Grimaldo González (22 September 1922 – 14 February 2007) was a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager who spent most of his career in the

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

Playing career

Born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, González played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. In 1946, he moved to Mexico to play for ADO de Orizaba. He joined

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

the following season, but would enjoy his greatest success with

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...

by winning the 1952–53 season championship. Tampico clinched the title in the penultimate round, winning 1–0 against

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

with González scoring the winning goal.

Managerial career

After he retired from playing, González became a football coach. He managed Tampico,

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Coahuila. The city's population is 720,848 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the state of Coahuila. Also Torreón is par ...

Tigres de la UANL Tigre ("Tiger" in various languages), Tigres or El Tigre may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Le Tigre, an American rock band ** ''Le Tigre'' (album) * '' El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera'', a Nickelodeon animated TV series ** ''El Ti ...

and

Ciudad Madero Ciudad Madero is a coastal city located on the Gulf of Mexico in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Lying within the metropolitan area of Tampico, it is the seventh most populous city in the state, with a census-estimated ...

. He would lead Torreón, Tigres and Ciudad Madero to promotions to the Mexican Primera División.

Personal life

González died in

Gómez Palacio Gómez (frequently anglicization, anglicized as Gomez) is a common Spanish language, Spanish patronymic surname of Germanic origin meaning "son of Gome". The Portuguese language, Portuguese and Galician language, Old Galician version is Gomes, whi ...

at age 84.

References

1922 births 2007 deaths Peruvian men's footballers Footballers from Lima Men's association football forwards Liga MX players C.D. Veracruz footballers Peruvian football managers Tigres UANL managers Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico 20th-century Peruvian sportsmen {{Peru-footy-bio-stub