Spain and Real Madrid mourning Betancort

Spanish football is mourning the death of former Real Madrid CF goalkeeper Antonio Betancort, who passed away on Sunday aged 78.

Signing from his boyhood club UD Las Palmas in 1961, Betancort went on to play for the Merengues for the best part of a decade, contesting 177 competitive matches and winning six Liga titles, two Spanish domestic cups and the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1965/66. He left Madrid in 1971, seeing out the remainder of his career with Las Palmas. He also made two appearances for the Spanish national team, both in 1966 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

A two-time winner of the prestigious Zamora Trophy for goalkeepers in Spain, Betancort will be remembered above all for his role in helping Madrid win their sixth European Cup. He featured in every match until the semi-finals, playing through pain after tearing a muscle in the first leg against FC Internazionale Milano. As a result, he missed the second leg and the final win against FK Partizan. "Back then there was no substitute goalkeeper so I had to carry on playing," he later recalled. "But I paid a high price because I couldn't play in the final."

Tonight the Santiago Bernabéu will mark Betancort's passing with a minute's silence before Madrid's meeting with Levante UD, and the Madrid players will also wear black armbands in tribute to the custodian.