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with Real Madrid -Sánchez garnered four consecutive Pichichi trophies, scoring 207 goals in 283 games. He scored 27 or more goals in four consecutive seasons between 1986 and 1990, including 38 goals in the 1989-90 season, tying the single-season record set in 1951 by Telmo Zarra and earning the European Golden Boot award to the best scorer in Europe. Overall, he scored 23 goals in 45 European Cup games.
After five successful seasons in Mexico, with 99 goals to his name, Sánchez drew the attention of several Spanish sides, and signed with Atlético Madrid in 1981. He turned down an offer to play for Arsenal FC, a prominent English soccer team. It took him a while to find his feet in La Liga, but by the 1984-85 season he was scoring regularly with a team that won the Copa del Rey, finished in second place in the Spanish League and won the Spanish Super Copa. That year Hugo also won his first Pichichi trophy for being the most prolific scorer in the league.
At the high-point of his career, he signed for Real Madrid in 1985 and played with players such as Camacho, Butragueño, Gordillo, Valdano and Míchel. This team won five consecutive league titles (from 1985-86 to 1989-90), the Copa del Rey in 1989, and the UEFA Cup in 1986. During those five years, Sánchez garnered four consecutive Pichichi trophies, scoring 207 goals in 283 games. He scored 27 or more goals in four consecutive seasons between 1986 and 1990, including 38 goals in the 1989-90 season, tying the single-season record set in 1951 by Telmo Zarra and earning the European Golden Boot award to the best scorer in Europe. Overall, he scored 23 goals in 45 European Cup games.
In 1990, Sánchez returned to his native Mexico for a season, before playing for a variety of clubs in Spain, Austria and the USA (he played for the Dallas Burn in the inaugural year of Major League Soccer, becoming one of two people, along with Roy Wegerle, to play outdoor soccer in both the NASL and MLS). He finished his career playing for Atlético Celaya with Butragueño and Míchel, his old colleagues from Real Madrid.
[edit] National Team International career
In comparison to his "domestic" club success, Sánchez did not have a successful international career with the Mexico national team. He played 60 matches and scored 29 goals for the Mexican national team, but his years as a Mexican international coincided with a difficult period for the nation's football. Mexico did not participate in the World Cups of 1982 and 1990, in which Sánchez would have most likely been part of the Mexican squad. He scored one goal in eight presentations in the three World Cups in which he competed and was never selected to the "Best XI" World Cup squads. Sánchez' brash personality is often cited as the reason why he did not play in the 1994 World Cup, purportedly as a result of internecine frictions between Hugo and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF).[citation needed]
[edit] Retirement
Sánchez retired from Spanish football on May 29, 1997, playing with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium - the stadium that witnessed most of his glory throughout his career. He scored a hat trick in the 4-1 victory over Paris St. Germain. His last official game was in the 1998 World Cup preliminaries where he just touched the ball as a symbolism of his retirement.
[edit] Legacy
His trademark was to perform a celebratory somersault after each goal he scored, honouring his sister, who was a gymnast and participated in the Montreal Olympics.[2] He is also known for acrobatic goals, some involving his trademark windmill kick, a product of his own early training in gymnastics.[citation needed] To date, he has been the most successful Mexican soccer player to have played in Europe, in terms of years played, goalscoring, and achievements.
For many Mexicans, he is a symbol of national pride. Sánchez' life has also generated plenty of anecdotes. One such anecdote involves an instance when Sánchez was an infant, and while being carried by his father, the older Sánchez proclaimed to a friend that "this boy will go on to become the greatest Mexican football player of all time." While factually questionable, such stories serve to further the ex-soccer player's significance as a cultural icon.
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