Pichichi (footballer)

Rafael Moreno Aranzadi (Bilbao, Vizcaya, May 23, 1892 - ibidem, March 1, 1922), better known as Pichichi, was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward, he could cover both the interior striker position (for both profiles) and the center forward position. Prolific goalscorer and historical player for Athletic Club —to which he owes his greatest successes and recognitions—, he was an absolute international with the Spanish team on five occasions —in which he scored a goal—, and due to his tragic death all the teams that visit the country for the first time stadium of the Bilbao team make a floral offering to his bust, as a sign of respect.

In his honor the Marca newspaper awards the Pichichi trophy every season to the top scorer of the First and Second Division championships.

Biography

Rafael was born in Bilbao, on May 23, 1892, on 10 Santamaría Street. His father, Joaquín Moreno Goñi, became mayor of the Biscayan city between 1896 and 1897. In addition, he was the grandnephew of the Bilbao writer Miguel de Unamuno. In his childhood, it was his brother Raimundo who coined the nickname 'Pichichi'. due to his short stature and his ability to play soccer with older people. On the other hand, Pichichi studied at the Escolapios school and, later, began a law degree at the University of Deusto, but he did not pass any subjects so his father decided to find him a job at the City Council. However, shortly after, he was hired at the Merodio brothers' metallurgical company.

By then, in the 1911 Copa del Rey, he had already faced Athletic Club as a player for Bilbao FC (a kind of affiliate of Athletic ^{[citation required]}) in which he even scored the only goal for his team that lost 4 to 1. In 1911, he began to play at Athletic Club, but it was not until March 17, 1913 when he played his first official match, against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. The match ended with a 3-0 victory, with two goals from Pichichi in the first eleven minutes of the match.

A few months later, he was the first player to score a goal at the inauguration of the San Mamés stadium, on August 21, 1913, in the Athletic Club 1-1 Racing de Irún match. In the Cup final In 1915 he scored a hat trick, in a 5-0 victory against RCD Español. On May 8, 1921 he played his last game with Athletic, corresponding to the 1921 Cup final, which the Basque team won by 4-0. 1 to Atlético de Madrid. Pichichi had the habit of playing with a white scarf tied around his head. In total, he scored 83 goals in 89 games between the Regional Championship and the Cup.

Recent years and tributes

After his retirement, at only 29 years old, he became a soccer referee. He died a year later, on March 1, 1922, a couple of months before his 30th birthday. The cause of his death is unknown for certain. The most accepted version points to a process of typhoid fever, possibly due to eating oysters in poor condition.

On December 8, 1926, the Athletic Club paid tribute to him at the initiative of the club president, Ricardo de Irezábal Goti, placing a bust of him in the Misericordia stands of the San Mamés stadium, the work of the Bilbao sculptor Quintín de the Berástegui Tower. The inauguration of the monument was accompanied by a tribute match between Athletic and its greatest rival in the regional competition, the Arenas Club of Guecho, which the Bilbao club won by 7 to 2. The bust changed location in three times: in 1953, when the main stand was built; in 1982, during the renovations to adapt the stadium to host the 1982 World Cup; and in 2013, after the construction of the new San Mamés. Since then, the bust has been at the exit of the locker room tunnel.

Pichichi was one of the best scorers of the time, and in recognition of his achievements, the Spanish sports newspaper Marca, together with the now defunct Arriba, gave his name to the trophy awarded to the top scorer in the Spanish Football League each season., the Pichichi Trophy. This trophy was awarded for the first time in the 1952-53 season and is one of the most important individual trophies in Spanish football.

There is a tradition that every time a team plays for the first time in San Mamés, its captain accompanied by the captain of Athletic Club, who acts as guide and host, pays tribute to Pichichi by placing a bouquet of flowers next to his bust. flowers.

"My cousin Pichichi is the best player of the Athletic and the best player in Spain, all say so. It has a tremendous "shoot", low and very well directed, that there is no "goal-keeper" that can stop it. It does not fail a penalty [sic.]. But above all he knows how to rot like no one and is able to run the field, from a "goal" to another, with the platoon glued to his feet without anyone being able to take it away, until he gets a great "goal". It is also extraordinary in the headsets, especially in the "corners" [sic.]. When the Athletic goes wrong in some game, the public always expects one of those Pichichi geniuses. »

Description of Pichichi in Living is not easyby Alfonso María Moreno S. J.

National team

He was international with the Spanish team five times. His debut took place on August 28, 1920, in a match against Denmark in Brussels (Spanish victory 1-0) in the team's first international match. The five matches were played during the Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games, where Spain won the silver medal. Pichichi managed to score a goal in the final for second place against the Netherlands.

Statistics

Clubs

Updated data to end of sports career.

In the 1920-21 season they played two matches against Sevilla Football Club, corresponding to the 1921 Spanish Cup Championship, which are not considered official as the Sevilla team was disqualified for improper alignment and the results had no value for the tournament. The Sevillistas played with four non-alignable players according to the competition rules, and these matches are considered friendly. For this reason they do not appear in the statistics and historical records of the player. Already retired, in October 1921 he obtained his license to be a referee, but he could not practice since he died, supposedly, from a typhus epidemic just a few months ago. later.

Club	Season	Div.	League		Cup		Regional		Total		Media Shotgun
			Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Bilbao F. C. Spain	1910-11	1.a C.	Non-existent		2	1	Non-existent		2	1	0.50
	1911-12		Non-existent		-	-	Non-existent		0	0	0
Athletic Club Spain	1912-13	1.a C.	Non-existent		3	3	Non-existent		3	3	1
	1913-14		Non-existent		3	4	9	9	12	13	1.08
	1914-15		Non-existent		2	3	10	19	12	22	1.83
	1915-16		Non-existent		1	-	11	13	12	13	1.08
	1916-17		Non-existent		-	-	10	6	10	6	0.60
	1917-18		Non-existent		-	-	12	11	12	11	0.92
	1918-19		Non-existent		-	-	6	5	6	5	0.83
	1919-20		Non-existent		5	-	8	5	13	5	0.38
	1920-21		Non-existent		3	-	6	5	9	5	0.56
Total club			0	0	17	10	72	73	89	83	0.93
Total career			0	0	19	11	72	73	91	84	0.92
↑ There was no League Championship (1910-21). 1.a category club by the Northern Regional Federation. ↑ Includes data from the Spanish Cup Championship (1910-21). ↑ Includes data from the Northern Regional Championship (1913-21). ↑ It does not include goals in friendly matches.

Awards and distinctions

• In his honor is awarded the Trofeo Pichichi, winner of the Spanish football league every season.
• In Bilbao it is remembered with a street next to the Stadium of San Mamés (Calle de Rafael Moreno "Pichichi") and a bust next to the lawn of that stadium.

Regional championships

Title	Club	Year
Regional Championship	Athletic Club	1914
Regional Championship		1915
Regional Championship		1916
Regional Championship		1920
Regional Championship		1921

National Championships

Title	Club	Year
Copa del Rey	Athletic Club	1914
Copa del Rey		1915
Copa del Rey		1916
Copa del Rey		1921

Participation in the Olympic Games

Olympic Games	Headquarters	Outcome	PJ	G
Antwerp 1920	Antwerp	02! Olympic Silver	4	1

Bibliography

• Alberto López Echevarrieta (1992). Pichichi: history and legend of a myth. Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa. p. 62. ISBN 978-84-87245-79-4.