'Ico' Aguilar dies, the winger who relieved Gento and attended Santillana

The Spaniard, who conquered five Leagues and two Cups in his eight seasons at Real Madrid (1971-1979), suffered from cancer.

Francisco Javier Aguilar Garca, known in football as 'Ico' Aguilar, died on Monday at the age of 71 in a Madrid hospital victim of cancer. The winger played eight seasons (1971-1979) at Real Madrid, where he won five League titles and two Generalisimo Cup titles. Born in Santander and raised in Racing, Aguilar took over from Paco Gento, which also comes from the Cantabrian club and that competed for 18 seasons in Chamartn.

Throughout his 182 games in the white shirt, Aguilar scored 40 goals and served numerous assists for his countryman's shots Carlos Alonso Santillana, arrived at Bernabu in the same summer of 1971. Three times absolute international with Spain, the attacker defended, until his retirement in 1983, the colors of Racing de Santander (1967-1971), Sporting de Gijn (1979-1981) and Rayo Vallecano (1981-1983).

The most important goal of Aguilar's career came in the 1974 Copa del Generalsimo final against Atlético. That July 5, in a duel tremendously even at the Vicente Caldern that after the extension ended 0-0, managed to bring down the resistance of Miguel Reina in the fourth turn to grant the title to the Real.

The revenge of Belgrade

And that only played 15 minutes of play, given that he had entered at the end of the first overtime in place of Roberto Martnez. A little revenge for the men of Miljan Miljanic, that same spring they had fallen in the Recopa quarterfinals against the Red Star in the fateful roulette of maximum penalties, with a goal from Aguilar on the third attempt and Santillana's error on the seventh.

A year earlier, in the Cup final against Barcelona, ​​Aguilar left his stamp in the convincing 4-0 against the box Rinus Michels. In the 7th minute, after an electric advance on the right side, he served a 1-0 layup for Santillana, his best attacking partner. Already in the second half, the Santander player took advantage of a defensive error to beat Salvador Sadurn in the action of 3-0.

Late on Monday, Real Madrid expressed “their condolences and their affection and affection” to Eva, Aguilar's wife, as well as their children Daniel and Virginia and their grandchildren Beln and Rodrigo. Racing, who in 2007 presented him with his gold badge, sent another note of psame to his family and loved ones.