Miguel Reina

Miguel Reina Santos (born 21 January 1946) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

For the Mexican film director, see Miguel A. Reina.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Reina and the second or maternal family name is Santos.

Miguel Reina
Personal information
Full name Miguel Reina Santos
Date of birth (1946-01-21) 21 January 1946
Place of birth Córdoba, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Candelaria
Santiago
Córdoba
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1964–1966 Córdoba 46 (0)
1966–1973 Barcelona 111 (0)
1973–1980 Atlético Madrid 155 (0)
Total 312 (0)
National team
1964 Spain U18 2 (0)
1967 Spain U23 2 (0)
1965 Spain amateur 2 (0)
1969–1973 Spain 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He played 312 La Liga matches over 16 seasons, mainly in representation of Barcelona and Atlético Madrid (seven years apiece), winning six major titles combined.

Club career

Born in Córdoba, Andalusia, Reina finished his development with local Córdoba CF. He made his La Liga debut on 11 October 1964 in a 2–0 home win against Elche CF, aged only 18, and finished his first season with 26 appearances as his team ranked in fifth position.

In the 1966 off-season Reina joined FC Barcelona, appearing in only four league games in his first three years combined as he acted as understudy to both José Manuel Pesudo and Salvador Sadurní. From 1969–70 onwards he became first-choice, going on to win his second Copa del Rey with the Catalans – the first as an active member – and adding the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for the 1972–73 campaign (all 34 matches played for the runners-up and only 21 goals conceded, posting a record of 824 minutes without a goal which would last until 1 November 2011 when he was surpassed by Víctor Valdés).[1]

Aged 27, Reina left Barça and signed for Atlético Madrid, rarely missing a game in his first five seasons and winning the 1977 national championship – his only in the competition. He also reached the final of the 1974 European Cup against FC Bayern Munich at the Heysel Stadium in Belgium: after 90 minutes the match was tied 0–0 and, in the 114th minute, Luis Aragonés scored for the Colchoneros, but Reina let in a long-range shot with just seconds to go and the Spaniards went on to lose the replay 0–4.[2]

From 1978 to 1980, Reina only managed to be third-choice at Atlético, and retired at the age of 34 with nearly 450 official appearances to his credit. He held the record for the fastest goalkeeper to achieved 100 clean sheets in La Liga – a feat which he accomplished in 222 appearances – until it was broken by Jan Oblak in 2020, who achieved the milestone in only 182 appearances.[3]

International career

Reina earned five caps for Spain, in a period of three and a half years. His debut came on 15 October 1969 in a 6–0 win against Finland for the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, played at La Línea de la Concepción.[4]

Previously, Reina was selected by manager José Villalonga for his 1966 World Cup squad in England, remaining on the bench for the entire tournament.

Personal life

Reina's son, Pepe, was also a footballer and a goalkeeper. He too played for Barcelona and Spain, also representing Liverpool for several years.[5]

In the 1970–71 season, Reina was only played by English coach Vic Buckingham away from the Camp Nou, as the player was consistently booed by his own fans after a poor performance against FC Dynamo Moscow.[6]

Honours

Club

Barcelona

Atlético Madrid

International

Spain U18

Individual

References
  1. Víctor Valdés breaks Miguel Reina's unbeaten record; FC Barcelona, 1 November 2011
  2. Miguel Reina, volando en el área (Miguel Reina, flying in the box); ABC, 30 September 2009 (in Spanish)
  3. Suárez, Isaac; Munday, Billy (18 June 2020). "Oblak becomes a LaLiga legend". MARCA. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. 6–0: Despertó el fútbol de ataque español (6–0: Spanish attacking football awoke); Mundo Deportivo, 16 October 1969 (in Spanish)
  5. Long to Reina over us Archived 7 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine; El Centrocampista, 23 November 2011
  6. Reina: «Jugar en Chipre sería un paso importante para mí (Reina: «To play in Cyprus would be an important step for me); Mundo Deportivo, 1 May 1971 (in Spanish)
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