Hugo Sánchez – all-time top scorer and legend

Lore & Background

Sánchez is regarded as one of La Liga's best foreign imports, and one of Real Madrid's top strikers of all time. He is the fifth highest scorer in the history of La Liga, the fourth highest scoring foreign player after Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Karim Benzema, and is the seventh highest goal scorer in Real Madrid's history. He scored a total of 562 senior career goals for both club and country in 956 matches, amassing a total of five Pichichi top goal scorer trophies in Spain. Beginning his career at Pumas UNAM in 1976, he briefly went on loan to the San Diego Sockers of the North American Soccer League in 1979. In 1981, he moved to Spain to play for Atlético Madrid, playing for four years before moving to Real Madrid, where he would spend the best years of his career. From 1977 to 1994, Sánchez was a member of the national team, gaining 58 caps and scoring 29 goals. He participated in three FIFA World Cup tournaments and was a part of the Mexico team that reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup. As a manager, he won two consecutive league championships with Pumas UNAM.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the Estadio Azul hummed like a held breath. It was a Tuesday in November, the kind of cold that settles into the concrete steps and makes 40,000 voices sound muffled, as if the crowd were speaking from underwater. The ball swung into the box from a free kick on the left. For a half-second, time compressed. Then the number in the sky-blue shirt rose off the ground, his back to the goal, and the ball left his instep with a sound like a cracked whip. The net rippled. The blue end detonated. Somewhere in row 14, a father lifted his son onto his shoulders and the boy's small fists punched the air, and the father did not know yet that he was watching the 230th goal in a record that would outlive them both. The striker did not celebrate. He simply jogged back to the centre circle, hands on hips, as if he had merely checked a box on a list, and the crowd roared as though he had handed them the trophy.

Reader's Guide

Sánchez played as a forward. He scored 104 goals in 200 appearances for Pumas UNAM. With Atlético Madrid, he won the Copa del Rey in 1984–85 and his first Pichichi Trophy with 26 league goals. At Real Madrid, he won five consecutive league titles from 1985 to 1990, a Copa del Rey in 1989, and the UEFA Cup in 1986. He won four consecutive Pichichi trophies, scoring 208 goals in 283 games in all competitions for Real Madrid. He scored 38 goals in the 1989–90 season, tying the single-season record set by Telmo Zarra and earning the European Golden Boot. All 38 goals were scored with only a single touch. He later played for Club América, winning the 1992 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, and for Dallas Burn in MLS. He finished his career at Atlético Celaya. As a manager, he led Pumas UNAM to two league titles, managed Necaxa, coached the Mexico national team from 2006 to March 2008, and managed Almería in 2009, helping save the club from relegation.

Did You Know?

• Sánchez is the first notable exponent of the backflip goal celebration.
• He earned the nickname 'Niño de Oro' (Golden Boy) after performances in the Toulon Tournament and 1975 Cannes Youth Tournament.
• He is one of only two footballers to play outdoor football in both the NASL and MLS (the other being Roy Wegerle).
• He completed a degree in Dentistry while playing for Pumas UNAM.