Francisco "Paco" Gento López (born 21 October 1933 in Guarnizo, Cantabria) is a former Spanish football player.

[edit] Biography

He débuted in the Primera División with Racing Santander in the 1952–53 season. In the following year, he signed for Real Madrid and became a legendary player of that club, in the number 11 shirt.

La Galerna del Cantábrico (The Storm of Cantabria), as he was known, played outside left and was noted not only for having great speed (he used to be an athlete in his youth and could run 100 metres in 11 seconds flat and was almost as quick with a ball at his feet)^{[citation needed]}, but also for his skills with the ball and his relatively high scoring capabilities given his position. He captained a young side, known in Spain as Ye-yé, because of the popularity of The Beatles at that time.

Among other honours, he won the European Cup a record 6 times with Real Madrid (an unmatched record), scoring 30 goals in 89 European Cup career matches. He also played for Spain from 1955 to 1969, winning 43 caps and scoring 5 times.

He has played in 8 European Cup finals (6–2 record) (with a "ninth" appearance in the 1970–1971 Cup Winners' Cup final that Real Madrid lost to Chelsea); a record jointly held with AC Milan's Paolo Maldini (with an inferior 5-3 record). Gento's legendary Real Madrid teammate, Alfredo Di Stéfano (5–2 record) comes third with 7.

After he retired from football in 1971, he decided to take up coaching. He took charge of various lower-league teams, such as Castilla, Castellón, Palencia, and Granada. In the end, he accepted a post working as an ambassador for Real Madrid throughout Europe.

Gento has two younger brothers called Julio (born in 1939) and Antonio (born in 1940) that also are former footballers and both played for Real Madrid but they were not as successful as their older brother Francisco.

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	14 October 1959	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain	Poland	3–0	3–0	1960 European Nations' Cup Round of 16
2.	2 April 1961	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain	France	2–0	2–0	International Friendly
3.	30 October 1963	Windsor Park , Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	0–1	0–1	1964 European Nations' Cup Round of 16
4.	23 June 1966	Riazor, A Coruña, Spain	Uruguay	1–1	1–1	International Friendly
5.	31 May 1967	San Mamés, Bilbao, Spain	Turkey	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Honours

Real Madrid

• Intercontinental Cup: 1960
• European Cup: 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66
• Latin Cup: 1955, 1957
• Spanish League: 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69
• Spanish Cup: 1961–62, 1969–70

[edit] External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• NationalFootballTeams data
• Biography at Real Madrid Fans (Spanish)
• Real Madrid profile (Spanish)
• International Appearances and Goals at RSSSF
• Goals in European Cups at RSSSF
• Francisco Gento FIFA competition record

Spain Squad v • d • e Spain squad – 1962 FIFA World Cup 1 Araquistáin • 2 Sadurní • 3 Carmelo • 4 Collar • 5 del Sol • 6 di Stéfano • 7 Echeberría • 8 Garay • 9 Gento • 10 Gràcia • 11 Rivilla • 12 Peiró • 13 Pachín • 14 Puskás • 15 Eulogio Martínez • 16 Reija • 17 Rodri • 18 Adelardo • 19 Santamaría • 20 Segarra • 21 Suárez • 22 Vergés • Coach: Herrera v • d • e Spain squad – 1966 FIFA World Cup 1 Iribar • 2 Sanchís • 3 Eladio • 4 del Sol • 5 Zoco • 6 Glaría • 7 Ufarte • 8 Amancio • 9 Marcelino • 10 Suárez • 11 Gento • 12 Betancort • 13 Reina • 14 Rivilla • 15 Reija • 16 Olivella • 17 Gallego • 18 Pirri • 19 Fusté • 20 Peiró • 21 Adelardo • 22 Lapetra • Coach: Villalonga