Joaquín Navarro
Navarro in 1953
Personal information
Full name Joaquín Navarro Perona
Date of birth (1921-08-02)2 August 1921
Place of birth Gavà, Spain
Date of death 5 November 2002(2002-11-05) (aged 81)
Place of death Barbastro, Spain
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
CF Gavà
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1939–1941 CF Gavà
1941–1942 FC Barcelona
1942–1949 CE Sabadell FC
1949–1957 Real Madrid
International career
1947 Catalonia 1 (0)
1952–1953 Spain 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Joaquín Navarro Perona (2 August 1921 – 5 November 2002) was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Born in Gavà, Barcelona, Catalonia, Navarro moved to local and La Liga giants FC Barcelona in 1941, from hometown club CF Gavà. In his only season at the Camp Nou he won the Copa del Generalísimo, but appeared sparingly in the league albeit scoring three goals.

Subsequently, Navarro joined neighbouring CE Sabadell FC in Segunda División, promoting in his first year. In the following six seasons he suffered two top flight relegations with the club, and netted a career-best five goals in 21 games in the 1947–48 campaign as the Arlequinats finished in 12th position, narrowly avoiding another drop.

In the summer of 1949, Navarro signed for Real Madrid, playing 21 matches (one goal) in his first season. During his eight-year spell with the Merengues he took part in 272 official games[1] and won five major titles, including three leagues and the 1955–56 edition of the European Cup, contributing with three appearances in the latter competition.[2]

Navarro retired in 1957 at the age of 36, playing 288 top level matches over 14 seasons. He died on 6 November 2002 in Barbastro, Aragon, aged 81.[3]

International career

Navarro played five times for Spain, during slightly less than one year. He made his debut on 7 December 1952 in a 0–1 friendly loss to Argentina, in Madrid.

Additionally, Navarro was the first Spanish player to be selected to a World XI FIFA team, appearing in a 4–4 draw against England at Wembley on 21 October 1953 and being subsequently nicknamed El Fifo.[1]

Personal life

Navarro's younger brother, Alfonso (born 8 April 1929), was also a footballer. A forward, he too played for Barcelona (1946–50, 1954–56) and Real Madrid (1950–51), also representing Real Valladolid, CA Osasuna and CD Condal in an 11-year professional career.[4]

Navarro II died 10 August 1969 at age 40 after a long illness.[5]

Honours

Barcelona

Sabadell

Real Madrid

References

  1. 1 2 Joaquín Navarro, el primer español en lucir la camiseta de la FIFA (Joaquín Navarro, first Spaniard to don FIFA shirt); El País, 7 November 2002 (in Spanish)
  2. ↑ "Real Madrid CF – All the players in European Cups". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Fallece a los 81 años el ex jugador Joaquín Navarro Perona, 'El Fifo' (Former player Joaquín Navarro Perona, 'El Fifo', dies at the age of 81); Sport, 6 November 2002 (in Spanish)
  4. ↑ Navarro: Alfonso Navarro Perona; at BDFutbol
  5. ↑ "Falleció Navarro II" [Navarro II has died]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 11 August 1969.
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