Leonel Sánchez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Leonel Sánchez

Sánchez in 1959
Personal information
Full name	Leonel Guillermo Sánchez Lineros
Date of birth	(1936-04-25)25 April 1936
Place of birth	Santiago, Chile
Date of death	2 April 2022(2022-04-02) (aged 85)
Place of death	Santiago, Chile
Height	1.74 m
Playing position	Left forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1953–1969	Universidad de Chile	386	(159)
1969–1970	Colo-Colo	31	(2)
1971–1972	Palestino	15	(10)
1972–1973	Ferroviarios	11	(7)
Total		443	(178)
National team
1955–1968	Chile	85	(24)
Teams managed
1985–1986	Universidad de Chile
1987	Universidad de Chile
Honours Men's football Representing  Chile FIFA World Cup Third 1962 Chile Copa América Runner-up 1956 Uruguay Third 1967 Uruguay
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

40 years after the Ballet Azul, Universidad de Chile supporters still idolize him

Leonel Guillermo Sánchez Lineros (25 April 1936 – 2 April 2022) was a Chilean professional footballer who played as a striker on the left wing.

He is recognized as one of the Best South American Footballers of the 20th Century and one of the great forwards in the history of the FIFA World Cup. He was goalscorer of the 1962 FIFA World Cup where Chile achieved a historic third place in the largest global event for national teams, was part of the ideal eleven of the World Cup and was awarded the Golden Boot and the Bronze Ball from FIFA. He was also included in the top 100 players of the history of the World Cups by FIFA. At the continental level he was part of the ideal eleven of the América Cup 1956, where together with the Chile national team he won a runner-up. In addition Conmebol included him among the best specialists of free kicks in the history of South America.

Considered one of the best Chilean players in history —especially in the position of forward, which he held throughout his career— and one of the club's greatest idols namely Universidad de Chile, where he was one of the leaders of the Blue Ballet era (1959–1969), is remembered for having been the leader of the Chil national team that placed third in the 1962 FIFA World Cup, a tournament in which he was also one of the top scorers and one of the prominent participants in the infamous match against Italy. In La Roja, Leonel Sánchez is the seventh all-time top scorer with a total of 24 goals and 13 assists.

His performances both at the Universidad of Chile and in the national team made him position himself and be chosen by the IFFHS as the 40th Best South American Footballer of the 20th Century, surpassing several international references such as his compatriot Iván Zamorano, the Brazilians Domingos da Guia and Ademir Marques de Menezes, the Uruguayan José Pedro Cea and the Argentine Raimundo Orsi.

Career

Leonel Sanchez was the son of a professional boxer.

Sanchez studied at República Argentina, a prestigious public primary school of Santiago; and at Manuel Barros Borgoño, a traditional public secondary school of the capital.

He played at left midfield for over 20 years between 1953 and 1973. 17 of those 20 years were for Universidad de Chile, where he was the icon of the Ballet Azul (Blue Ballet), a team that won 6 national championships between 1959 and 1969.

Four of his 24 international goals were at the 1962 World Cup on home soil, where he was the top scorer along with five other players as Chile finished the tournament in third place. In that World Cup he is also remembered for his disputes with several Italian players in the infamous Chile – Italy match in the first round: he knocked out the Italian player Mario David with a punch in an altercation after being fouled, and was subsequently kicked in the head by David a few minutes later, resulting in the Italian defender's sending off. Sánchez later also broke Humberto Maschio's nose with a left hook; Chile won the match 2–0. Because of his role in the match, later dubbed the "Battle of Santiago", in 2007, The Times placed Sánchez at number 6 in their list of the 50 hardest footballers in history.

Sánchez remained at Universidad de Chile, although he received numerous offers from well known European clubs such as Real Madrid, Juventus and A.C. Milan. In 1969, after a contract rule was settled, Universidad de Chile was forced to sell him. He finished his career playing for different Chilean clubs such as Colo-Colo, Palestino and Ferroviarios.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Chile's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sánchez goal.

List of international goals scored by Leonel Sánchez

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	24 January 1956	Montevideo, Uruguay	Brazil		4–1	1956 South American Championship
2	9 February 1956	Montevideo, Uruguay	Peru		4–3	1956 South American Championship
3	11 March 1959	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Paraguay		1–2	1959 South American Championship (Argentina)
4	26 March 1959	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Bolivia		5–2	1959 South American Championship (Argentina)
5	18 November 1959	Santiago, Chile	Argentina		4–2	Friendly match
6	5 June 1960	Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay		2–2	Friendly
7
8	19 March 1961	Santiago, Chile	Peru		5–2	Friendly
9
10	26 March 1961	Santiago, Chile	West Germany		3–1	Friendly
11
12	9 December 1961	Santiago, Chile	Hungary		5–1	Friendly
13
14	30 May 1962	Santiago, Chile	Switzerland		3–1	1962 FIFA World Cup
15
16	10 June 1962	Arica, Chile	Soviet Union		2–1	1962 FIFA World Cup
17	13 June 1962	Santiago, Chile	Brazil		2–4	1962 FIFA World Cup
18	16 May 1965	Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay		1–1	Copa Juan Pinto Durán
19	21 July 1965	Santiago, Chile	Argentina		1–1	Copa Carlos Dittborn
20	1 August 1965	Santiago, Chile	Colombia		7–2	1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
21	22 August 1965	Santiago, Chile	Ecuador		3–1	1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
22	12 October 1965	Lima, Perú	Ecuador		2–1	1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
23	13 December 1967	Santiago, Chile	Hungary		4–5	Friendly
24	27 August 1968	Ciudad de México, México	Mexico		1-3	Friendly

Honours

Universidad de Chile

• Chilean League: 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969
• Metropolitan Tournament of Chile: 1968, 1969
• Copa Francisco Candelori: 1969

Colo-Colo

• Chilean League: 1970

Individual

• Golden Boot: 1962
• All-Star Team: 1962 FIFA World Cup
• IFFHS South America best Player of the Century: N°40

See also

In Spanish: Leonel Sánchez para niños