Luciano Sánchez García (28 May 1944), known as Vavá II, is a retired 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

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 ...

Club career

As a youngster, Luciano gave himself the nickname Vavá II, due to his admiration for the Brazilian striker, he began his career with his hometown team, CD Béjar Industrial. In 1963 he signed for

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

, although the first season he played for the reserve team, Deportivo Ilicitano, in

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 ...

. He made his debut on Primera División on 18 October 1964, in a match against

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

in which he scored a goal. In 1965, he played a friendly match for

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 ...

. The following year, the 1965/66 season, he was the top scorer in the Spanish League, with nineteen goals, making him the only player in the history of Elche CF to have won the

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

. A few months later, he also became the first Elche player to wear the Spain national team shirt. In 1969 he was runner-up in the

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 ...

, the greatest sporting success in the history of Elche CF. In the final,

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

won 1-0 and Vavá played the entire match. Despite losing the category in the 1970/71 season, he continued to play for Elche in Segunda División. For the 1973/74 season he signed for

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 ...

, where he played for one season. In 1974 he retired from professional football, and he played for

Melilla CF Melilla Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1946 as ''Club Deportivo Tesorillo'' and dissolved in 1976, it played for four consecutive seasons in Segunda División. History Founded in 19 ...

, Mérida Industrial and

Don Benito Don Benito () is a Spanish town and municipality in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, near the left bank of the river Guadiana. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of 37,011. History Don Benito dates from the 15t ...

for the following seasons until 1979, when he ultimately retired.

International career

In the Spain national team, he played two matches without scoring a goal. He made his debut on 23 October 1966 in a match 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. ...

Career statistics

Clubs

Source:

International

Honours

Individual

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 ...

: Top Scorer 1965–66

References

External links

* * * {{La Liga top scorers 1944 births Living people People from Béjar Footballers from the Province of Salamanca Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Elche CF Ilicitano footballers CD Don Benito players Elche CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players Spain men's international footballers Pichichi Trophy winners 20th-century Spanish sportsmen