Luis Muñoz, the goodbye of a youth ‘world champion’

Clubs like Espanyol and Sabadell, mainly, also Deportivo, where he played a campaign, are in mourning for the death of Luis Muñoz Grau (1935), who was a footballer in the 1950s and 1960s. So is Spanish football, since the midfielder raised in the lower categories of Sabadell He was one of the protagonists of the 1954 Youth World Cup that crowned Spain as the best team in the world, a decoration that was accepted in European football despite the fact that the tournament did not have that category.

Munoz was one of the Joanet, Simó, Olivella (captain), Arriola, Botana, Álvarez, Martín, Cela, Allende and Polo. The 11 players who played in the final against East Germany captained by a very young Uwe Seeler, scorer of two goals in a final that was resolved with a draw (2-2) after extra time and in which Spain was crowned after averaging the best goal difference after the first phase, as dictated by the regulation.

The German press, as reflected in the Mundo Deportivo chronicle of the time, highlights the good performance of the player from Sabadell. “The best Spanish player was Muñoz, whose plays showed true mastery”, comments the newspaper referring to the German magazine ‘Der Kicker’. That tournament catapulted Muñoz, who began an extensive career in the First Division, although he later failed to go with the absolute.

He played two campaigns in Second with Sabadell, 45 games and 18 goals. That earned him so that Espanyol launched for him. With the perico team he played 175 official matches, he played a Copa del Rey final, achieved relegation and promotion and also reached the quarterfinals of the Fairs Cup. He lived through years of changes in the parakeet club, played a season at Deportivo de la Coruña and returned to his Sabadell to continue making history.

He played five campaigns in the club of his life and was the captain of the historic 1969-70 season, the campaign of his retirement, in Sabadell’s only European games against Bruges. Luis Muñoz is considered one of the great players in the history of the Vallesan team and one of those intrepid players raised after the Civil War who managed to make history with that youth in 1954 and reach the elite. Rest in peace.