Marañón (footballer)

Marañón
	Marañón in 1970
Personal information
Full name	Rafael Carlos Pérez González
Date of birth	23 July 1948 (age 76)
Place of birth	Olite, Spain
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1966–1967	Oberena
1967–1968	Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years	Team
1968–1974	Real Madrid
1968–1969	→ Ontinyent (loan)
1969–1970	→ Sporting Gijón (loan)
1974–1983	Espanyol
1983–1986	Sabadell
Total
International career
1977–1978	Spain
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rafael Carlos Pérez González (born 23 July 1948), known as Marañón, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker.

Even though he started professionally at Real Madrid, his career was mainly associated with Espanyol. Over the course of 13 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 308 games and 116 goals.^[1]

Marañón appeared with Spain at the 1978 World Cup.

Club career

Born in Olite, Navarre, Marañón arrived in the Real Madrid youth system at the age of 19, making his professional debuts with Ontinyent CF in Segunda División, on loan (a similar move occurred in the following season with Sporting de Gijón). He joined Real's first team permanently in 1970, but never imposed himself at the club during his four-year spell, appearing in a maximum of 19 La Liga games in the 1973–74 campaign.

Marañón's sporting fate changed in 1974, as he signed with RCD Espanyol. After two slow seasons he would never score in single digits again, also playing European competition with the Catalans, gaining captaincy and reaching the national side.

Marañón retired in 1986 at nearly 38, after three years with Espanyol neighbours CE Sabadell FC, helping them promote to the second level in his first. He finished his career as the former's top scorer in the top division, with a total of 111 goals; his record would stand for 24 years until another club legend, Raúl Tamudo, broke it in 2007 during a 2–2 away draw against FC Barcelona.^[2]

International career

Capping off his best season at Espanyol – 22 goals, good enough for joint-second behind Valencia CF's Mario Kempes, as the team nearly qualified for Europe – Marañón made his debut for Spain, appearing in a 1–1 friendly with Hungary in Alicante on 27 March 1977. Scored a goal (direct from the corner) against Mexico on the 26th April 1978, in a 2-0 win in Granada. Subsequently, he was picked for the squad for the 1978 FIFA World Cup but did not play in the finals, earning a total of four caps in roughly one year.