Eulogio Ramiro Martínez (11 June 1935 – 30 September 1984) was a Paraguayan-born

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 ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He played for the Spanish side

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

in the 1950s and 1960s, and is remembered for being a prolific striker with an excellent finishing ability. He was reputed to be the creator of the "Martinez Turn", which can be seen on Movietone footage of Barcelona's quarter-final match against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

in the

1959–60 European Cup The 1959–60 European Cup was the fifth season of the European Cup, Europe's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Real Madrid, who beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7–3 in the final at Hampden Park, Glasgow. It remains the recor ...

. This move later received worldwide acclaim as the " Cruyff Turn" and although

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

was at Barcelona when he demonstrated it in the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

, Martinez has never received any credit despite using it at least 14 years earlier.

Club career

Years at Barcelona

After leading

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a professional football club based in Asunción, Paraguay that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Libe ...

to a Paraguayan League title in 1955, Martínez drew the attention of

who eventually signed him in 1956. Martínez soon showcased his talent in Barcelona by leading the team in scoring in three seasons (1956–57, 1957–58, 1959–60), obtaining two Spanish League titles, two Copas del Rey and two

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (n ...

s. Martínez also became part of FC Barcelona's history by scoring the first goal ever at their current stadium,

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barc ...

, on 24 September 1957. The goal was scored in the 11th minute, in a friendly match celebrating the inauguration of the stadium against a Polish team. Barcelona won the match 4–2. Another impressive accomplishment by Martínez while playing for FC Barcelona was when he scored seven goals in one match, in an 8–1 victory over

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

in a Copa del Rey tie played on 1 May 1957.

Post-Barça Years

Hampered by being overweight, he left FC Barcelona in 1962, having scored 111 goals in 162 official matches. He went on to play for

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,

, Atlético Madrid, and CE Europa.

Club statistics

International career

Martínez played for both

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. For Paraguay he had 9 caps and 4 goals. For Spain he had 8 caps and 6 goals, and was part of the Spanish team that played at the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place b ...

. He played the opening game, a 1–0 defeat against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, but was dropped from the team afterwards.

Spain International goals

After retirement

After retiring in 1966, he established himself in the Catalan town of

Calella Calella is a municipality in the Maresme region of Spain, located 50 km from Barcelona, 50 km from Girona and 6 km from the Montnegre-Corredor Natural Park. It is known as the tourist capital of the Costa del Maresme and is characterized by being ...

. In 1984, he was run down by a car while changing a flat tire. He spent 23 days in a coma before dying on 30 September 1984.

Honours

;Club Libertad * Paraguayan League: 1955 ;FC Barcelona *

: 1955–58, 1958–60 * Spanish League: 1958–59, 1959–60 *

Spanish Cup The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 1956–57, 1958–59 ;Atlético Madrid *

: 1964–65

References

External links

*
National team data
*

FC Barcelona profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Eulogio 1935 births 1984 deaths Paraguayan emigrants to Spain Paraguayan footballers Sportspeople from Asunción Spanish footballers Association football forwards La Liga players Club Libertad footballers FC Barcelona players Elche CF players Atlético Madrid footballers CE Europa footballers Paraguayan expatriate footballers Dual internationalists (football) Paraguay international footballers Spain B international footballers Spain international footballers Catalonia international guest footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players Road incident deaths in Spain