Adrián Escudero

Adrián Escudero
Personal information
Full name Adrián Escudero García
Date of birth (1927-11-24)24 November 1927
Place of birth Madrid, Spain
Date of death 7 March 2011(2011-03-07) (aged 83)
Place of death Madrid, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Striker
Youth career
Banco Hispano Americano
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1945 Mediodía
1945–1958 Atlético Madrid 287 (169)
International career
1949 Spain B 1 (1)
1952–1956 Spain 3 (1)
Managerial career
1963 Atlético Madrid
1967–1968 Badajoz
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Adrián Escudero García (24 November 1927 – 7 March 2011) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker.

He is the third all-time leading goalscorer for Atlético Madrid with 169 goals, having appeared for the club in 13 La Liga seasons and played in more than 350 official games.[1]

Club career

Escudero arrived at Atlético Madrid in late 1945 from local amateurs Club Deportivo Mediodía. He ended his first season in La Liga with ten games and two goals, but scored in double digits in eight of the following ten campaigns, most notably contributing with 28 goals combined as the Colchoneros won back-to-back national championships in the early 1950s.

On 8 March 1953, Escudero netted Atlético's 1000th goal in the top division, in a 2–3 away loss against Celta de Vigo, through a penalty kick.[2]

On 6 January 1955, for the tenth season of Escudero at Atlético de Madrid, the player received a testmonial match in which the rivals of Real Madrid agreed to let Alfredo Di Stéfano, Luis Molowny and Joaquín Oliva play for Atleti.[3] At that time, Atlético was still the Madrid most champion club at La Liga,[4] with Di Stéfano's team reaching by the end of the 1954–55 season the same amount of four titles then.[5]

At the end of 1957–58, Escudero did not have his contract renewed and decided to retire from football, aged only 30. He continued working with Atlético Madrid in the following years, first as youth team coach, then as assistant manager. After the sacking of Rafael García Repullo (his former teammate) early into the 1963–64 season, he was an interim for one round, a 1–2 defeat at Valencia CF on 29 December 1963.

Escudero died on 7 March 2011 in his hometown of Madrid, at the age of 83.[2]

International career

Escudero earned three caps for Spain in three-and-a-half years, his debut coming on 7 December 1952 in a friendly with Argentina played in Madrid (0–1 loss). In his only official appearance, on 17 March 1954, he scored against Turkey for the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualifiers – the third playoff match ended 2–2 in Rome, and the Spaniards were eliminated after a drawing of lots.[6]

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.17 March 1954Stadio Olimpico, Roma, Italy Turkey2–22–21954 World Cup qualification

Honours

Atlético Madrid
Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Club Atlético de Madrid - Fernando Torres becomes our fifth all-time leading goalscorer". 15 April 2018.
  2. 1 2 Fallece Escudero, máximo goleador en Liga del Atlético (Escudero, Atlético's top scorer in La Liga, dies); El Mundo, 8 March 2011 (in Spanish)
  3. ↑ "Argentinos de Atlético e Real" [Argentinians from Atlético and Real]. Futebol Portenho (in Portuguese). 23 May 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  4. ↑ "Helenio Herrera, (muito mais do que) o argentino que treinou as seleções de França e Espanha" [Helenio Herrera, (much more than) the Argentinian who coached the French and Spanish national teams.]. Futebol Portenho (in Portuguese). 13 July 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "Entre a Furia e a Albiceleste: os argentinos que defenderam o outro lado da Finalíssima do Mundo" [Between La Furia Roja and La Albiceleste: the Argentinians who defended the other side of the World Cup Final.]. Futebol Portenho (in Portuguese). 15 July 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Cuando Franco entristeció a España" [When Franco made Spain sad] (in Spanish). Soitu. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2017.