The first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey 86-87 in between Osasuna and real Madrid It was marked by a sad event that occurred on the same day. The Whites won 2-1 in a match that should not have been played due to the tragic death of the famous referee appointed to officiate it.
On February 25, 1987, the Gipuzkoan referee Emilio Carlos Guruceta Muro He died at the age of 45 in a terrible traffic accident with one of his line judges, Eduardo Vidal Torres time before that Osasuna-Real Madrid of the KO tournament.
The fatal accident occurred at 1:30 pm at kilometer 150 of A-2 Barcelona-Zaragoza motorwayin the municipal term of Fraga (Huesca)when skating on asphalt wet by heavy rain bmwwho drove himself gurucetaand ride in the back of a truck ebro that he is performing maintenance works on the said road. Guruceta and Vidal died on the spot, while the second linesman, Antonio Coves AntonHe sustained serious injuries, from which he recovered.
That day there will be misunderstanding Osasuna-Real Madrid Cup, at half past nine in the evening, and the designated arbitrator is guruceta, the most famous referee at the time. The Gipuzkoan came to this event from Barcelona, where he stayed for professional reasons. The last match of the Basque braid, just a few days before, was a Spanish-Mallorca in Sarria.
Guruceta, who entered the arbitration like a storm (he rose from Third to First in three seasons and at the age of 28 he is already among the best), had another traffic accidenton June 24, 1978, where he was seriously injured when his car collided with another, killing its occupant, in the Leonese town of Mansilla of Mules.
As incredible as it may seem, the trustee is meeting the conscious between rojillos and meringues are played. The leaders of Spanish Football Federation at that time they had no reflexes or sensitivity, and they were called Jose Donato Pes Perez, of Aragonese College and residing in Zaragoza, to intercede in the place of the late Guruceta. The easiest solution was sought because of geographical proximity.
After that game 36 years ago, Pes Pérez declared that “Obviously, I’m not going for arbitration, Because of the circumstances. They will understand what my mood is. But one has to assume the situation and I think I acted like any other fellow would. I insisted that the applause of the Navarrese fans moved me because they were destined for Guruceta…”.
For his part, the then president of Real Madrid, Ramon Mendoza He was against arguing that match in Pamplona that no one wanted to play. “We found ourselves forced, one and another. Such a tragic event is more than ninety minutes of football,” he said with good reason from the world.
The meeting, with its key figures wearing black bracelets as a sign of mourning, was held in a strange atmosphere at first but tense afterwards, as it used to be in all the visits of real Madrid in The Conscious During this time, many things were thrown to the ground. Buyo and Hugo Sanchez They need help from caregivers. The match ended 1-2, with goals from the meringues Jorge Valdano and Hugo Sanchezand the rojillo Patxi Rípodas.
In return, held on March 11, 1987 at Santiago Bernabeubefore nearly 30,000 spectators in the stands, the real Madrid the tie ended with a conclusive 4-1, with a brace from gordillo and targets of Hugo Sanchez and santillana. On the Navarrese side he scored again Rips.
Although he was born in San Sebastián, guruceta is attached to Murciano College, because he moved his address to Santa Pola (Alicante). In Elche he had a business, Guruceta Sports, dedicated to both footwear and sportswear. your products to Catalonia is sold under the name of ‘Koan-Sport’, because of the suspicion that his surname is not exactly ‘commercial’ in some sectors of Catalan sport.
And it was June 6, 1970, guruceta was the great opponent in a controversial quarterfinal match of Generalissimo Cup within Camp Nouwhere he awarded punishment after violation of Rife (Barca) in Velázquez (Real Madrid) make two meters out of place. A scandalous error that angered the culé fans, to the point that the game ended in the 85th minute due to throwing pads and storming the pitch. Guruceta was sentenced to a six-month suspension for causing “disruption to public order” and the FC Barcelona he was fired for 14 seasons.
Beyond that phase that marked his career, the truth is that Guruceta is one of the most recognized referees in Spain and around the world. Upon his death, many honors were received, namely Guruceta Trophywhich is awarded annually to the best referee of the season in First divisionthe most relevant.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
