The name of César, affectionately known by the fans as El Pelucas due to his early baldness, was heard again recently because his scoring record at Barça (230 goals between 1942 and 1955) had survived until Messi . He was a legendary center forward, elegant and a scorer, the axis of that attack that Serrat sang.
Once he had left Barça, he renewed his celebrity by promoting Elche in two seasons, from Third to First, as a player-coach. Never before had Elche been in First Division. That was so popular that Barça fans of the time still share their passion with the one they feel for Elche.
Then he coached Zaragoza. He was developing the Los Magnأficos team and took them to their first Cup final, in 1963, against Barcelona. Before the game he was offered to train his former club when the summer returned. “I would return to the Barأ§a even if I were a janitor,†he said. The club suffered a post-Helenio Herrera trauma on the bench, where two legends had successively played, José Gonzalvo and Kubala. Barcelona won the final and in Zaragoza many blamed Cأ©sar.
His first year was not the height of happiness, as it ended in a blank, but it turned out decent: runners-up in the League, four points behind Madrid, and a Cup semi-finalist against Zaragoza, precisely. In the Cup Winners’ Cup they fell to a powerhouse, Uwe Seeler’s Hamburg.
That is, neither good nor bad. But his spirit was appreciated, he seemed to be carrying out a good renovation (the Sadurnأ, Eladio, Fustأ©, Zaldأ؛a entered, who would be joined that year by Rifأ© and Zaballa…) and he continued. For 64-65 he would have Seminario, a great Paraguayan striker who finally arrived at Barcelona after a long dispute with Zaragoza over a double contract that led him to play for a year at Sporting de Portugal. Seminario had been top scorer with the Aragonese in 61-62.
Barcelona started off poorly: two wins at home and two losses away. On October 11, 1964, the same day as the opening of the Tokyo Games, it was his turn to visit Levante at the now-defunct Vallejo field. Levante had one draw and three defeats and had not yet scored a goal. For Barcelona it seemed like an easy way out. In addition, they had just eliminated Fiorentina from the Fairs Cup, with a 0-2 there, both from Seminary.
Levante came out with Fernأ،ndez; Victoriero, Gatell, Calpe; Vidal, Carlos; Domأnguez, Maraأ±أ³n, Torrents, Wanderley and Serafأn. For Barcelona, who wore white, which they often used as a second color then, they played Sadurnأ; Foncho, Olivella, Eladio; Vergأ©s, Torrents; Zaballa, Pereda, Seminario, Fustأ© and Re. Almost all names whose prestige endures in memory.
It was a culأ© debacle. Levante opened the scoring in the 7th minute; In the 32nd minute things were already 3-0. That’s how they reached the break and the return, the same thing: in the 60th minute the fifth had fallen. Shortly after, Fustأ© scored from a penalty. Overall, 5-1. The bomb of the day.
The president, Llaudet, attended the game. When he returned to the hotel ready to demand explanations, he found no one. Waited… hours. Everyone dined out, many extended the night. He returned enraged and after a board meeting the club issued this note on Tuesday: “As a consequence of the result of the match played last Sunday against UD Levante, and knowing the details of the poor display of play offered by our team, I totally disagree. With the professional category of its members, with the prestige of our entity and with the respect deserved by its associates and its mass of supporters, the strong financial sanction is imposed on the coach and the players who performed in the match in question. .
The fine was 25,000 pesetas for each player, and 50,000 for Cأ©sar. A severe amount for the time. César was upset that the sanction had been made public without listening to him: “I trust that those who made the agreement will be kind enough to communicate it to me verbally or in writing, and then I believe that I will have the option of exposing my point of viewâ€.
Resignedأ³. He was succeeded by Sasot, who coached Condal, the reserve team. Barça finished the League 15 points behind Madrid, in the Fairs Cup they lost to modest Strasbourg and in the Cup, again against Zaragoza, with a double defeat, 6-4 and 0-1. For his part, on January 17, 1965, César signed for Mallorca, in the Second Division, which he would promote to the First Division.
