Barcelona and Spain mourning Ramallets passing
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
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Former FC Barcelona goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets, who played 473 times for the club between 1946 and 1961 and won 35 caps for Spain, has died at the age of 89.
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Legendary FC Barcelona goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets has passed away at the age of 89.
Known as 'The Cat with Wings', the former Barcelona No1 made 473 appearances for the Catalan giants between 1946 and 1961, winning six Liga titles and the Copa del Rey on five occasions.
Ramallets also earned 35 Spain caps and was in the squad that finished fourth at the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. "He had a very refined style and was elegant and assured between the posts, as well as being agile and extremely mobile," said former team-mate Josep Seguer.
The keeper was part of Barça's famous 1951/52 'five cup' team that triumphed in the Liga, Copa del Rey, Copa Latina, Copa Eva Duarte and Copa Martini-Rossi. Having lost to SL Benfica in the 1961 European Champion Clubs' Cup final in Berne, Ramallets decided to hang up his gloves during the following campaign.
"I was a bit fat and never liked running as a kid," Ramallets explained at one point in his career. "One day when a few friends and I decided to play football in our neighbourhood everyone was agreed 'this boy who doesn't want to run should go in goal. He's also big so he'll cover the goal well.'"
