Francisco Buyo

Infobox Football biography
playername = Francisco Buyo


fullname = Francisco Buyo Sánchez
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1958|1|13|mf=y
cityofbirth = Betanzos, La Coruña
countryofbirth = Spain
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
nickname =
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears = 1972-1973 1973-1975
youthclubs = Ural CF Betanzos CF
years = 1975-1976 1976-1978 1978-1979 1979-1980 1980-1986 1986-1997
clubs = Mallorca Deportivo Huesca Deportivo Sevilla Real Madrid
caps(goals) = 199 (0) 343 (0)
nationalyears = 1983-1992
nationalteam = Spain
nationalcaps(goals) = 7 (0)

Francisco ("Paco") Buyo Sánchez (born January 13, 1958) is a former Galician football goalkeeper who played for first division clubs Sevilla FC and Real Madrid.

Buyo's longest tenure and most success was with Real Madrid, where he won six league championships and two Zamora trophies. He played professionally for over 20 years and appeared in 542 first division matches, the third-highest total in the history of the league. He is currently a sports analyst in Al-Jazeera sports channel on their coverage of La Liga and Euro 2008.

Club career

Buyo was born in Betanzos, Galicia. At the age of fourteen, his first youth team was the local "Ural CF", for which he played one year, both as goalkeeper and as right winger, achieving the feat of being both unbeaten between the goalposts and also the team's top goalscorer. [Source: es icon http://www.realmadridfans.org/buyo.htm] He then played for "Betanzos CF" two years, before being signed by RCD Mallorca in the second division. After one season at Mallorca, he joined Deportivo de La Coruña, where he would stay until 1980, except for the 1978-79 season, where he was loaned to SD Huesca while he performed military service in Jaca. He debuted in "Primera División" in the 1980-81 season with Sevilla FC, being their starting goalkeeper from the beginning; he played there six years, appearing in 242 official matches. He also made his full international debut with the Spain national team while at Sevilla.

Real Madrid (1986-1997)

Buyo's performance at Sevilla made Real Madrid require his services, signing him in 1986. The Galician goalkeeper would remain in the capital's club until his retirement in 1997. During Buyo's eleven seasons at Madrid, the club won six leagues and two "Copa del Rey" titles; Buyo teamed up with players like Emilio Butragueño, Manolo Sanchís, Chendo, Rafael Gordillo, Míchel, Hugo Sánchez, Martín Vázquez, Fernando Hierro, Fernando Redondo, Iván Zamorano, and Raúl González.

Buyo's debut at Madrid occurred in 1986 in a 3-1 win against Real Murcia, and he went on to play all 44 league matches in his first season at the "merengue" club, while winning the league title, his first of four in a row (of five consecutive titles won by Real Madrid). The local success of Madrid could not be translated into international success, as they kept being eliminated in European Cup competition. However, in his first season, Buyo did have a memorable performance against Michel Platini's Juventus F.C. in the round of sixteen of the 1986-87 European Cup; after Madrid won 1-0 in the first leg and Juventus did the same in the second meeting, the winner was decided on a penalty shootout, won by Madrid after Buyo saved three of Juventus' shots. Buyo earned his first Zamora Trophy during his second season at Madrid, after receiving 23 goals in 35 league matches. His second came after the 1991-92 season, during which he played 35 matches, with 27 goals against.

Madrid would win two more league titles with Buyo in goal, the first of which came in the 1994-95 season, during which he also had a streak of 709 minutes without conceding a goal in league play, between December 3, 1994 and February 12, 1995, [Source: [http://www.iffhs.de/?b4a390f03be4ac07cda14b45fdcdc3bfcdc0aec70aed19 "The World's Top Division Goalkeepers of all time with the longest Time without conceding a Goal"] - IFFHS. Retrieved 2007-02-19.] the fifth-longest streak ever in the Spanish League. Buyo won his sixth and last league title with Madrid in his last professional season, 1996-97. He retired in at the age of 39, after playing in 343 league matches for Real Madrid, and being succeeded by Bodo Illgner as the starting keeper. Overall, he appeared in 542 first division matches, the third highest total ever behind the also goalkeeper and FC Barcelona rival Andoni Zubizarreta and Eusebio Sacristán.

National team

During Buyo's time at Deportivo, he was selected to the under-21 national team, defending Spain at the 1980 Olympic tournament, where it was eliminated in the first round. At the full international level, he was capped seven times, receiving two goals, between 1983 and 1992, and was part of the squad that finished runner-up at the 1984 European Championship.

ee also

* List of Spain international goalkeepers
* Zamora Trophy

References

External links

* [http://www.lfp.es/historico/primera/plantillas/historial.asp?jug=4410 LFP.es - Club career summary]
* [http://www.futbolfactory.futbolweb.net/index.php?ff=historicos&f2=00001&idjugador=276 Futbolfactory.futbolweb.net - player profile]