June 13, 1956: The 1st European Cup Final

Francisco Gento with the 1956, 1957, 1958,

1959, 1960 and 1966 European Cups

June 13, 1956, 70 years ago: The Final of the 1st European Champion Clubs' Cup is held at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France.

On April 27, 1895, for the 1st time, the Champions of 2 different European soccer leagues met. It was an All-British affair, played at Tynecastle Park in Edinburgh, Scotland. The hosts, Scottish Champions Heart of Midlothian, a.k.a. "Hearts," took on the English Champions, Sunderland, from the North-East. Actually, it was an All-Scottish contest: Known as "The Team of All Talents," every one of Sunderland's players was Scottish. (The Wearside city is less than 60 miles from the England-Scotland "border.") Sunderland won, 5-3.

In 1897, the Challenge Cup was founded, competed for by teams from across the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which included not just the entirety of present-day Austria and Hungary, but all of present-day Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, and parts of present-day Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Italy. Vienna Cricket and Football Club won the 1st one. The tournament ran until 1911.

The Mitropa Cup was founded in 1927. As the name suggests -- "Mitropa" is an abbreviation of "Mitteleuropa," or "Middle Europe" -- it was played for by teams in Central Europe only. Sparta Prague won the 1st one. This tournament continued despite the rise of the European Cup and other tournaments, until 1992, when the European Cup became the Champions League.

In 1930, the Coupe des Nations was founded, held in Geneva, Switzerland, and was won by Újpest of Budapest, Hungary. But the Great Depression doomed this early effort at a continent-wide soccer championship tournament.

In 1949, with the Depression and World War II behind them, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy came together and founded the Latin Cup. Barcelona won the 1st one. This tournament did not long survive the establishment of the European Cup, being dissolved in 1957.

But the real key came in 1948, with the South American Championship of Champions, won by Vasco da Gama of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gabriel Hanot, editor of the French sports-themed newspaper L'Equipe, wanted such a tournament for Europe.

Once again, Hungary had a major role. After beating England badly, both home and away, and reaching the Final of the 1954 World Cup, Hungary's national team was established as a power. On December 13, 1954, a small measure of revenge was taken when England's titleholders, Wolverhampton Wanderers, beat Hungary's, Honvéd of Budapest, 3-2 in Wolverhampton, outside Birmingham. "Wolves" manager Stan Cullis called his team "Champions of the World."

Since the rest of Europe was sick of hearing England brag about their teams, both club and national, especially after their pathetic performances in the 1950 and '54 World Cups, the "football associations" of the various European countries finally listened to Hanot's request for a real European championship, to be played in the 1955-56 season, by each European country's 1954-55 Champions.

Wolves did not compete in the tournament -- because they didn't win England's Football League Division One in 1954-55. Chelsea, of West London, did. But they also chose not to compete. Of the 4 British "Home Nations," only Scotland sent their Champions. With some irony, it was Hibernian, a.k.a. Hibs, Edinburg rival of Hearts, who set everything in motion 60 years earlier.

Only 16 teams competed. So there were only 4 rounds, with home-and-away legs, of this single-elimination tournament. In the Round of 16, Partisan of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, beat Sporting Clv.ube de Portugal, of Lisbon; Vörös Lobogó of Budapest, now named MTK, beat Anderlecht of Belgium; Real Madrid of Spain beat Servette of Switzerland, hosts of the 1930 Coupe des Nations; Hibernian beat Rot-Weiss Essen of West Germany; Djurgården of Stockholm, Sweden beat Gwardia Warszawa of Warsaw, Poland; Stade de Reims of France beat Aarhus of Denmark; Rapid Wien of Vienna, Austria beat PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands; and AC Milan of Italy beat Saarbrücken, of the Saar Protectorate, a section of Germany then governed by France, but soon returned to West Germany.

In the Quarterfinals, Hibs beat Djurgården; Reims beat Vörös Lobogó; Real Madrid beat Partizan; and Milan beat Rapid. In the Semifinals, Reims beat Hibs, and Real Madrid beat Milan.

The Final was set for June 13, at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The original stadium on the site opened in 1897. This was the 2nd, opening in 1932. A 3rd was built on the site, and opened in 1972. Today, it is the home of the leading "football club" in France, Paris Saint-Germain.

The 1932-1972 version of the Parc des Princes

Reims, wearing red shirts with white sleeves like North London team Arsenal, were managed by Albert Batteux, captained by Robert Jonquet, and featured the best player in France, a son of Polish immigrants, Raymond Kopa.

Raymond Kopa, in uniform for France

at the 1958 World Cup

Real Madrid, dressed in all white, and thus known as Los Blancos and Los Merengues, were even more loaded. Manager José Villalonga could call on Captain Miguel Muñoz, and the man who may have then been the best player in the world, the Argentine forward known as El Saeta Rubia (The Blond Arrow): Alfred Di Stéfano.

Alfred Di Stéfano, in the all-whites of Real Madrid

Arthur Ellis of England, the referee at the Final of the 1950 World Cup, was chosen to officiate at this match as well. With 38,239 paying customers looking on, he blew his whistle at 8:30 PM local time -- also 8:30 PM in Madrid, 7:30 PM in London, and 2:30 PM in New York -- and the match was on.

Reims, with a lineup of all Frenchmen, didn't waste any time showing Real Madrid that they belonged on the same pitch. Michel Leblond scored just 6 minutes into the match. Jean Templin made it 2-0 in the 10th minute. But the Spanish side, all Spaniards except for Di Stéfano, were unfazed: The Arrow himself tallied in the 14th minute. Héctor Rial equalized at the half-hour, and it remained 2-2 at halftime.

Michel Hidalgo, a Normandy native with a Spanish father, gave Reims the lead shortly after the hour. But Marcos Alonzo Imaz, a centreback known as Marquitos, made it 3-3 in the 67th minute. It began to look like a replay might be necessary, until the 79th minute, when Di Stéfano made it 4-3 in Real's favor.

And so it remained when Ellis blew the final whistle. Real Madrid were the 1st true Champions of Europe, and could make a case for being the best side in the world. It would take until 1960 for an Intercontinental Cup to be founded, to be contested by the winners of the European Cup and the South American continental championship, now named the Copa Libertadores.

In 1992, the Union of European Football Associations renamed their signature tournament the UEFA Champions League, although the trophy retains the name "European Cup" (and the nickname "Ol' Big Ears," because of its large handles). In 1998, UEFA began admitting teams that had finished high in their leagues, but had not won them.

Real Madrid won the 1st 5 European Cups, and have won it more than any other team, 15 times, most recently in 2024.

Francisco "Paco" Gento played on each of those 1st 5 winners, and also on their next in 1966. He was the 1st man to play on 6 European Cup winners. He was also the last survivor of both the 1956 and 1957 European Cup winners, living until January 18, 2022.

When Real Madrid won the 2024 Champions League title, it added 4 players to Gento's formerly unique status of playing on 6 European Cup winners: Team Captain Nacho Fernández, Luka Modrić, Dani Cavajal and Toni Kroos. Kroos had won 1 with Bayern Munich, 5 with Real Madrid. The others each won all of theirs with Real Madrid.

Arsenal Is For Anybody

Notice the Yankee caps.

Today, Arsenal Football Club took a 1-0 lead over Paris Saint-Germain after 6 minutes of the UEFA Champions League Final in Budapest, Hungary, and couldn't hold it. All the money that PSG got from their owners, the oil-rich slavedriving royal family of the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, and the assistance from referee Daniel Siebert, and the game ended 1-1 after extra time. PSG then won on penalty kicks, 4-3.

At the end, I felt like I did when the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series: Drained, too tired to feel anything more than disappointed. It took longer for the steroid use of the opposition to be revealed in that case. In this case, as with Arsenal's defeat to FC Barcelona in the CL Final 20 years earlier, the dirty play and the favoring thereof was obvious while the game was in progress.

It was the biggest game in Arsenal's history, and they lost it -- through little fault of their own, but they did lose it.

And I, for one, have never been prouder to be an Arsenal fan.

It is true that, as late as the morning of March 22, Arsenal were still eligible for all 4 trophies for which they were eligible. That day, they lost the League Cup Final to Manchester City. On April 4, they lost to Southampton in the Quarterfinal of the FA Cup. On April 19, they lost to Manchester City, which took their Premier League destiny out of their hands. They were still in the Semifinal of the Champions League, but it was looking like they would go 0-for-4 in trophies.

But they beat Atlético Madrid in the CL Semifinal, and advanced to the Final to play PSG, the defending Champions, who had eliminated Arsenal in the previous season's Semifinal. And Man City faltered, losing League games. Arsenal won their last 5 Premier League games. On May 19, Man City lost to Bournemouth, meaning they could no longer finish ahead of Arsenal. Arsenal were the Premier League Champions, for the 1st time in 22 years. It was their 1st trophy in 6 years, since the 2020 FA Cup.

Upon the final whistle of City's defeat, thousands of people descended upon the Emirates Stadium in North London. Wherever Arsenal fans gather, they gathered: In Manhattan, in Montreal, in Mombassa, in Mumbai, in Melbourne. All of England's "big clubs" have fans from all over the world, but most of them don't celebrate diversity like Arsenal do. Even the new Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is an Arsenal fan, and has seen games at one of the Arsenal bars in Brooklyn. (But he's also a Mets fan, so take his Gooner status with a grain of salt.)

Today, I saw the match in the space that used to be the home of the NYC Arsenal Supporters, on East 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Manhattan's East Village, before it began filling up and became a victim of its own success, leading to O'Hanlon's, a block away on 14th between 1st and 2nd, becoming the new headquarters. From 2011 to 2019, this space was known as the Blind Pig, named for an alternate term for a speakeasy, one of the secret bars that sprang up all over America during Prohibition, 1920 to 1933.

In 2019 -- before COVID -- the Blind Pig had to close, due to a rent increase. Coyote Ugly, the bar made famous in the 2000 film of the same title, moved around the corner from 2nd Avenue into the former Blind Pig space. Obviously, the decor is different, but the space is still recognizable. As with both the Blind Pig and Coyote Ugly's former location, the bartenders are still, as the English would say, "fit as fook." And they were willing to take in spillover customers who couldn't get into O'Hanlon's.

When it was over, the consensus was that we were disappointed in the result, and angry at the officials, but the Premier League title was no consolation prize, it was still something to celebrate. (Indeed, Arsenal will have its trophy parade in London tomorrow.)

As with my fellow fans of the Yankees and the New Jersey Devils, I have "found my people." And the hope for more trophies over the next few years, under manager Mikel Arteta, is strong.

We are The Arsenal: We are for anybody willing to join us, and we fear nobody.

May 17, 2006: Arsenal's Champions League Robbery

Top row, left to right: Sol Campbell, Jens Lehmann, Gilberto Silva,

Emmanuel Eboué, Kolo Touré, Robert Pires.

Bottom row, left to right: Aliaksandr Hleb, Cesc Fàbregas,

Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry, Ashley Cole.

May 17, 2006, 20 years ago: North London soccer team Arsenal FC reach the UEFA Champions League Final for the first time, at the Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

The fact that Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger got a team with Emmanuel Eboué at right back, Aliaksandr Hleb at left midfield, and the weak-minded (and not yet 19-year-old) Cesc Fàbregas in central midfield into the Final shows that he was a better manager than Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp could ever be.

FC Barcelona were managed by Frank Rijkaard, who had won the Champions League, then known as the European Cup, as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, and with Ajax Amsterdam after the tournament's name change in 1995.

This team was absolutely loaded, with the great Brazilian forward Ronaldinho; Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto'o, rising Spanish stars Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, Swedish star Henrik Larsson; and national Captains Carles Puyol of Spain, Giovanni van Bronckhorst of the Netherlands, and Rafael Márquez of Mexico.

(Lionel Messi had already made his debut for Barcelona, but was not listed as a starter or a substitute for this game. Former star and future manager Josep "Pep" Guardiola was wrapping up his playing career elsewhere.)

When Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off with a straight red card in the 18th minute by referee Terje Hauge -- dubiously, if not incorrectly -- and Wenger had to send in backup goalie Manuel Almunia, later so bad he was nicknamed "The Clown" by his own team's fans -- he had to take off an attacking player to meet the down-to-10-men requirement, and he chose Robert Pires. A massive mistake.

Arsenal actually went 1-0 up in the 37th minute, thanks to a header by Sol Campbell. And they held that 1-0 lead into the 76th minute. And then...

Well, you didn't expect FC Barcelona, one of the dirtiest sports teams on the planet, to let that pass without cheating, did you? Eto'o's equalizer was clearly offside, but Hauge gave the goal. And then, in the 80th minute, Juliano Belletti put Barça up, 2-1. That was the final score.

Juliano Belletti

This turned out to be the last game for Arsenal for Pires, Campbell, the tapped-up Ashley Cole, and the retiring Dennis Bergkamp. And it was the beginning of the end at Arsenal for Thierry Henry, who captained Arsenal in the game, and picked the worst possible time to have a bad game. He did win a Champions League title... with Barcelona in 2009. By that point, Guardiola was managing them to tainted glory, and Messi was, along with Cristiano Ronaldo of arch-rival Real Madrid, being called the best player in the world.

I hadn't yet become an Arsenal fan. Which is a good thing. This game, known to Arsenal fans as "Heartbreak In Paris," the closest they have ever come to winning the Champions League, came just 6 days after my grandmother's death. I did not need this added to the list of things on my mind.

Arsenal would also be knocked out of the CL by Barcelona, albeit in earlier rounds, in 2010 and 2011, the latter being one of the most dubious games in team history, worthy of its own post, which I have written. Arsenal reached the Semifinals in 2009, but were knocked out by Manchester United; and 2025, knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), who went on to win the Final.

In 2026, Arsenal have finally reached the Champions League Final again. It will be played on May 30, at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary. The opponent will be PSG -- with some irony, the team that plays its home games at the Stade de France, site of Arsenal's heartbreak 20 years ago.

May 7, 2006: The Highbury Farewell & the Tottenham Lasagne

May 7, 2006, 20 years ago: The rivalry between the professional soccer teams of North London takes its strangest turn ever.

Arsenal Football Club (a.k.a. "The Arsenal") and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (a.k.a. "Spurs") are separated by 4.7 miles in North London. To put that in perspective: Imagine that, in New York City, the Yankees and Mets played each other regularly, and that, while the Mets played in Flushing Meadow as they actually do, the Yankees played in Astoria, instead of the South Bronx.

The relationship is similar -- or it would be, if the Mets, instead of being the successors to the baseball version of the New York Giants, were a continuation of the same team: Great long ago, but only sporadically so since the Yankees first began winning, perennially getting humiliated by the more successful club, treating every win over the more successful club like you'd just won a world championship, and collapsing just as glory seems within your grasp.

But Met fans think the Yankees have unfair advantages: Money (true), getting the benefit of the doubt from the officials and the league office (don't make me laugh), favorable treatment by the media (don't take drugs). Tottenham fans think Arsenal have these advantages, and one more: Arsenal "bribed their way into the First Division in 1919." (It's been over 100 years: Not one shred of evidence has ever been found to back up this fact that "everybody knows is true.")

Therefore, both Met fans and Spurs fans claim a moral high ground over their local rivals. This results in a huge superiority complex and a huge inferiority complex at the same time.

Even the mottoes are similar: The Mets' is "Ya gotta believe!" while Spurs' is "To dare is to do."

I've mentioned before that the Mets are the Tottenham of New York, and that this might not be fair... to the Mets. Tottenham have not won their league since 1961, while the Mets, who started in 1962 as a replacement for the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers (who left for California in 1957), have now won their league 5 times. (The real "Tottenham of New York" is hockey's Rangers, complete with their idiot thug fans: They talk as much trash as Yankee and Arsenal fans do, but they don't get the results to back it up.)

Tottenham have won England's top division of soccer (or, as they say, "football") twice, both times clinching at their home ground of White Hart Lane: In 1951 and 1961. They beat the same opponent both times: Sheffield Wednesday.

Arsenal have also twice clinched England's top division of soccer (or, as they say, "football") at White Hart Lane: In 1971 and 2004. They beat the same opponent both times: Tottenham.

Arsenal have won the League 13 times, including 6 times since Spurs' last title: 1971, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2002 and 2004.

Tottenham have won the FA Cup, England's national tournament, 8 times. This is actually a very impressive total. But they haven't won it since 1991, when they beat Arsenal in a Semifinal. They haven't even been to a Final since, going 0-3 in Semifinals, including losing to Arsenal in 1993 and 2001. Arsenal have won the FA Cup 14 times, more than any other club, including 9 times since Spurs last did: 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020.

Because of their association with the old Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, in what's now Southeast London, Arsenal have always had a cannon on their club crest, and are thus known as the Gunners. Their fans, known as Gooners, like to say that Tottenham Hotspur, named for early 15th Century English rebel Henry Percy, a.k.a. Lord Harry Hotspur, are "forever in our shadow."

But every so often -- currently, we are in one of those moments -- the lopsided advantage in honors that tilts toward Arsenal looks like it might be reversed, what Spurs fans call "a power shift in North London."

A decade ago, there was one of those moments. But it ended up getting flushed down the toilet. Almost literally.

In 2005-06, Arsenal had their best Champions League campaign ever, reaching the Final. That Final, still the closest Arsenal have ever come to winning the European Cup (the UEFA Champions League format kept the name for the trophy), turned out to be the last appearance in Arsenal's colors for Dutch forward Dennis Bergkamp, French winger Robert Pires, English centreback Sol Campbell (who controversially transferred from Spurs to Arsenal 5 years earlier), and, controversially, English left back Ashley Cole.

Cole had grown up as an Arsenal fan and in Arsenal's youth system, but had been "tapped up" by West London rivals Chelsea, and would go to them due to new owner Roman Abramovich's spending spree, which had gotten Chelsea the 2005 and '06 Premier League titles. Cole has been known as "Cashley" to Gooners fans ever since.

But the 2005-06 season was the end of an era for another reason: It was the last season for the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury. The new Emirates Stadium -- some call it The Emirates, some by the area's former name Ashburton Grove, some cheekily call it New Highbury -- was going up, 500 yards away, and would open in the summer, the product of the success Arsenal had enjoyed in its 1st 10 years of management by the Alsatian genius, Arsène Wenger.

Arsenal wanted very badly to end the last game at Highbury with a win. It was against Manchester area club Wigan Athletic, and was expected to not be hard, but Arsenal have a history of losing the occasional game that they really should win.

But it wasn't just sentiment: Arsenal went into the season's League finale in 5th place in the Premiership, with Tottenham in 4th. All Spurs had to do in their game, which was away to East London club West Ham United, was match Arsenal's performance on that final day of the Premiership season, and it would be Spurs in the 2006-07 Champions League, with Arsenal "relegated" to the UEFA Cup -- unless, of course, Arsenal could win the CL Final, as the defending champion is always invited back.

The night before, Tottenham manager Martin Jol had secluded his players at a hotel, the Marriott Canary Wharf, in London's financial district, a.k.a. The City. This is not unusual: Many managers do things like this, even before home games. American football head coaches, in both the professional and the collegiate ranks, also do this. The players would have a nice dinner the night before the game, and get a good night's sleep, and would have a nice short bus ride to the stadium, all away from the prying of fans and the media.

What did Scottish poet Robert Burns say? Translated into modern common English, "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray."

In the middle of the night, 10 Spurs players woke up, vomiting, and/or having diarrhea: Robbie Keane, Edgar Davids, Michael Carrick, Aaron Lennon, Michael Dawson, Lee Barnard, Calum Davenport, Teemu Tainio, Lee Young-Pyo and Radek Cerny.

Someone decided to blame the lasagne they'd eaten for dinner that night, and after the whole thing was over, some Spurs fans started a conspiracy theory (shades of their delusions about 1919) that the Marriott chef was an Arsenal fan, and had purposely poisoned the Spurs players! It became known as Lasagne-gate.

In the morning, several Spurs players were still, uh, indisposed. So club chairman Daniel Levy called the League office, and asked League chairman Richard Scudamore to postpone the game.

Nothing doing: With 1 League game to go, all teams were to play their games at the same time, 3:00 PM. This was a change from past policy, to avoid teams whose League place had already been decided from laying down on the job, thus giving gamblers some easy pickings and paying customers a less than honest performance.

Levy protested: We have sick players, so can't the game be postponed until tomorrow? Or even until tonight, just to give us a few more hours to recover? Scudamore asked if Spurs had 11 players who could play. Well, yes, but... Then the game would go on. If Spurs wanted to postpone, they could refuse to play, but an inquiry would be held, and Spurs would likely lose that appeal, and the penalty for refusing to play would be a deduction of points, which would make a win in the rescheduled match meaningless.

West Ham officials said they were willing to accept a postponement, so long as it wasn't too close to the following Saturday, when they were to play Liverpool in the FA Cup Final (which Liverpool went on to win). Unlike Spurs, West Ham were not threatened with a points deduction for going along with the postponement (which makes sense, since it wasn't their idea).

But the police were afraid of what additional time to drink that day would do, considering the reputation that both Spurs' and the Hammers' fans had for hooliganism, including against each other. (A fight between fictionalized versions of hooligan firms from those clubs opened the 2005 film Green Street.) So the cops said they would allow the game to start no later than 5:00 -- an extra 2 hours, not much of a help for the last 2 players who still needed rehydration, Carrick and Lennon.

Carrick and Lennon

In the end, the game kicked off on time, at the traditional English football starting time of 3:00 in the afternoon, and only one of the affected players, backup goalkeeper Cerny, did not make it into the game, although Carrick had to be subbed off after 63 minutes, Lee (for fellow affectee Barnard) in the 78th, and Tainio (for fellow affectee Davenport) in the 87th.

*

That season was Wigan's first-ever season in the Premiership, and they had achieved midtable respectability, finishing 10th. An Arsenal win shouldn't have been assumed, but it was well possible. West Ham were about Wigan's equal, finishing 9th, and were hosting Spurs -- hence the Canary Wharf hotel, not far from the Hammers' Boleyn Ground, a.k.a. Upton Park.

Pires scored the Highbury opener, and, for the last time at that ground, the song "One-nil to The Arsenal" was sung -- by both Arsenal fans at Highbury and West Ham fans, learning by radio and text message, at Upton Park.

But Wigan struck back, and led 2-1. Spurs fans, getting calls and messages on their mobile phones, found out, and were ecstatic. And when Jermaine Defoe scored in the 35th to match Darren Fletcher's goal for the Hammers in the 10th, meaning Spurs were looking at a draw while Arsenal were losing, it looked like it would be Spurs' day.

It wasn't. Arsenal's superstar French forward Thierry Henry scored a hat trick, tallying in the 35th, the 56th, and the 76th with a penalty that was the last goal ever scored in the ground's 93-year history. Feeling that history, after putting the ball in the net, instead of launching a ghastly celebration, he bent down and kissed the grass. The final score was Arsenal 4-2 Wigan Athletic.

Of course, it wouldn't have mattered if Spurs had also won. But West Ham came from behind, and won 2-1 on a goal in the 80th minute by Yossi Benayoun, a midfielder from Israel.

Arsenal finished 4th, 2 points ahead of Tottenham, and qualified for the Champions League; Tottenham, finishing 5th, went to the UEFA Cup.

*

The remains of the supposedly offending lasagne were sent to a laboratory, and tested. As it turned out, there was nothing wrong with it, at least not medically. The virus that spread among the Spurs players was real, but it had nothing to do with food.

Still, Spurs fans blame that lasagne, and the chef that served it. Just like the Yankees-Red Sox "Curse of the Bambino," the lasagne contagion never really existed, but it has taken on a life of its own, because the afflicted team's fans believed it. And so, to spite them, ever since, Arsenal fans have sung, to "Volare":

Lasagne, whoa!
Lasagne, whoa!
We laughed ourselves to bits
when Tottenham got the shits!

Which matches another Arsenal chant. I don't know how far back it goes, but it was already in place in early 2007:

Q: What do you think of Tottenham?
A: Shit!
Q: What do you think of shit?
A: Tottenham!
Q: Thank you!
A: That's all right! We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham! We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham! We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham! We are the Tottenham haters!

Indeed, Tottenham didn't finished higher than Arsenal in the League between 1995 and 2017. They then did it 4 times in a row, before Arsenal took over again in 2022.

For talk among their organization, and talk among their fans, and talk among the media, all combined, and then divided by results, Tottenham Hotspur are arguably the biggest joke franchise in sports on planet Earth, any sport, any country.

Lasagne-gate may have been the highest moment -- or the lowest, if you prefer.

The Manager of Arsenal Does Not Owe You the Title

Mikel Arteta took over as manager of Arsenal Football Club in December 2019, replacing Unai Emery, who had replaced Arsène Wenger in May 2018, and took a situation that was not great, but not that bad, and made it much worse.

Emery took Wenger's team and brought it to what Wenger's worst critics lied and said he'd brought it to: Midtable mediocrity. Arteta, who had been one of Wenger's players, took Emery's team and won the 2020 FA Cup. He has now taken the team to 2nd place in the Premier League in 3 straight seasons. In the last 2 seasons, he has taken it to the Quarterfinal and the Semifinal of the UEFA Champions League.

There are alleged Arsenal fans who believe this is not good enough. They turned on Wenger when he stopped "challenging for the title" because he had to pay off the Emirates Stadium debt. They felt entitled to the trophies that Wenger won, and turned on him, without ever thanking him. They gave Emery the benefit of the doubt, even as he alienated and sold off the team's best players. They have not given Arteta the benefit of the doubt.

Now, we are in the Summer transfer window, and, as usual, these people are demanding that the manager "spend some fucking money" on "a world-class striker" who will "win us the title."

Which was done for Olivier Giroud, and again for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and again for Gabriel Jesus. In each case, these same fans turned on them, calling them "shit."

Give me a break.

The manager of Arsenal does not owe you the Premier League title. He does not owe you the Champions League title. He does not owe you the FA Cup. He does not owe you anything other than his best effort.

This is true now under Arteta. It was true under Wenger.

Arteta took an Arsenal team whose honor had been trailed in the dust by those who claimed to be its most ardent fans; and whose best players had been alienated by a buffoon of a manager, who had followed the noblest soul in the sport, Wenger. Arteta took this team and restored it to a place of prominence, at home and abroad.

For those of of you who have shown him the proper respect, I thank you. For those of you who have not, it's time to start.

Stadium Distinctions

With the announcement of MetLife Stadium as the site of the 2026 World Cup Final, I decided to make these lists.

Stadiums that have hosted an NFL Championship Game (under that name or under the Super Bowl name) and a World Cup Final: 

1. The Rose Bowl, Pasadena (Los Angeles), California: Super Bowl, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1993; World Cup Final, 1994.

2. MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey (New York, New York): Super Bowl 2014; World Cup Final, 2026.

Stadiums that have hosted a World Series and an NFL Championship Game (under any name):

1. Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois: World Series, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1945, 2016; NFL Championship Game, 1933, 1937, 1941, 1943, 1963.

2. Polo Grounds, New York (Manhattan), New York: World Series, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954; NFL Championship Game, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1944, 1946.

3. Griffith Stadium, Washington, District of Columbia: World Series, 1924, 1925, 1933; NFL Championship Game, 1940, 1942.

4. Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois: World Series, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1959; NFL Championship Game, 1947.

5. Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio: NFL Championship Game, 1945, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1964; World Series, 1948.

6. Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: World Series, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1950; NFL Championship Game, 1948.

7. Navin Field/Briggs Stadium/Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan: World Series, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984; NFL Championship Game, 1953, 1957.

8. Yankee Stadium I, New York (Bronx), New York: World Series, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003; NFL Championship Game, 1956, 1958, 1962.

9. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California: NFL Championship Game, 1949, 1951, 1955; World Series, 1959.

10. Memorial Stadium, Baltimore: NFL Championship Game, 1959; World Series, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1983.

11. San Diego Stadium/Jack Murphy Stadium/Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California: World Series, 1984, 1998; Super Bowl, 1988, 1998, 2003.

12. Joe Robbie Stadium/Pro Player Stadium/Sun Life Stadium/Hard Rock Stadium: Super Bowl, 1989, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2010, 2020; World Series, 1997, 2003.

13. Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota: World Series, 1987, 1991; Super Bowl, 1992. It also hosted the NCAA Final Four in 1992, meaning that, not only did it become the only venue to host all 3 of these events, but it did so in a span of 6 months, between October 1991 and April 1992.

Since there are no more stadiums hosting an MLB team and an NFL team, this category is retired.

Arenas that have hosted an NBA Finals and a Stanley Cup Finals

1. Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois: Stanley Cup Finals, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1992; NBA Finals, 1947, 1991, 1992, 1993.

2. Madison Square Garden III, New York (Manhattan), New York: Stanley Cup Finals, 1929, 1932, 1933, 1937, 1940; NBA Finals, 1951.

3. Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts: Stanley Cup Finals, 1929, 1930, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1988, 1990; NBA Finals, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987.

4. Madison Square Garden IV, New York (Manhattan), New York: NBA Finals, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1994, 1999; Stanley Cup Finals, 1972, 1979, 1994, 2014.

5. The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Stanley Cup Finals, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985, 1987; NBA Finals, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983.

6. The Forum, Inglewood (Los Angeles), California: NBA Finals, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991; Stanley Cup Finals, 1993.

7. Brendan Byrne Arena/Continental Airlines Arena/Izod Center, East Rutherford, New Jersey (New York, New York): Stanley Cup Finals, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003; NBA Finals, 2002, 2003.

8. First Union Center/Wachovia Center/Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Stanley Cup Finals, 1997, 2010; NBA Finals, 2001.

9. Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California: NBA Finals, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010; Stanley Cup Finals, 2012, 2014.

10. United Center, Chicago, Illinois: NBA Finals, 1996, 1997, 1998; Stanley Cup Finals, 2010, 2013, 2015.

11. TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts: NBA Finals, 2008, 2010, 2022; Stanley Cup Finals, 2011, 2013, 2019.

12. Pepsi Center/Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado: Stanley Cup Finals, 2001, 2022; NBA Finals, 2023.

13. American Airlines Arena/Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida, Texas: NBA Finals, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2023; Stanley Cup Finals, 2023.

The "Old Garden," The Spectrum, and the Meadowlands arena are the only venues to have hosted a Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals, and an NCAA Final Four.

The Metrodome, the Superdome in New Orleans, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ford Field in Detroit, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, NRG Stadium in Houston, AT&T Stadium outside Dallas, State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix, and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis are the 9 buildings that have hosted a Super Bowl and a Final Four. By 2028, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will make it 11.

Stadiums that have hosted a World Cup Final and been the main stadium for the Olympic Games:

1. Stade de Colombes/Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France: Olympics, 1924; World Cup Final, 1938.

2. Wembley Stadium, London, Great Britain: Olympics, 1948; World Cup Final, 1966. It was an Olympic venue again in 2012, but not the main stadium.

3. Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany: Olympics, 1972; World Cup Final, 1974. It was a World Cup venue again in 2006, but not for the Final.

4. Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany: Olympics, 1936; World Cup Final, 2006. With Germany divided between 1945 and 1990, it could not be a World Cup venue in 1974.

5. Estadio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: World Cup Final, 1950, 2014; Olympics, 2016.

6. Stade de France, Saint-Denis (Paris), France: World Cup Final, 1998; Olympics, 2024.

The Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy was the main stadium for the 1960 Olympics, but was totally torn down and rebuilt for the 1990 World Cup. This is also true of the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, home to the 1980 Olympics (under the name of the Lenin Stadium) and the 2018 World Cup.

The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico hosted the World Cup Final in 1970 and 1986, and was a venue for the 1968 Olympics, but was not the main stadium for those Games.

Los Angeles hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984, and is scheduled to do so again in 2028, and hosted the 1994 World Cup Final -- but not in the same stadium. Barcelona, Spain hosted World Cup matches in 1982, but not the Final, and it wasn't in the same stadium that was used as the main venue for the 1992 Olympics.

Seoul, South Korea hosted the 1988 Olympics and had 2 different venues for the 2002 World Cup, but not the same venue as for the Olympics, and neither hosted the Final, anyway. That World Cup was a joint hosting between South Korea and Japan. Japan hosted the Olympics in 1964 and 2020, but not in the same stadium as the 2002 World Cup Final.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is the only stadium to be the main venue for 2 Olympic Games. It will be used again in 2028, although SoFi Stadium is set to be the main venue. The Maracanã is 1 of 2 stadiums to have hosted 2 World Cup Finals, along with the Azteca.

In 2024, the Stade de France will become the 4th stadium to have hosted an Olympic Games, a World Cup Final, and a UEFA Champions League Final. The others are the old Wembley Stadium, and the Olympiastadions in Berlin and Munich.

Mário Zagallo, 1931-2024; Franz Beckenbauer, 1945-2024

A caption out of date since 2018.

There are 3 men who have won soccer's World Cup as both a player and a manager. And 2 of them have just died.

Take care of yourself, Didier Deschamps (France, 1998 as player, 2018 as manager).

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo was born on August 9, 1931 in Atalaia, Alagoas, Brazil; and grew up in Rio de Janeiro. He served his mandatary time in the Brazilian Army, and was stationed at the Estádio do Maracanã during the 1950 World Cup Final, which Brazil famously lost to Uruguay. A left wing, he played his entire club career in Rio: WIth Flamengo from 1951 to 1958, winning the Rio de Janeiro State Championship in 1953, '54 and '55; and with Botafogo from then until 1965.

Wearing "The Botafogo Star"

With the national team, "The Selection" (O Seleção), he made 33 appearances, scoring 5 goals, and winning the World Cup in 1958 and 1962. He was the last surviving player from the 1958 team, with Pelé as a 17-year-old star. His death leaves Amarildo as the last surviving player from the 1962 team.

He went into management, and led Botafogo to the State Championship in 1967 and 1968, and to the national league title, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, in 1968. In 1970, following a controversy over team selection, João Saldanha was fired as national team manager, and Zagallo was hired. With Pelé up top, he led Brazil to perhaps the greatest performance in the sport's history, and won the World Cup for the 3rd time. Thus, they got to keep the trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, permanently, and a new Rimet Trophy was designed.

Zagallo with the new trophy (left) and the old trophy (right)

He returned to Rio, and led Fluminense to the Rio State Championship in 1971. "La Flu" lost Zagallo to their arch-rivals, Flamengo, and he led "La Fla" to the State Championship in 1972. He went back to Botafogo 3 times, managed Flamengo twice more, and also managed Rio team Vasco da Gama twice.

Overseas, he managed the Kuwait national team to the Arabian Gulf Cup in 1976, Al-Hilal to the Saudi Premier League title, and managed the national teams of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He was named a coordinator for Brazil in 1994, and was on hand for their 4th World Cup win. He managed them into the 1998 World Cup Final, but lost to France. Brazil won their 5th in 2002, under Luis Felipe Scolari. After that Zagallo managed Brazil in 1 more game, a win over South Korea.

Mário Zagallo married Alcina de Castro in 1955. They had 4 children, and remained together until her death in 2012. He died this past Friday, January 5, 2024, at the age of 92.

*

Zagallo was a very good player and an all-time great manager. Franz Beckenbauer was the other way around.

Franz Anton Beckenbauer Jr. was born on September 11, 1945, in Munich, Bavara, in a Germany only 4 months removed from V-E Day. As a boy, he rooted for the top team in his hometown, TSV 1860 Munich. But it was Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. -- "Bayern" meaning "Bavarian" -- that signed him, and as their star rose, 1860's fell. (1860 were founding members of German's Bundesliga, meaning "federal league," in 1963, but were relegated to the 2nd division in 1986, and are now in the 3rd division.)

In the 1964-65 season, Beckenbauer made his first-team debut with Bayern, and they won the 2nd division and gained promotion to the Bundesliga, and have never left it. Indeed, they have dominated it: In the ensuing 58 seasons, they have won it 32 times, including the last 11. With a punishing defense, including with Beckenbauer as sweeper and Sepp Maier in goal, and Gerd Müller scoring goals, Bayern won 3 straight European Cups (the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League) in 1974, '75 and '76.

Beckenbauer played on the West Germany team that lost to England in the 1966 World Cup Final, reached the Semifinals of the 1970 World Cup, and won Euro 1972. In 1974, with the World Cup on home soil, and the Final on his home ground of the Olympiastadion in Munich, Beckenbauer captained West Germany against the Netherlands, led by Johan Cruiff. The contrast could not have been more stark: The Dutch, in their bright orange shirts, were flashy and attacking; while the Germans, in all white, were plain, conservative, and defensive.

West Germany came from behind to win, 1-0, their 2nd World Cup win. (The 1st was in 1954.) It was a crushing defeat for the Netherlands, but for West Germany, it was another step on the road to recovery from World War II. They reached the Final of Euro 1976, losing to Czechoslovakia.

Individually, in the balloting for the World Player of the Year award, the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball), Beckenbauer finished 3rd in 1966, won it in 1972, finished 2nd in 1974 and 1975, and won it in 1976. After finishing the 1976-77 season with Bayern, he did what any good European or South American player would do at that time: Come to America for the money. He joined Pelé on the New York Cosmos, led them to the North American Soccer League title, and won the league's Most Valuable Player award. He won the title with them again in 1978 and 1980. He went back to Germany, and won the Bundesliga with Hamburger SV in 1982. It was his 8th league title.

"Der Kaiser" went into management, and took West Germany to the Final of the 1986 World Cup, losing to Argentina; to the Semifinal of Euro 88, where the Netherlands got their revenge and beat them, and then won the Final; and to the Final of the 1990 World Cup, avenging their defeats in the '82 and '86 Finals, beating Argentina. (They'd lost to Italy in the '82 Final, with Beckenbauer neither playing nor managing.)

Beckenbauer managed Olympique de Marseille to the title in France's Ligue 1 in 1991, then went back to Bayern, leading them to the Bundesliga in 1994 and the UEFA Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Europa League) in 1996. He later served as Bayern team president, and is regarded as his country's greatest sports hero.

He was married 3 times, and had 5 children. He died yesterday, January 7, 2024, at the age of 78, after years of heart trouble.

How Long It's Been: Arsenal Played a Champions League Match

This afternoon, at 3:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time, Arsenal Football Club, a professional soccer team of whom I am both a fan and a supporter -- and, as some of their own "fans" have proven, there is a difference -- will play a UEFA Champions League match.

They will be at home, at the Emirates Stadium in North London, and will play Philips Sport Vereniging, or "Philips Sport Association," of Eindhoven, in the Netherlands. (Eindhoven is in Brabant. Not "Holland." Saying someone from Brabant is for "Holland" is like calling a Scotsman "English" -- or a Texan a "Yankee.") That team was formed by Philips, the former electronics giant, which is now focused on health technology. Along with Ajax in Amsterdam and Feyenoord in Rotterdam, they are one of the "Big Three" of Dutch soccer, and were 2nd in the Dutch league, the Eredivisie, last season.

Arsenal made the Champions League every season from 1998-99 to 2016-17. They never won it, and only reached the Final once, in 2006. They got to the knockout stage every season from 2003-04 to 2016-17, but lost in the Round of 16 every season from 2010-11 onward. (The role that the officiating played in these defeats is a story for another time.)

To some fans, getting there every year was a great success. To others, getting there every year, but losing in this fashion, was a failure. And seeing other English teams -- Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and now Manchester City, with Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa having previously done so -- win it was considered unfortunate by the former group, and a grand humiliation by the latter.

And yet, once Arsène Wenger, the manager who built this achievement, and had also won 3 Premier League titles and a record 7 FA Cups, including 2 "Doubles" and the 2003-04 "Invincible" season, left in 2018, the latter group seemed to be just fine with missing the CL entirely, and reaching the Final of the secondary European tournament, the UEFA Europa League, under new manager Unai Emery.

Well, that Final was a disastrous loss to Chelsea, and the team's best player, Mesut Özil, could be seen yelling at Emery, "I swear to God, you are not a coach!" And he proved it the next season, giving Arsenal its worst start in memory. He was fired, replaced as a caretaker manager by former team star Freddie Ljungberg, until another former Arsenal star, Mikel Arteta, could be acquired. He took Arsenal to the 2020 FA Cup, and to a 2nd place finish last season, and into the CL this season.

And so, Arsenal will take the pitch today against PSV. It will be their 1st Champions League match since March 7, 2017, a 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich at the Emirates, completing a 10-2 aggregate loss, to then as now, the dominant team in Germany.

I would tell you what I wrote about it at the time, but, apparently, I wrote nothing about it at the time. Though I did write about Arsenal the day before, ripping the "Wenger Out Brigade," pointing out that he had spent a lot of money on "world-class players," and it hadn't worked. Therefore, in their "diseased minds," as I put it, it must be his fault, not the players', and certainly not the WOB's for giving in to their demands.

It's been 6 years, 6 months and 12 days. How long has that been?

*

Here was Arsenal's starting XI: Goalkeeper David Ospina; right back Héctor Bellerín; centerbacks Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny; left back Nacho Monreal; midfielders Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey; right wing Theo Walcott; left wing Alexis Sánchez; and centre forward Olivier Giroud.

Substitutes who got into the game, all in the 72nd minute: Mesut Özil for Alexis, Francis Coquelin for Ramsey, and Lucas Pérez for Giroud. Listed as available substitutes, but not getting into the game: Goalkeeper Petr Čech, left back Kieran Gibbs, and centreback Gabriel Paulista.

Among those on the roster, but not listed for the game, due to injury, insufficient experience, or perhaps some other reason: Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez; centrebacks Per Mertesacker and Rob Holding; midfielders Santi Cazorla, Mohamed Elneny and Ainsley Maitland-Niles; and forwards Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi.

Of those 26 players, 6 1/2 years later, only 1 is still on the Arsenal roster: Elneny.

Let the record show that Arsenal were leading 1-0 (albeit trailing 5-2 on aggregate) on a goal by Walcott when Koscielny was sent off with a bogus red card in the 53rd minute, and that all 5 of Bayern's goals came after that.

This Arsenal team finished 5th in the Premier League, 18 points behind League winners Chelsea and 1 point behind 4th-place Liverpool, keeping them out of the 2018-19 Champions League. But they won the FA Cup, beating Chelsea in the Final. Real Madrid of Spain beat Juventus of Turin, Italy in the Champions League Final.

The titleholders in American sports were the Chicago Cubs in baseball (it still doesn't seem possible), the New England Patriots in football, the Cleveland Cavaliers in basketball, the Pittsburgh Penguins in hockey, and the Seattle Sounders were the holders of the MLS Cup. The WBA and the IBF recognized Anthony Joshua as the Heavyweight Champion of the World, while the WBC recognized Deontay Wilder.

Since then, the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals have won their 1st World Series, the Philadelphia Eagles their 1st NFL Championship since 1960, and the Kansas City Chiefs their 1st Super Bowl since 1970; the Toronto Raptors their 1st NBA Championship, and the Milwaukee Bucks their 1st since 1971; and the Washington Capitals, the St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights their 1st Stanley Cups.

The Atlanta Braves and the Texas Rangers have opened new ballparks; the San Diego Chargers have moved to Los Angeles, and the Oakland Raiders have moved to Las Vegas; the Chargers, the Raiders, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Atlanta Falcons have opened new stadiums; the Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken have begun play; and those NHL expansion teams, the New York Islanders, the Arizona Coyotes, the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors have opened new arenas.

All the major league sports teams in the New York Tri-State Area have changed their manager or head coach at least once. As hard as it is to believe, the senior field boss in New York now is Aaron Boone of the Yankees, hired on December 4, 2017.

Duck Dynasty, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, The Americans, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Veep, Game of Thrones and Drunk History were still on the air.

And Queen Elizabeth II, Chuck Berry, Whitey Ford and Tom Seaver, among others, have since died.

March 7, 2017. Arsenal played a UEFA Champions League game. They have not played one since.

That ends today. Hopefully, in victory.

Francisco Gento, 1933-2022

Francisco Gento with the 1956, 1957, 1958,

1959, 1960 and 1966 European Cups

A sports legend has left us, and most Americans have never even heard of him.

Francisco Gento López was born on October 21, 1933, in Guarnizo, in Cantabria in northern Spain. Playing the position of outside left, what would now be called left midfielder or left wing, he debuted for local team Racing Santander in 1952. A flu epidemic struck them before a game with Spain's leading soccer team, Real Madrid, and he was forced into the starting lineup. He impressed them more than his own team, and he was purchased 3 days later.

After a difficult 1st season, Real Madrid's president, and namesake of their stadium, Santiago Bernabéu, was ready to sell him off. But the team's best player, Alfredo Di Stéfano, told him, "He is quick, and hits the ball like a cannon. That can't be learned. It's innate. We can teach him the rest."

Gento fulfilled Di Stéfano's faith in him. Known as La Galerna del Cantábrico (The Gale of the Cantabrian Sea), his speed and passing helped Real win 12 La Liga titles between 1954 and 1969. But the true measure of success for Madridistas is the European Cup, known since 1992 as the UEFA Champions League. They won the tournament  the 1st 5 times it was held: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960.

The Cup was won by Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal in 1961 and 1962; by AC Milan of Italy in 1963; and by Internazionale of Milan, a.k.a. Inter, in 1964 and 1965. Once kings of Europe ("Real" means "royal"), Real Madrid went out of the Cup in the 1st round in 1961 (to arch-rival FC Barcelona, no less), lost the Final to Benfica in 1962, in the Preliminary Round in 1963, lost the Final to Inter in 1964, and went out in the Quarterfinal in 1965.

So Real were determined to win it in 1966. With "Paco" Gento as Captain, they beat Feyenoord of Rotterdam, the Netherlands in the Preliminary Round. In the 1st Round, they beat Kilmarnock of Scotland. In the Quarterfinal, they beat Anderlecht of Belgium. In the Semifinal, they dethroned Inter. And in the Final, at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, they beat Yugoslavian Champions Partizan Belgrade, 2-1.

(Heysel would host the European Cup Final again in 1985, with disastrous results: A wall collapse led to the deaths of 39 people, but the game went ahead anyway, and Juventus beat Liverpool, 1-0.)

It was the 6th European Cup for Real Madrid, and the 6th for Gento. To this day, he remains the only player ever to win the European Cup/Champions League 6 times.

He was named to the Spain team at the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, but not the 1964 European Championship that Spain won.

He retired in 1971, and went into coaching. In 1979, he got Palencia promoted to the 1st Division. He later became a club ambassador, and was named honorary president of the team after Di Stéfano died in 2014.

Real Madrid have now won the European Cup 13 times, more than any other team, most recently in 2018. Gento lived to see all of them. He died today, January 18, 2022, at the age of 88. He is survived by his wife Mari Luz, sons Francisco and Julio, and granddaughters Aitana and Candela.

He was the last survivor of both the 1956 and 1957 European Cup winners. With his death, there are now:

* 2 surviving players from the 1958 European Cup: José Santamaría and Juan Santisteban.

* 3 surviving players from the 1959 European Cup: Santamaría, Santisteban and Antonio Ruiz.

* 4 surviving players from the 1960 European Cup: Santamaría, Santisteban, Ruiz, and Darcy Silveira (a.k.a. Canário).

* And 7 surviving players from the 1966 European Cup: Santamaría, José Araquistáin, Enrique Pérez Díaz (a.k.a. Pachín), Manuel Sanchís Martínez, José Martínez Sánchez (a.k.a. Pirri), Fernando Serena and Amancio Amaro.