Óscar Rodríguez López (10 June 1903 in

Avilés Avilés (Asturian and ;) is a town in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is, along with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main cities in the Principality of Asturias. The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, partially in a land that belonged ...

– 21 June 1976), simply known as Óscar, was a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a center-forward. Despite being deaf, he developed his entire football career at

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

, a team of which he is the all-time top scorer.

Club career

The son of a fisherman from

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

and a woman from

, he moved to Santander when he was sixteen years old, and there he began his career with

in 1920, at the age of 17, going on to play for them for the next two decades. A center-forward with a powerful shot, fast and very combative, he is considered by many to be the most important finisher in the history of Racing, with a total of 236 goals in just 211 official matches. In 1929 his goals were decisive in the qualifying phase to decide the tenth team that would participate in the first-ever

National championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

season in 1929. He was the driving force behind Santander in the 1920s and 1930s, helping the club win 13 Cantabrian Championships. His goals played a pivotal role in helping the club finish runner-up in the

1930–31 La Liga The 1930–31 La Liga season started 7 December 1930, and finished 5 April 1931. Athletic Bilbao defended the title successfully and won the league thanks to its better goal difference in a three-way draw in the first position. Alavés made the ...

season. Besides his natural ability to put the ball in the back of the net, he also fell in love with his soon-to-be wife after dedicating a goal to her in a game in 1925, with whom he married a few months later. The epitaph on his tomb still reads: "Here lies, eternally in love, the greatest goalscorer of Real Racing Club".

International career

Being a player of

, he was eligible to play for the Cantabria national team, and he was one of the eleven footballers that played in the team's first-ever game on 9 March 1924, a 3–0 win over

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, and he was also the first professional football player registered in

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

after the admission of professionalism in 1926. Óscar scored twice in a 3–3 draw with

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

on 3 May 1925. Óscar earned two international caps for the Spain national team, making his debut on 17 May 1925 in a friendly against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

which ended in a 2-0 win. He had to wait two years for his second and last cap, which was held at El Sardinero on 17 April 1927 against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and Óscar scored the only goal of the game in a 1–0 win. He also earned a cap for the Spanish B team on 29 May 1927, in a friendly against the Portugal A side, which ended in a 2-0 win.

Honours

International

;

* Cantabrian Championship **Champions (13): 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1938–39 and 1939–40 *

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

: **Runner-up (1): 1930–31

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Óscar (footballer, born 1903) 1903 births Footballers from Asturias Spanish men's footballers 1976 deaths Men's association football forwards Racing de Santander players Footballers from Cantabria Deaf association football players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen