Estanislau Basora Brunet (also Estanislao; 18 November 1926 – 16 March 2012) 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 winger or striker. Most of his 15-year career was spent at

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

for which he appeared in more than 300 official games, surpassing the 100-goal mark and winning 14 major titles. A Spanish international in the late 1940s/early 1950s, Basora represented the nation at the

1950 World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first World Cup tournament in ...

Club career

Born in Colonia Valls,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Basora joined local and

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 ...

giants

in 1946, from neighbouring

CE Manresa Centre d'Esports Manresa is a Spanish football team based in Manresa, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1916, it plays in , holding home games at ''Nou Estadi Municipal del Congost'', with a capacity of 3,000 spectators. Histo ...

. He made his league debut on 22 September in a 1–1 home draw against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, but finished his first season with only three appearances for the club. In the following years, however, Basora was an undisputed starter, winning four titles from 1947 to 1949, including two national championships to which he contributed with 20 goals in 51 games combined under coach Enrique Fernández. He was part of a legendary offensive line which also included César,

László Kubala László Kubala (10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian professional association football, footballer. He played as a forward (association football), forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, ŠK Slovan Bratislava, Slovan Bratislava, F ...

Eduardo Manchón Eduardo Manchón Molina (born 24 July 1930 in Barcelona, died there on 29 September 2010) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. Although naturally left-footed, he was also adept with his right, and was capable of playing both as ...

Mariano Martín Mariano Martín Alonso (20 October 1919 – 9 September 1998) was a Spanish association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. Club career Martín was born in Dueñas, Palencia. After his beginnings with P ...

and

Moreno Moreno may refer to: Places Argentina * Moreno (Buenos Aires Metro), a station on Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro *Moreno, Buenos Aires, a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina * Moreno Department, a depatnent of Santiago del Estero Province, ...

, and scored the opening goal in the

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international official football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949, the football federations came together and requested FIFA launch the competition ...

final, a 2–1 victory over

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. In the 1951–52 season, Basora was an essential offensive unit as ''Barça'' won five titles. He scored eight in 27 matches in the league, and also found the net in the campaign's

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

final, a 4–2 win against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

. He also spent one of his twelve years with the team on loan to another outfit in the region,

UE Lleida Unió Esportiva Lleida was a Spanish football team based in Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It was founded as ''Lérida Balompié-AEM'' on 30 October 1939, and became ''Unión Deportiva Lérida'' in 1947, after a merger with ''C ...

, retiring in 1959 at nearly 33 years of age with official totals for his main club of 301 games and 113 goals; in 1974, during Barcelona's 75th anniversary celebrations, he was included in their all-time best XI.

International career

During eight years, Basora played 22 games and scored 13 goals for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

.Estanislao Basora – International Appearances
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

On 12 June 1949 he netted on his debut, a 4–1 win against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. A week later, in another friendly, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

within fifteen minutes against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the

Stade de Colombes Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the Stade (district), district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the wes ...

, being subsequently dubbed by the French press "The Monster of Colombes".Fallece el mítico Basora (Legendary Basora dies)
FIFA.com, 16 March 2012 Basora represented the nation at the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

in Brazil, forming a formidable offensive partnership with

Telmo Zarra Pedro Telmo Zarraonandía Montoya (20 January 1921 – 23 February 2006), known as Telmo Zarra (, ), was a Spanish association football, football Forward (association football), forward. He spent the majority of his career at Athletic Bilbao, fr ...

. In the opening game against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Spain were 0–1 down with ten minutes to go before Basora scored twice inside a minute – Zarra then added a third for the final 3–1. In the second group game Spain beat

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

2–0, with both players again on target. The side then confirmed its place in the next stage with a 1–0 win against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, with Zarra heading in a Basora cross; the second group stage started against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, and he found the net twice to help the team come from behind 0–1, but the South Americans eventually tied it 2–2 and the national team lost the following two games. Between 1948 and 1958 Basora also played five games for the Catalan XI, scoring twice. On 26 January 1955, he appeared alongside Kubala and guest player

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

in a game against

Bologna FC 1909 Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. The club have won seven top-flight titles, thr ...

at the ''

Camp de Les Corts Camp de Les Corts (), commonly referred to as Les Corts, was a sports stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the home for FC Barcelona until the club moved to the Camp Nou in 1957. It was also the home of CD Condal for the club's ent ...

''.

International goals

Personal life / Death

Basora's younger brother, Joaquín, was also a footballer. Often referred to as Basora II, the forward represented, in the top division,

CD Condal Club Deportivo Condal was a Spanish football club based in Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1934 and dissolved in 1970, it held home games at ''Camp de Les Corts'', with a capacity of 25,000 spectators. History ...

and

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

. On 16 March 2012, days after having suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, Basora died at the University Hospital of

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

. He was 85 years old.Fallece Estanislao Basora, legendario jugador del Barça (Estanislao Basora, legendary Barça player, dies)

Mundo Deportivo ''Mundo Deportivo'' (; ) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since 1929 daily. It is the oldest sports ...

, 16 March 2012

Honours

;Barcelona *

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

: 1955–58 *

: 1947–48, 1948–49, 1951–52, 1952–53 *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, 1952–53,

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the n ...

: 1948, 1952, 1953 *

Small Club World Cup The Small World Cup () was a football tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1975 (with some journalists considering 1952–57 the period of greatest relevance, and the second period that took place between 1963 and 1975 as of minor relevanc ...

: 1957

References

External links

*
FC Barcelona profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basora, Estanislau 1926 births 2012 deaths People from Bages Footballers from the Province of Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players CE Manresa players FC Barcelona players UE Lleida players Spain men's B international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Catalonia men's international footballers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen