In the XNUMXs and XNUMXs, Real Madrid swept across Europe.
The European Championship, which was held in Madrid and Barcelona in 1964, was logically won by the Spanish national team. General Franco, who cheered the victory from the ceremonial box of "Santiago Bernabeu", was not happy only because of one detail - the only title that the "red fury" ever won in major competitions was brought to the Spaniards by a Barcelona player.
Luis Suarez Miramontes, abbreviated as Luis Suarez, was one of the greatest footballers in the history of Spanish football. He was born on May 2, 1935 in La Coruña (Galicia), but instead of Madrid and Spain, he turned to Barcelona and Catalonia from his teenage years. However, he started his career in Deportivo from La Coruña, where he played 17 games and scored three goals. The talent was seen from the "plane", so Barcelona brought him in 1954, as a 19-year-old, to play in the reserve team (Espanja Industrial), and later to shine and burn in the best team.
Playing for Barça from 1955 to 1961, Suarez earned the epithet of a legend of the Catalan giants. He, goalkeeper Kubala, Hungarians Zoltan Cibor, Sandor Kočis, and Ramalets and Evaristo, with the baton of the famous Eleni Herrera, made up a formidable team that won the double crown in Spain two years in a row. Such a result, during the time of General Franco who openly supported Real, was equal to a feat.
In 1960. Barcelona lost the final of the Champions Cup to Benfica, but consolation arrived a few months later - Luis Suarez won the "France Football" Ballon d'Or despite the defeat, beating Hungarian Ferenc Puskas and German Uwe Zeller in the race.
It was, at the same time, Suarez's farewell game from Barcelona. Of course, he didn't go to Real, but to Italy. Elenio Herrera took him with him to Inter for 142 thousand pounds, which was then a record transfer in world football at the time. As in Catalonia, Herrera and Suarez were a winning combination at "Giuseppe Meaca" - the era of great Inter began.
In the nine seasons he spent at the Milan club, he played 256 games and scored 42 goals. He won three Serie A titles, two Champions Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. They went to Sampdori in 1970, where he ended his career.
For the "red fury", Suarez played 32 games and hit the net 14 times. At the European Championship in 1964, fans crowded into the stadium just to watch it. His game, his dribbling and passing, were a feast for the eyes - older football fans still recount his games in the semi-final against the powerful Hungarians (2:1) and the final against the also strong Soviet Union (2:1).
"We had a good team, maybe not the best that Spain has ever had, but we really seemed like a harmonious team. The full "Santiago Bernabeu" is the most powerful image that I will keep in my memory. The capacity was much higher then than it is today." Suarez said.
When he finished playing, he started his coaching career. He managed Inter three times, he also sat on the bench of Deportivo, Sampdoria, Cagliari... In 1988, he took over the Spanish national team, which he led at the World Cup in Italy. He said goodbye in the round of XNUMX, in Verona, when Pixi Stojković scored two terrible goals for Yugoslavia.
Championship team
The best team of the European Championship in Spain in 1964 consisted of: Lav Yashin (Russia), Feliciano Rivilla (Spain), Dezso Novak (Hungary), Ignyasio Zoko (Spain), Fernando Olivela Pons (Spain), Amanco Amaro (Spain), Ferenc Bene (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Russia), Jesus Maria Pereda (Spain), Luis Suarez (Spain), Florian Albert (Hungary).
The final match in Madrid was played between Spain and the Soviet Union. The home team took the lead with a goal by Pereda in the sixth, Kušanov equalized in the 8th minute, but Martinez brought the victory to the Spaniards in the finish.
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