Joseíto

Joseíto was the kind of forward who could easily be swallowed by the mythology around him, because Real Madrid's attack soon became crowded with immortals. Yet in the early years of the European Cup, he mattered. Quick, lively and tactically useful, he played from the right or across the front line with movement, pressing and a willingness to serve the collective rather than demand the whole attack revolve around him. In the 1956 final against Stade de Reims, he was part of the original Madrid XI that turned a dramatic comeback into the first brick of a continental empire. He was not Di Stéfano, not Gento, not Kopa, and pretending otherwise would be madness with a typewriter. But Joseíto had energy, intelligence and functional attacking quality, the sort of player who connects stars, stretches defenders and keeps a great team from becoming only a collection of names.