Jiménez, Borja Oubiña, Ricardo Cabanas (Swiss who earned 2 caps for Galicia), Angel Garcia, Hector Rial (born in Argentina)
Squad Explanation
-- At the time of writing, 42 Galicians have played for Spain.
-- Athletic Bilbao allows non-ethnic Basque who were born in the region or learned their football skills at a Basque club to join their team. However, this blog was not Athletic Bilbao. I only selected Gallicia-born or ethnic Gallician players. Thiago Alcantara, Rafinha and Rodrigo spent time as a youth in Vigo attending a soccer school co-owned by their respective fathers. I ruled them ineligible.
-- I used overseas Basque and Catalonian players for my respectively all-time teams. I found many information on these players online. However, there were lack of information on footballers and Galician diaspora. I knew that Uruguay featured four players of Galician descents who helped them to win the first ever World Cup in 1930. They were Pedro Cea, Lorenzo Fernández, Gestido Pose and Héctor Castro. Víctor Rodríguez Andrade and Obdulio Varela were also sometimes listed as Galicians, but I found nothing on anybody else. In the end, I did not select any of them. For Argentinians, I almost found no one even through there are a large group of Galicians over there. Erik Lamela and Emiliano Insúa were listed as Galicians. Ramón Quiroga who was the Argentina-born goalkeeper of Peru at the 1978 World Cup was the only player I found listed as Galician. I do not even have any idea if Américo Gallego was of Galician descent. In the end, I decided to ignore Galician diaspora. However, I made an exceptional case for Jose Santamaria and Lorenzo Fernández. The former was capped by Spain while the latter was born in the Galicia (see below). I also put Ricardo Cabanas (Switzerland) on honorable mention as he played twice for the Galician national team.
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DM: Ricardo Gallego and CB: Gallego (former of Barcelona and Sevilla)
were not born in the region. I have no idea of their ancestries, but I
assumed that they were of Galician descent because of their nick names. Jose Gallego was listed as a Basque everywhere. So they were not selected due to the lack of information.
-- Diego Maradona was listed as of Galician descent because his surname supposed to be of Galician in origin, but his surname was also listed as Italian in origin as well. I would not have selected him if I allowed overseas-born Galicians due to confusing reports. This illustrated the confusion I am having.
-- Central defender Luis Otero and forward Moncho Gil were part of Spain's first ever national team that debuted at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp. They won a Silver medal. Otero made this team.
-- Luis Suárez Miramontes formed an offensive line with Amancio and Marcelino that was known as "Trío Gallego" that won the 1964 European Cup. Marcelino scored the only goal in the Final against the USSR. I dropped José Luis Veloso who helped Spain to qualify for European Championship in 1964, but he did not play in the Finals. LB Severino Reija who was from Lugo was also a part of that team.
-- For goalkeepers, Francisco Buyo and Miguel Ángel were among the greatest goalkeepers with Real Madrid. Agustín won the Zamora award while playing for Real Madrid, but he was actually a backup to Miguel Ángel. He was on my honorable mention.
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| Francisco Buyo |
-- I could not really find suitable centerbacks. I was not sure if Luis Pasarin, Luis Otero and Pedrito were considered to be centre-backs, but in the old days, they only played with two defenders. So they must have play centrally. Luis Pasarin was first captain of Celta Vigo, but I do not know much about him. Pedrito is a member of Deportivo Hall of Flame.
-- Luis Otero was the one of the first Galician Olympic medalist. He was recognized as one of the most outstanding Galician footballers in history. He was part of the first lineups of both the Celta de Vigo and the Spanish team. In his memory, since 1959 the Luis Otero Trophy has been held in Pontevedra.
-- The blog team was meant to be just Galicia-born Spanish players, but the lack of suitable centerbacks changed that. I was looking at Lorenzo Fernández and José Santamaría of Uruguay. Lorenzo Fernández was born in Galicia, but he was capped by Uruguay (see below). José Santamaría was born in Uruguay, but he had parents from Galicia. In the end, I took José Santamaría because he was capped 16 times by Spain, which made him a "Spaniard" from Galicia. He was also a much more famous player and the team would be significantly boosted by his presence. Lorenzo Fernández was also not a centra-back. He was a half-back in the old 2-3-5 formation. I selected him as a midfielder. Hector Rial also had Galician parents. He played 5 times for Spain and never for Argentina. So I put him on honorable mention.
-- Michel Salgado is the all-time national team appearance leader for Galician footballers. Tomas Reñones was Spain's regular starter at both 1986 World Cup Finals and 1988 European Championship. Jorge Otero was mainly a leftback. And then, I took Severino Reija from the Euro 1964 winning team. Jonny was capped a few times by Spain. He made honorable mention.
-- Unlike the other Galician diaspora players, Lorenzo Fernández was born in Galicia. So I made another exceptional case for him after selecting Jose Santamaria. His career was very decorated. He is the only World Cup winner born in the region.
-- I also did not know much about Quique Costas. He seemed to be a midfielder with Celta Vigo, but might have played as a defender with Barcelona. Anyhow, I selected him as midfielder. He was better known as the long time coach of Barcelona B team where he developed a generations of super stars. One source called him the father of Barcelona La Masia.
-- Jose Diego played for Real Sociedad during its back-to-back la Liga titles in the early 1980's. I also looked into Berto and Borja Oubiña. Of course, I do not know much about them. They played a few games for Spain. Ricardo Cabanas of Switzerland played for Galicia twice. He became eligible for this team based upon that. However, I only put him on honorable mention. With 50 caps for Switzerland, he should be aheasd of Jose Diego, but I tried to avoid selecting overseas Galicians because of potential controsary.
-- Luis Suarez Miramontes was Spain's greatest player before the Golden Generation between 2008 and 2012. At the time of writing, he is the only Spanish-born Ballon d'or winner. During his prime, he was also the most expensive player in the world after he joined Inter Milan from Barcelona FC.
-- I have no space for Lucas Vázquez. Both José Ufarte and Amancio were ahead of him on the right-wing.
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On the left, Fran was a legend with a local club Deportivo La Coruna, which helped
his selection. He was much more famous than other Galician midfielders.
--
Arsenio Iglesias was a legend well-known with Deportivo La Coruna, but I
do not have space for him. In 2016, Iglesias was bestowed with the
highest recognition of Deportivo, a special insignia, and was declared
"Blue and White Legend".
-- Iago Aspas is probably Celta Vigo's greatest players. He is their all-time leading a scorer, followed by Hermidita. Ramon
Polo was a forgotten player who played for Celta Vigo. He scored 119
goals for them. I only had space for honorable mention.
-- Pahiño was the most important Real Madrid player before the arrival of Alfredo Di Stefano.
-- Eduardo González 'Chacho' scored 6 goals in his Spanish national team debut. It still remains a recod. He is a member of the Deportivo Hall of Flame. A statue of him was erected next to the Estado Riazor.
--
Marcelino Martínez was one of the most beloved Spanish footballers .
His was the goal that gave Spain its first European Championship in
1964.
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Both Moncho Gil and Ramón González played in the first ever match of
the Galician national team. They also participated at the 1920
Olympics where Spain won a silver medal. Both only made honorable mentions.
-- After taking 22 players, I had to decide between Ramon
Polo, Juan Monjardin and Hermidita for the last spot. Monjardin was well-known because he played for Real Madrid, but I decided to select a local hero. So it was between Hermidita and Ramon Polo. A Galician article listed Hermidita as the 10th greatest footballer from Galicia. So I took him over Polo.
-- Hector Rial was famous enough to be on this team. He was born in Argentina, but had never been capped by Argentina. So I ruled him eligible because of his ethnicity and his 5 cap for Spain. But since I was avoiding selecting overseas Galicians, except out of special needs. I decided to select native Galicians over him.
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| Galicia vs Venezuela in 2018 |
Formation
4-4-2
I could easily start Miguel Angel over Francisco Buyo. Marcelino could also start.
