Ricardo Gallego facts for kids
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ricardo Gallego Redondo | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 8 February 1959 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||
| 1973–1977 | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||
| 1977–1980 | Castilla | 87 | (4) | ||||||||||
| 1980–1989 | Real Madrid | 250 | (22) | ||||||||||
| 1989–1990 | Udinese | 30 | (2) | ||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Rayo Vallecano | 31 | (1) | ||||||||||
| Total | 398 | (29) | |||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||
| 1977 | Spain U18 | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||
| 1977 | Spain U20 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 1978 | Spain U21 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 1980–1981 | Spain B | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 1982–1988 | Spain | 42 | (2) | ||||||||||
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Honours
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Ricardo Gallego Redondo (born 8 February 1959) is a Spanish former footballer. He played as a defensive midfielder.
Ricardo Gallego spent most of his career with Real Madrid. He played in 372 official games over nine years. With Real Madrid, he won ten major titles.
He also played 42 games for the Spanish national team. He represented Spain in two World Cups and two European Championships.
Playing for Clubs
Ricardo Gallego grew up in Madrid, Spain. He joined the youth system of Real Madrid, a very famous football club. He quickly became an important player for the main team.
In his first year (1980–81), he played 26 matches. After that, he was a key player in midfield for many seasons. He played 250 top-division matches for Real Madrid.
During his time there, Real Madrid won many titles. They won four La Liga championships. They also won two Copa del Rey cups. Plus, they won the UEFA Cup twice in a row (1985 and 1986).
Ricardo Gallego was strong and skilled. He could play well in different positions, even as a defender called a "sweeper." In the 1986–87 season, he played 37 games and scored two goals. Real Madrid won the national championship that year.
On 15 March 1987, during a match, there was an unfortunate collision. Ricardo Gallego landed on the knee of Miguel de Andrés, an Athletic Bilbao player. Sadly, Miguel de Andrés had to end his football career because of this injury.
After leaving Real Madrid, Gallego played a short time for Udinese Calcio in Italy. Then, he returned to Spain. He played one season for Rayo Vallecano in the Segunda División. His team even got promoted to a higher league that year.
Ricardo Gallego retired from playing football at age 33. Later, he worked for his first and last clubs in management roles.
Playing for Spain
Ricardo Gallego played 42 times for the Spanish national team. His first game was a friendly match on 24 February 1982. It was against Scotland before the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. He came into the game in the second half and helped Spain win 3–0.
He played only once in the 1982 World Cup. But he became a very important defensive player in the next two big tournaments. These were the UEFA Euro 1984, where Spain finished second, and the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
He stopped playing for the national team after UEFA Euro 1988. In 2011, he worked as an assistant coach for the China national team. He helped his former teammate, José Antonio Camacho, who was the head coach.
Achievements
Castilla
- Copa del Rey runner-up: 1979–80
Real Madrid
- La Liga: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
- Copa del Rey: 1981–82, 1988–89
- Supercopa de España: 1988
- Copa de la Liga: 1985
- UEFA Cup: 1984–85, 1985–86
See also
In Spanish: Ricardo Gallego para niños
