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 center-forward for Valencia CF for most of his career except for his last season, where he played for the team CD Alcoyano.

Career

Mundo 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 history he won the trophy for the top goal scorer twice. He is the fifth highest goal scorer in the history of the Spanish league, only surpassed by Zarra, Alfredo di Stéfano, Isidro Vagrant and Ferenc Puskás

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.

He played 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 1949-1950. 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 seasons 1941-1942 and 1942-1943 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 1950-1951 season, until he realized he was no longer able to play at this level.

Nevertheless, this was not the end of his relationship with Valencia. During the season 1963-1964 he took the position as 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 season 1966-1967 as the coach and achieved great success, winning the Copa del Rey beating Athletic Club 2-0 in the final. His career as the coach at Valencia FC continued until October 13, 1968 but ended due to the team's poor performance.

National Team

He earned three international caps with the Spanish National Team scoring three goals. His international debut was on 28 December 1941 against Switzerland.

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

Titles

As player

National Cups

• 3 La Liga - Valencia CF - 1941-1942, 1943-1944 and 1946-1947
• 2 Copa del Rey - Valencia CF - 1941 and 1949

Individual Awards

• 2 Pichichi trophies for the highest scorer in the Spanish league - 1941-1942 and 1943-1944

As coach

• 1 Copa del Rey Valencia CF - 1967

References

External links

• Mundo in www.lfp.es
• Profile