Luis del Sol Cascajares (6 April 1935 – 20 June 2021) was a Spanish

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 ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played a total of 112

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 ...

games for Betis and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

(28 goals scored), winning five major titles with the latter side and earning several

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived ...

nominations. He later had brief spells as manager with the former club. Del Sol represented

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 ...

in two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, in the 1960s.

Club career

Betis and Real Madrid

Del Sol was born in

Arcos de Jalón Arcos de Jalón is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, 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 ...

Province of Soria Soria is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area. Demo ...

, relocating with his family to

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

at age two months. In his country, he played for

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

and

; with the former club he was part of the squad that was promoted to

(

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

), appearing in 40 games in that level over the course of one and a half seasons and scoring six goals. Signing with the ''Merengues'' in April 1960 for 6 million pesetas, del Sol netted a career-best 17 times in his first full season, while not missing one single minute of action in his 29 appearances as his team won the national championship, after starting the year with the

Intercontinental Cup Intercontinental Cup may refer to: Football * FIFA Intercontinental Cup, an association football competition involving the club champions of the six confederations of FIFA * Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004), an association football competition o ...

triumph against

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

Italy

In the summer of 1962, aged 27, del Sol moved abroad and signed for

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, becoming the club's first ever Spanish player and the third Spaniard in the Serie A. He was assigned the number 10 shirt in 1965 following

Omar Sívori Enrique Omar Sívori (, ; 2 October 1935 – 17 February 2005) was an Argentine-Italian Association football, football player and manager who played as a Forward (association football), forward. At club level, he is known for his successful tim ...

's departure to

SSC Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli (), commonly known as SSC Napoli or simply Napoli, is an Italian professional football club based in Naples, Campania that currently competes in the Serie A, the highest league of Italian football. Napoli are am ...

, and appeared in 292 competitive matches during his spell in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

(228 in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, 26 in the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

and 38 in European competitions), scoring 29 goals (20/6/3), winning the domestic cup in 1965 and the league title two years later. In 1970, del Sol joined

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

, collecting 57 appearances and scoring four goals during his two-year stint in the Italian capital and also serving as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

, just as compatriot

Joaquín Peiró Joaquín Peiró Lucas (29 January 1936 – 18 March 2020) was a Spanish football attacking midfielder and manager. After excelling at Atlético Madrid – where he would start and end his professional career, amassing La Liga totals of 166 game ...

had before him. In total, he remained one full decade in Italy.

Later years

Del Sol returned to Betis for the 1972–73 campaign. After suffering top-flight relegation the 38-year-old decided to retire from football, going on to later coach the club for several spells, starting with its youth sides and being in charge for 13 games as they returned to division one in 2001.

International career

Del Sol earned 16

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Spain national team, scoring three goals. His debut came on 15 May 1960 at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

, playing the second half of a 3–0 friendly 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 ...

. Del Sol represented the country at the

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s (playing four matches in total), and was also part of the championship-winning squad at the

1964 European Nations' Cup The 1964 European Nations' Cup was the second edition of the UEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by the hosts 2–1 over the defending champions, the Soviet Union. The tournament was a knockout comp ...

, although he did not appear in the final stages.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each del Sol goal''.

Style of play

A complete midfielder, del Sol was considered to be one of the best players in the world in his position during the 1960s. A physically strong, dynamic, intelligent and technically skillful player, he was mainly known for his pace, work-rate, tenacity and stamina, and was also noted for his ability to chase down opponents, break down the opposition's moves and subsequently start attacking plays for his team, courtesy of his movement off the ball and distribution. In addition to his abilities as a footballer, he was also known for his strong character, leadership, temperament and dedication on the pitch. Because of his ability to cover the pitch, del Sol's Real Madrid teammate

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 ...

gave him the nickname ''the postman''.

Death

Del Sol died on 20 June 2021 in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, at the age of 86.

Honours

Betis *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

: 1957–58 Real Madrid *

: 1960–61, 1961–62 *

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 ...

: 1961–62 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1959–60 *

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

Juventus *

: 1966–67 *

: 1964–65 Roma *

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup (, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition. The competition was ...

: 1972 Spain * European Nations' Cup:

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sol, Luis Del 1935 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Soria Footballers from Seville Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Real Betis players Real Madrid CF players Serie A players Juventus FC players AS Roma players UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's B international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1964 European Nations' Cup players UEFA European Championship–winning players 1966 FIFA World Cup players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Betis Deportivo Balompié managers Real Betis managers Recreativo de Huelva managers Real Betis non-playing staff