Gaspar Rubio
Personal information
Full name Gaspar Rubio Meliá
Date of birth (1907-12-14)14 December 1907
Place of birth Serra, Valencia, Spain
Date of death 3 January 1983(1983-01-03) (aged 75)
Place of death Mexico City, Mexico
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1926–1927 Gràcia FC 14 (1)
1927–1928 Levante 9 (7)
1928–1932 Real Madrid 34 (30)
1932–1934 Atlético Madrid 25 (10)
1934–1935 Valencia 32 (17)
1939–1940 Real Madrid 4 (2)
1939–1940 Recreativo Granada 14 (5)
1940–1941 Real Murcia 10 (1)
1941–1942 Levante 0 (0)
1942–1943 Recreativo Granada 3 (1[1])
International career
1920 Spain 4 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gaspar Rubio Meliá (14 December 1907 – 3 January 1983) was a Spanish football forward and coach.

Club career

Born in Serra, Valencia, Rubio amassed La Liga totals of 61 games and 37 goals over the course of five seasons, representing in the competition Real Madrid (1928–30), Valencia CF (1934–35), Real Murcia (1940–41) and Recreativo Granada (1942–43). With the first club, he netted 72 times in 75 competitive appearances.[2] In 1930–31, he also played briefly in Cuba with Juventud Asturiana and in Mexico with Real Club España.[3]

Nicknamed El rey del astrágalo (King of the astragalus) due to the many ailments he had in that foot bone,[4] Rubio subsequently worked as a manager with several teams – including as player-coach – but never in the top flight. In 1957 he moved to Mexico where he would settle after his retirement from football, coaching Atlante F.C. and Deportivo Toluca FC.[5]

International career

Rubio gained four caps for Spain in less than one year, scoring nine goals. Seven of those came in his first two appearances, with a hat-trick against Portugal (5–0)[6] and four against France (8–1),[7] thus becoming the first Spanish footballer to score two international hat-tricks. His record remained untouched for more than 60 years, until Emilio Butragueño netted his second international hat-trick on 19 December 1990 against Albania, and remained unbroken for more than 80 years, until both Fernando Torres and David Villa scored their third hat-trick for Spain on 20 June 2013 against Tahiti in a 10-0 win.

Rubio also played a major role in England's first ever loss outside the British Isles, netting twice in a 4–3 triumph in Madrid on 15 May 1929.[8]

Death

Rubio died in Mexico City on 3 January 1983, at the age of 75.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Rubio, Gaspar Rubio Meliá - Footballer". bdfutbol. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  2. ^ "El rey del astrágalo" [King of the astragalus] (in Spanish). Real Madrid. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  3. ^ "The King of the ankle bone". Real Madrid. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Rubio, el 'rey del astrágalo', murió en México" [Rubio, the 'king of the astragalus', died in Mexico]. El País (in Spanish). 5 January 1983. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Antes jugando y hoy como entrenador, Gaspar Rubio ha vuelto a triunfar en Méjico" [Before as a player and today as a coach, Gaspar Rubio has made it big in Mexico again] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 7 February 1957. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  6. ^ "El equipo de España, en una actuación formidable, batió al de Portugal, en medio tempo, por 5 a 0" [The Spanish team, in formidable display, beat Portugal's, in one half, 5 to 0] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 18 March 1929. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  7. ^ "España batió, jugando su IV match contra Francia, el record de los scores favorables en el palmarés nacional triunfando por 8 a 1" [Spain broke, playing match IV against France, record of favourable scores in national history by winning 8 to 1] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 15 April 1929. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  8. ^ "¡¡España venció a Inglaterra!!" [Spain defeated England!!] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 16 May 1929. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  9. ^ "El genial futbolista español Gaspar Rubio falleció ayer en México" [The fabulous Spanish footballer Gaspar Rubio died yesterday in Mexico] (in Spanish). ABC. 5 January 1983. Retrieved 2 January 2013.

External links

Granada CF โ€“ managers
CD Atlรฉtico Baleares โ€“ managers
Levante UD โ€“ managers
Hรฉrcules CF โ€“ managers
UE Lleida โ€“ managers
Deportivo Toluca F.C. โ€“ managers
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