Luis del Sol

Luis del Sol Cascajares (6 April 1935 – 20 June 2021) was a Spanish football midfielder and manager.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Del Sol and the second or maternal family name is Cascajares.

Luis del Sol
Del Sol with Juventus in 1969
Personal information
Full name Luis del Sol Cascajares
Date of birth (1935-04-06)6 April 1935
Place of birth Arcos de Jalón, Spain
Date of death 20 June 2021(2021-06-20) (aged 86)
Place of death Seville, Spain
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Alegría
San Gerónimo
Retiro San Miguel
Andalucía
1951–1953 Betis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1953–1959 Betis 152 (38)
1953–1954 → Utrera (loan)
1960–1962 Real Madrid 55 (22)
1962–1970 Juventus 228 (20)
1970–1972 Roma 50 (4)
1972–1973 Betis 17 (0)
Total 502 (84)
International career
1959 Spain U21 1 (0)
1957–1959 Spain B 3 (0)
1960–1966 Spain 16 (3)
Managerial career
Carmona
Jerez Industrial
Betis (youth)
1986–1987 Betis
1990 Recreativo
2001 Betis
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He played a total of 112 La Liga games for Betis and Real Madrid (28 goals scored), winning five major titles with the latter side and earning several Ballon d'Or nominations. He later had brief spells as manager with the former club.

Del Sol represented Spain in two World Cups, in the 1960s.

Club career

Betis and Real Madrid

Del Sol was born in Arcos de Jalón, Province of Soria, relocating with his family to Andalusia at age two months. In his country, he played for Real Betis and Real Madrid; with the former club he was part of the squad that was promoted to La Liga (1958), appearing in 40 games in that level over the course of one and a half seasons and scoring six goals.[1]

Signing with the Merengues in April 1960 for 6 million pesetas,[2] del Sol netted a career-best 17 times in his first full season, while not missing one single minute of action in his 29 appearances as his team won the national championship, after starting the year with the Intercontinental Cup triumph against Peñarol.[1]

Italy

In the summer of 1962, aged 27, del Sol moved abroad and signed for Juventus FC, becoming the club's first ever Spanish player and the third Spaniard in the Serie A.[3] He was assigned the number 10 shirt in 1965 following Omar Sívori's departure to S.S.C. Napoli, and appeared in 292 competitive matches during his spell in Turin (228 in Serie A, 26 in the Coppa Italia and 38 in European competitions), scoring 29 goals (20/6/3), winning the domestic cup in 1965 and the league title two years later.[1][4][5][6][7]

In 1970, del Sol joined A.S. Roma, collecting 57 appearances and scoring four goals during his two-year stint in the Italian capital and also serving as team captain, just as compatriot Joaquín Peiró had before him. In total, he remained one full decade in Italy.[8][9]

Later years

Del Sol returned to Betis for the 1972–73 campaign. After suffering top-flight relegation the 38-year-old decided to retire from football, going on to later coach the club for several spells, starting with its youth sides and being in charge for 13 games as they returned to division one in 2001.[1]

International career
Del Sol and Luis Suárez with Spain in 1962

Del Sol earned 16 caps for the Spain national team, scoring three goals.[4] His debut came on 15 May 1960 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, playing the second half of a 3–0 friendly win against England.[10]

Del Sol represented the country at the 1962 and 1966 FIFA World Cups (playing four matches in total), and was also part of the championship-winning squad at the 1964 European Nations' Cup, although he did not appear in the final stages.[1][4]

International goals
Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each del Sol goal.[11]
List of international goals scored by Luis del Sol
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
126 October 1960Wembley, London, England England1–12–4Friendly
211 June 1961Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain Argentina1–02–0Friendly
312 November 1961Marcel Cerdan, Casablanca, Morocco Morocco1–01–01962 World Cup qualification

Style of play

A complete midfielder, del Sol was considered to be one of the best players in the world in his position during the 1960s. A physically strong, dynamic, intelligent and technically skillful player, he was mainly known for his pace, work-rate, tenacity and stamina, and was also noted for his ability to chase down opponents, break down the opposition's moves and subsequently start attacking plays for his team, courtesy of his movement off the ball and distribution. In addition to his abilities as a footballer, he was also known for his strong character, leadership, temperament and dedication on the pitch.[1][4][8][9][12][13][14]

Because of his ability to cover the pitch, del Sol's Real Madrid teammate Alfredo Di Stéfano gave him the nickname the postman.[1][4][8][9][12][13][14]

Death

Del Sol died on 20 June 2021 in Seville, at the age of 86.[15]

Honours

Club

Betis

Real Madrid[1]

Juventus[4][5]

Roma[9]

International

Spain[1]

References
  1. "Del Sol". Real Madrid CF. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  2. López Sancho, Lorenzo (9 April 1960). "Del Sol, un andaluz nacido en tierras sorianas, firma un contrato fabuloso con el Real Madrid" [Del Sol, Andalusian from land of Soria, signs fabulous contract with Real Madrid]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  3. Galasso, Vito (2019). La storia della grande Inter in 501 domande e risposte [The story of the great Inter in 501 questions and answers] (in Italian). Newton Compton Editori. p. 157. ISBN 978-88-227-3910-0.
  4. Bedeschi, Stefano (6 April 2017). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Luis der Sol" [The heroes in black and white: Luis del Sol] (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  5. "Players and coaches who unite Juve and Madrid". UEFA. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  6. Di Benedetto, Lorenzo (24 July 2017). "Da Ferrari a Bernardeschi: la Juve e l'importanza della maglia numero 10" [From Ferrari to Bernardeschi: Juve and the importance of the number 10 shirt] (in Italian). Tutto Mercato Web. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  7. "Da Platini a Del Piero, tutti i numeri 10 della Juventus aspettando Bernardeschi" [From Platini to Del Piero, all Juventus number 10 pending Bernardeschi]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 25 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  8. "Eight Spanish stars who've played for Roma". A.S. Roma. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  9. "From Del Sol to Totti: The last 10 Roma captains". A.S. Roma. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  10. Pardo, Carlos (16 May 1960). "España, 3 – Inglaterra, 0" [Spain, 3 – England, 0]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  11. "Del Sol". European Football. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  12. "Del Sol" (in Italian). Enciclopedie del Calcio. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  13. "Del Sol allo Juventus Museum" [Del Sol at the Juventus Museum] (in Italian). Juventus F.C. 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. Morán, Miguel Ángel (20 June 2021). "Muere Luis del Sol, leyenda del Betis" [Death of Luis del Sol, Betis legend]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
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