The first foreign players in the history of Real Sporting

108 football players foreign He has had Sporting Gijon throughout its history. The last one, end Murilo, coming from Sporting Braga. this list, is led Argentina national football players. Until 26 players from the South American country signed with the first team sportinguista.

But the first was Cuba, Manuel Chorens, a benchmark in the history of football in the Caribbean country whose signing was a real bluff since it went unnoticed by the gijonés set. Prior to the arrival of international defense Cuban, Sporting had three players born outside Spain: Brothers Conrado Y Loyola Pineda (Philippines) Y Manuel Muniz (Cuba), but in these cases the three players were available only Spanish nationality.

At the start of the season 1933-34 the Sporting It has a very high debt, almost 200.000 pesetas, to help cover the budget of the season, the so-called G.A.S. (Assistant Sporting Group) in which components contribute twenty thousand pesetas pass each. To such an extent the situation is critical, the club creates a technical committee consisting of three illustrious former players (Manolo Meana Vallina, which also happens to be the first coach Computer-, Emilio Morán García Vigil and Baldomero Bango) in order to seek cheap signings that could pay Sporting and find among the youth of the youth players eligible to play matches with the first team.

Existing box, well, did not allow for much and these economic shortcomings prevented Sporting sign that year, except for the late arrival of nationalized Cuban Galician Corens, He not even get to make debut nor minimally adapt to the club. Manuel Chorens, Born in La Coruna, but I settled in Cuba since early childhood, He got to play with the Cuban team World France 1938 -the only championship of the world contested the Caribbean country- serving as a captain in the three games that played.

It was left back and was international in Cuba in thirty-two times. The Spanish-Cuban arrived in Gijon, from Havana, the 31 of January of 1934 in the transatlantic Christopher Columbus, signed for Sporting the same day of arrival. He signed the contract that same day and on the same ship that brought him, engaging with gijoneses for the remainder of season.

Things did not go as expected and in March of that year 1934 left the club without having played a single minute and the controversy generated by some unfortunate words in an interview with sports daily As in accusing the Atletico coach, Manolo Meana, take precedence, purely for reasons of friendship and non-sport, on the other side of the computer Lefty: Perico Pena. further, He manifested not feel comfortable at the club to be in the locker room the "cliques" closed which made it impossible integration.

After these unfortunate statements, President Pedro Garnung terminated his contract and one month later arrival returned to their country of origin. Before his departure, still had time to volunteer (unsuccessfully) to the maximum rival of the team sportinguista: the Real Oviedo. After his failure in Gijon he fichando returned to Cuba again for the Centro Gallego Deportivo de La Habana, his club of origin, He is contesting the Cuban semiprofessional league, in which the team together "Galician" Juventud Asturiana with were the two biggest clubs in the island, Both teams won eight times the Cuba National Championships.

Corens He landed in Spain as a result of the serious economic problems affecting, As we discussed, Sporting greatly during this period. In that course 1933-34 players were available only fifteen professionals (Sixteen if you include the short stay of the Cuban defense) and the rest of the workforce was covered with players from teams affiliated to reach twenty-five who formed the squad that season. Nine players subsidiaries, so, had option to play a game that course with the first team, in a season saved by the existing quarry rojiblanca, finishing sixth Second Division, category in which was winning the Sevilla F.C., which he rose along with the Atletico Madrid, Second classified, to the top flight of Spanish football.

It was not until the year 1950-51 in which a foreigner would play at Sporting, was the Argentine Oscar Garro, from the Lugo, where he had arrived on loan from Celta Vigo. He spent two seasons at Sporting, where he went on to score the goal hundredth of the gijonés club in Second Division. After a stint in Gijon, he signed for Porto and later by the Espinho. After his Portuguese experience, He signed by the Turkish side of the Istambulspor, He is the first Argentine player to play professional football in Turkish (specifically, League in Istanbul). After his retirement, he settled in Spain.

THE SPORTING Russian

It took many years for, slowly, He was allowing the arrival of foreign players to the Spanish League. First were two per team, shortly after three, Finally, with the arrival of the famous ‘Ley Bosman’ mid-year 90, any player with a European passport was considered Spanish.

Precisely in that decade of 90 They came to the Real Sporting a handful of Russian players with very uneven performance.

There were three Russian players who performed well with the red and white shirt: Igor Lediakhov, Yuri Nikiforov y Dimitri Cheryshev. First, centracampista was a lot of quality who came to stay at El Molinon 8 years (since 1994 a 2002). The second, one of the best plants in the time, for his country, that was 2 seasons in Gijon. By last, Cheryshev, a very fast and skilful striker who achieved important goals in their 5 years sportinguista. In fact, one of them, in the field of Betis, It was key to achieving permanence.