Joaquin Peiro

Joaquín Peiró Lucas (Madrid, January 29, 1936-ibidem; March 18, 2020) was a Spanish soccer player and coach. Historical player Club Atlético de Madrid and Football Club Internazionale de Milan, he played in two World Cups with the Spanish team.

He passed away at the age of eighty-four on March 18, 2020.

Trajectory as a player

Beginnings in Spain

Joaquín Peiró's beginnings took place in Madrid, where he played in the lower categories of the Agrupación Deportiva Ferroviaria before signing in 1954 for Atlético de Madrid, who loaned him out to the Real Murcia Club in his first season with the rojiblanco team de Fútbol, along with his partner on the left wing of Atlético for many years, Enrique Collar. Thus, his debut as a professional player took place in the pepper team, in the Second Division.

After gaining promotion to the First Division with Murcia, he returned to the "colchonero" team in 1955. He soon established himself as one of the team's most outstanding players, in which his association with Enrique Collar on the left wing was well known as "the infernal wing". He remained with the Madrid team for eight seasons in which he won two Generalissimo Cups and participated in the achievement of the first European title in rojiblanca history: the 1962 European Cup Winners' Cup.

In addition, he was the architect of the 1,500th goal for the rojiblancos in the League on February 12, 1961 at the Metropolitano stadium, in a match against Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol that ended 4-2. In that game he scored three goals. In those years he was known as "the Greyhound of the Metropolitan", due to his wide stride and his great speed.

At the beginning of the 1962-63 season, Atlético de Madrid, in need of income, decided to transfer Joaquín Peiró to the Italian team Torino Football Club, thus giving way to a long and successful period for Peiró in Italy.

Stage in Italy

After defending the Torino jersey for two seasons, in 1964 he was transferred to Inter Milan, led by Helenio Herrera, in which he met another great Spanish player, Luis Suárez.

In the neroazzurro team, Peiró was one of the protagonists of what went down in history as one of the best times for the club, when it was known as the Grande Inter. At that Inter he won two Intercontinental Cups, one European Cup and two Italian Leagues. In those years he earned a new nickname, this time in Italian, when he became known as rapinatore (little thief) after starring in a play in the semifinals of the European Cup in which he stole the ball from the rival goalkeeper when he bounced it and score a goal for his team.

In 1966 he left the Milan team to sign for what was his last club, AS Roma, a club where he stayed until 1970. With the team from the Italian capital he won his last title as a player, the Cup from Italy.

National team

In 1956, he made his debut with the Spanish national team, after being summoned by coach Guillermo Eizaguirre for a friendly match played against the Portuguese national team. However, he had to wait four years to wear the red again, with which he played in the 1962 World Cup in Chile.

After another four-year hiatus, he was called up again by José Villalonga in 1966, playing his second World Cup that year, in England.

In total he played twelve games with the Spain team, scoring five goals.

The list of games played by Peiró with the Spanish team is as follows:

Date	Competition	Stadium	City	Party
03/06/1956	Friendly	Jamor	Lisbon (Portugal)	Portugal	3 - 1	Spain
15/05/1960	Friendly	Santiago Bernabéu	Madrid	Spain	3 - 0	England
10/07/1960	Friendly	National	Lima (Peru)	Peru	1 - 3	Spain
17/07/1960	Friendly	National	Santiago de Chile (Chile)	Chile	1 - 4	Spain
24/07/1960	Friendly	Monumental	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Argentina	2 - 0	Spain
18/05/1961	World rankings Chile 1962	Santiago Bernabéu	Madrid	Spain	1 - 1	Wales
11/06/1961	Friendly	Sánchez Pizjuán	Sevilla	Spain	2 - 0	Argentina
03/06/1962	World Chile 1962	Sausalito	Viña del Mar (Chile)	Mexico	0 - 1	Spain
06/06/1962	World Chile 1962	Sausalito	Viña del Mar (Chile)	Brazil	2 - 1	Spain
23/06/1966	Friendly	Riazor	The Coruña	Spain	2 - 0	Uruguay
13/07/1966	World England 1966	Villa Park	Birmingham (England)	Argentina	2 - 1	Spain
15/07/1966	World England 1966	Hillsborough	Sheffield (England)	Switzerland	1 - 2	Spain

Trajectory as a coach

After his time as a player, Joaquín Peiró began to work as a coach in the lower categories of Atlético de Madrid, whose subsidiary, Atlético Madrileño, he directed between 1980 and 1985 in the Second Division.

In that same category, he later coached Granada CF (1987/88) and Unió Esportiva Figueres. He began the 1989/90 season with the Catalan team, but after Javier Clemente was fired at Atlético de Madrid, Peiró was chosen to replace him, thus making his debut as a coach in the First Division.

Back in the Second Division, in the following years he will lead Real Murcia, CD Badajoz and Málaga CF, with whom he would be promoted to the First Division and at whose helm he would remain for a total of five seasons, in the last of the which in 2002 obtained the first title for the Malaga team, the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

With Peiró at the helm, the team from Málaga starred in one of its most glorious stages, participating for the first time in continental competition, when they played together with the aforementioned Intertoto in the UEFA Cup in the 2002/03 season.

Finally, Joaquín Peiró would retire as coach in 2004 at the same team where he had started his career as a professional player fifty years earlier: Real Murcia.

Clubs

Player

Club	Country	Years
Real Murcia	Spain	1954-1956
Atletico de Madrid	Spain	1955-1962
Torino	ItalyItaly	1962-1964
Inter de Milan	ItalyItaly	1964-1966
AS Roma	ItalyItaly	1966-1970

Coach

Club	Country	Years
Atletico Madrileño	SpainSpain	1980-1985
Granada CF	SpainSpain	1987-1988
Unió Esportiva Figueres	SpainSpain	1988-1989
Atletico de Madrid	SpainSpain	1989-1990
Real Murcia	SpainSpain	1991-1992
CD Badajoz	SpainSpain	1997-1998
Málaga CF	SpainSpain	1998-2003
Real Murcia	SpainSpain	2003-2004

Honours of Prizes

Player

• 2 Intercontinental Cups: 1964 and 1965 (Inter de Milan)
• 1 European Cup: 1964/65 (Inter de Milan)
• 1 European Recoup: 1961/62 (Atlético de Madrid)
• 2 Italian Leagues: 1964/65 and 1965/66 (Inter de Milan)
• 2 Cups of the Generalísimo: 1960 and 1961 (Atlético de Madrid)
• 1 Italian Cup: 1969 (AS Roma)

Coach

• 1 Intertototo Cup: 2002 (Málaga CF)