File:Francisco_Gento_1962.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- 1956
- Spain B
- 1974
- Castellón
- Full name
- Francisco Gento López
- Date of birth
- ( 1933-10-21 ) 21 October 1933
- Place of birth
- Guarnizo , Spain
- Date of death
- 18 January 2022 (2022-01-18) (aged 88)
- Place of death
- Madrid , Spain
- Height
- 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
- Position
- Outside left
- Years
- Team
- 1952 1953
- Racing Santander
- 1953 1971
- Real Madrid
- 1955 1969
- Spain
- 1977 1980
- Palencia
- 1980 1981
- Granada
- 1997 2000
- Cantabria
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Francisco
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Spain
- Place of birth
- Guarnizo
- Place of death
- Madrid
- Occupation
- association football coach
- Languages spoken
- Spanish
- Participant in
- 1962 FIFA World Cup
- Sport
- association football
- Member of team
- Rayo Cantabria
- Position played
- midfielder
- Country for sport
- Spain
- Mass
- 65
- Image
- Gento with Leo Horn , Di Stefano (cropped).jpg
- Height
- 1.68
Show 12 more facts
- second family name in Spanish name
- López
- Commons category
- Francisco Gento
- date of birth
- 1933-10-21
- name in native language
- Francisco Gento López
- pseudonym
- La Galerna del Cantábrico
- birth name
- Francisco Gento López
- start of work period
- 1953-02-22
- number of matches played/races/starts
- 2
- total goals in career
- 1
- sport number
- 11
- coach of sports team
- Granada CF
- date of death
- 2022-01-18
via Wikidata · CC0
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Francisco "Paco" Gento López (21 October 1933 – 18 January 2022) was a Spanish footballer who played as an outside left. A fast runner, Gento was referred to as the "Gale of the Cantabrian Sea" (Spanish: La Galerna del Cantábrico) in reference to his speed down the wing. He was voted by IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) as the greatest Spanish footballer and 30th greatest world footballer of the 20th century. Gento is also widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers in the history of the sport.
Gento began his career at Racing Santander in 1952 and moved to Real Madrid the following season. He appeared in a joint record eight European Cup finals, winning a joint record six, as well as winning a record 12 La Liga titles. In a 14-year international career, Gento earned 43 caps for Spain, playing at the World Cup in 1962 and 1966.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Paco Gento” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.