Edmundo Suárez

Edmundo Suárez Trabanco (January 22, 1916 - December 14, 1978) was a Spanish football player and coach - better known as Mundo. He was born in Baracaldo. He played as a centre-forward for Spanish club Valencia CF for most of his career, except for his last season, where he played for CD Alcoyano.

Club career

Mundo Suárez is considered an idol for fans of Valencia FC because he holds the record for the highest number of league goals scored for the team. During his football career he won the Spanish top goalscoring award twice. He is currently the tenth highest goal scorer in the history of the Spanish league, and the fifth highest goalscoring in the history of the Copa del Rey.

His great physical strength allowed him to dominate Spanish football during the 1940s. Along with Epi, Amadeo, Asensi and Gorostiza, he formed an electric front line that transformed Valencia FC into a winning team.

Suárez initially played football with various amateur teams in his native Basque Country, but the civil war changed his career completely. He had a contract with Athletic Club but this acquisition was made in republican territory, therefore it was not considered valid by the pro-Franco state which remained in power after the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, the pro-Franco army created a team, named "Recovery of Levante" conformed by diverse players who had fought in the military region of Levante. Said team was chosen by Valencia FC to debut after the Civil War. After Valencia FC saw ¨Recovery of Levante¨ in action, they did not waste the opportunity and purchased it.

After this acquisition, Mundo stayed in Valencia for eleven seasons between 1939–1940 and 1949–50. During his career, he was a high-scoring player obtaining an average of 0.92 goals per game with Valencia FC. He was also awarded the Pichichi Trophy (top scoring player) in the 1941–42 and 1942–43 seasons, with 27 and 28 goals respectively.

After a season in which he played six games, he decided to leave the club for which he had played throughout his career, to join in the nearby and modest CD Alcoyano which was also in the first division. He remained there for the 1950–51 season, until he realised he was no longer able to play at the top level.

International career

Suárez earned three international caps with the Spain national football team between 1941 and 1942, scoring three goals. His international debut was on 28 December 1941 against Switzerland.

Coaching career

During the 1963–64 season, Suárez returned to Valence and took up the position of team coach, replacing Pasieguito, another legend of Valencian football. Thanks to his strong character and tactical inflexibility, he went on to improve Valencia's league position, placing them in sixth place. The team's performance in the Fairs Cup was much better, but they lost against Real Zaragoza in a controversial match. After the positive results of that year, the Valencia FC board of directors allowed him to coach for one more year. However, as the team finished the league in fourth place, the directors hired another coach, Barinaga. With Barinaga, the team did not reach its expectations, so Mundo returned to his old position as coach for the next season.

He started the 1966–67 season as the team's coach and achieved great success, winning the Copa del Rey by beating Athletic Club 2–0 in the final. His remained Valencia's coach until 13 October 1968, when he ended his coaching career due to the team's poor performance.

Club statistics

As player

• Valencia CF - Spain - 1939 - 1950
• CD Alcoyano - Spain - 1950 - 1951

As coach

• Hércules CF - Spain - 1951 - 1952
• Valencia CF - Spain - 1963 - 1965 and 1966 - 1968
• Real Murcia -
• Spain - 1970

Honours

Player

Club

Valencia CF

• 3 La Liga: 1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47
• 2 Copa del Rey: 1941, 1949

Individual

• 2 Pichichi trophy for the highest goalscorer of the season in the Spanish league: 1941–42, 1943–44

Manager

Valencia CF

• 1 Copa del Rey: 1967

References

External links

• Mundo in www.lfp.es
• Profile