Paco Gento, Real Madrid legend and winner of 6 European Cups, dies

Real Madrid announced this Tuesday the death at 88 years of age of the legendary Paco Gento, the only player in football history to have won six European Cups.

The president and directors of the Real Madrid “Deeply regret the death of Francisco Gento, honorary president of Real Madrid and one of the greatest legends of our club and world football,” the club said in a statement.

Known as the ‘Galerna del Cantábrico’ due to the wind that whips the coast of his native Cantabria, this fast left winger played 18 seasons for Real Madrid between 1953 and 1971, being the man who has won the most titles with the white team.

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Six European Cups stand out in his record, five of them consecutive (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966), a milestone only achieved by him.

These trophies are joined by 12 Leagues, 2 Spanish Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Small Club World Cup and 2 Latin Cups.

The white team announced that the player’s funeral chapel will be installed this Tuesday afternoon in the honor box of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, where it will remain open until 9:00 p.m. GMT.

It will remain open on Wednesday morning for all those who want to say their last farewell and later, Gento will be buried in his hometown of Guarnizo (north), in the strictest privacy.

Gento, who played 600 games and scored 182 goals, was one of the architects of Real Madrid in the 1950s and 1960s, in which Alfredo Di Stéfano, the Argentine Héctor Rial and the French Raymond Kopa also played.

– Legendary Generation –

“He was part of a generation of legendary players who changed the history of Real Madrid until it became the most prestigious and admired club in the world,” Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez said in an institutional statement.

“Apart from his spectacular conditions as a player, he was the link between two legendary generations at Real Madrid: that of the first five European Cups and that of the ‘yé-yé’ team”, Real Madrid stated.

Gento also played 43 times with the Spanish team, with which he played in the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, and although he participated in La Roja’s path to the final of the European Championship of 1964 did not participate in it, won to the USSR (2-1).

The Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, communicated the death of the white legend to the team on Tuesday, who observed a minute of silence in tribute to Gento before training on Tuesday.

“This morning a legend of this club, Paco Gento, has passed away. He has spent 18 years at this club winning 6 European Cups and 12 Leagues. So, we remember him with respect and a minute in his memory,” Ancelotti said, in a video spread by the merengue team.

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– Condolences –

The death of Gento has quickly provoked endless reactions of condolence from all areas of sport and Spanish society, mainly through social networks.

“Spanish sport today remembers Paco Gento, the Galerna del Cantábrico, loved and respected on and off the pitch. An example of talent and dedication in the national team and in Real Madrid, he is the only footballer with six European Cups” , wrote the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, on his official Twitter account.

“Today Francisco Gento, a legend of Spanish football, has passed away. Our deepest condolences to his entire family and especially to our player Marcos Llorente (great-nephew of the deceased),” published Atlético de Madrid.

Another myth of Real Madrid, José Miguel González ‘Michel’ praised him as “the benchmark Spanish footballer for many generations and underappreciated. You will not be able to leave in silence as you liked to live; you were so great that we remember you at the highest personal and football level. World Ballon d’Or”.

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