José Martínez Sánchez (born 11 March 1945), nicknamed Pirri, is a Spanish former footballer. A

central 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 ...

in the early part of his career, he finished up as a sweeper. He spent the vast majority of his career with Real Madrid, appearing in 561 competitive matches and scoring 172 goals while winning 15 titles. He also served as captain of the club. A Spain international for 12 years, Pirri represented the country in two World Cups.

Club career

Born in

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

, Pirri signed for Real Madrid in 1964 as a 19-year-old, from

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 ...

club Granada who received 200 million pesetas. He made his debut with the former on 8 November of that year as a replacement for the suspended Ferenc Puskás, in a 4–1 home win against

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 ...

. He scored the first of his 123 goals in

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 ...

later that month, contributing to a 2–0 home victory over

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

also at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. During his tenure at Real, Pirri won ten national championships, netting in double digits in five of those seasons including a career-best 13 goals in 1975–76. He added nine appearances in the 1965–66 European Cup (for a total of 57 with 18 goals in the competition), including the final against Partizan (2–1 win in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

); he was part of a generation of players of the team dubbed

Yé-Yé ''Yé-yé'' () or ''yeyé'' () was a style of pop music that emerged in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe in the early 1960s. The French term ''yé-yé'' was derived from the English "yeah! yeah!", popularized by British beat music ban ...

. In 1980, Pirri joined Mexican

Liga MX 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 Divis ...

side

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

. He scored his first goal for them on 28 September, in a 2–0 home defeat of Atletas Campesinos. Pirri retired from the game at the age of 37 due his club's poor economic situation, even though he had one year more running in his contract. He then completed his studies to qualify as a physician, and joined Real Madrid's medical staff; in late December 1999, he was named their

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

after Jorge Valdano (who later replaced him) rejected the offer. On 17 July 2023, Pirri was appointed as honorary president of Real Madrid.

International career

Pirri earned 41 caps 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 ...

, scoring 16 goals. He made his debut in their 1966 FIFA World Cup opener, netting in the 2–1 loss to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in an eventual group-stage exit. The 33-year-old was also in squad for the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina, playing twice in another group phase elimination.

Style of play

Pirri was well known for his ferocity, leadership skills and versatility. Other than his two main positions, he was also deployed as a makeshift forward. Pirri played the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup final with his arm in a cast, and the decisive game of the 1974

Copa del Rey 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 Spanis ...

with fever and a broken clavicle. For his services to Real Madrid, he was only one of two players to have the ''Laureada'' being bestowed upon him by president Santiago Bernabéu – the other being Goyo Benito.

Personal life

In 1969, Pirri married Spanish actress Sonia Bruno. In February 2009, he started working as a commentator for Radio Nacional de España's ''Tablero Deportivo''.

Career statistics

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

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80 *

: 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80 * European Cup: 1965–66 Individual *La Liga Team of The Year: 1975–76, 1977–78, 1979–80 * UEFA Jubilee Poll (2004): #99

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirri 1945 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Ceuta Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Granada CF footballers Real Madrid CF players Liga MX players Club Puebla players UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's amateur international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Real Madrid CF non-playing staff