Enrique Saura

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Saura and the second or maternal family name is Gil.

Enrique Saura
Personal information
Full name Enrique Saura Gil
Date of birth (1954-08-02) 2 August 1954
Place of birth Onda, Spain
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1969–1972 Onda
1972–1974 Castellón
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1974–1975 Castellón 34 (6)
1975–1985 Valencia 306 (37)
1985–1988 Castellón 108 (7)
1988–1992 Onda
Total 448+ (50+)
International career
1976 Spain amateur 2 (0)
1980–1981 Spain B 3 (0)
1978–1982 Spain 23 (4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Enrique Saura Gil (born 2 August 1954) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

He represented mainly Castellón and Valencia, appearing in 400 official games with the latter club over ten seasons and winning three major titles.[1]

Saura was part of the Spain squads at the 1982 World Cup and Euro 1980.

Club career

Saura was born in Onda, Province of Castellón, Valencian Community. During his career, he played exclusively in his native region: after starting at CD Castellón he signed with local giants Valencia CF, where he would be an undisputed starter throughout his ten-year spell as well as captain, helping the side to win three titles in one year, most notably the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup, while he added 37 goals in La Liga and 57 in all competitions.[2][3][4]

After leaving Valencia when his contract was not renewed, the 31-year-old Saura returned to Castellón for a further three Segunda División seasons.[3] He then moved to amateurs CD Onda, his very first youth club, where he retired at the age of 37.[5]

International career

Saura earned 23 caps for the Spain national team, the first coming on 8 November 1978 in a friendly against France.[6] During Valencia's stellar 1979–80 he began being a regular for his country, and was called up for the UEFA Euro 1980 and the 1982 FIFA World Cup tournaments;[5] in the latter, he scored one of his four international goals, netting in a 2–1 win over Yugoslavia after he had been on the pitch of a familiar Estadio Luis Casanova for only three minutes.[7]

Saura also represented Spain at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, as the nation was eliminated in the first round.[8]

Career statistics

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Saura goal.
List of international goals scored by Enrique Saura[9]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 9 December 1979 Trisiron, Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus 3–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
2 21 May 1980 Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark  Denmark 1–0 2–2 Friendly
3 14 October 1981 Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain  Luxembourg 2–0 3–0 Friendly
4 20 June 1982 Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain  Yugoslavia 2–1 2–1 1982 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Valencia

References

  1. ^ "Saura: "Seguro que Gayà supera mis 400 partidos con el Valencia CF. Es un gran jugador y lo da todo por el club"" [Saura: "I'm sure Gayà will surpass my 400 games with Valencia CF. He's a great player and he gives everything for the club"] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. 22 October 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  2. ^ "Tal día como hoy… Enrique Saura marcó su último gol y dijo adiós a 10 intensas temporadas" [On a day like today… Enrique Saura scored his last goal and said goodbye to 10 intense seasons] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e Pardo, Pau (2 August 2022). "Enrique Saura: Una leyenda en blanco y negro" [Enrique Saura: A legend in white and black]. Super Deporte (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  4. ^ "El debut de Saura con el Valencia en días históricos" [Saura's debut with Valencia in historic days]. Levante-EMV (in Spanish). 15 November 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  5. ^ a b "Onda prepara el montaje de la exposición sobre el mítico jugador Enrique Saura de la mano del Valencia CF" [Onda is preparing to set up exhibition about the legendary player Enrique Saura in collaboration with Valencia CF] (in Spanish). Onda City Hall. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  6. ^ Calero, Toni (9 September 2018). "Saura: «Nunca podré renegar del fútbol; jugué con el Valencia y eso es muy grande»" [Saura: "I will never turn my back on football; I played with Valencia and those are bigger words"]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  7. ^ Ortego, Enrique (23 March 2025). "Cuando Mestalla era el Wembley de la selección: 12 kilómetros de quedadas, un Mundial 82 nefasto y trampolín hacia el oro olímpico de Barcelona 92" [When Mestalla was the Wembley of the national team: 12 kilometers of get-togethers, a disastrous 82 World Cup and a springboard to the Olympic gold of Barcelona 92] (in Spanish). Relevo. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  8. ^ "Generación Sub-21: Los olímpicos de Kubala" [Under-21 generation: Kubala's Olympians] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  9. ^ Enrique Saura at EU-Football.info (archive)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.