Leonel Sánchez


Leonel Guillermo Sánchez Lineros is a retired Chilean professional footballer who played as a striker on the left wing.
Regarded as one of Chile's most important players, Sánchez held the record for most games played for Chile with 85 caps and 27 goals between 1955 and 1968.

Career

Leonel Sanchez was the son of a professional boxer.
Sanchez studied at República Argentina, a prestigious public primary school of Santiago; and at Manuel Barros Borgoño, a traditional public secondary school of the capital.
He played at left midfield for over 20 years between 1953 and 1973. 17 of those 20 were for Universidad de Chile, where he was the icon of the Ballet Azul, a team that won 6 national championships between 1959 and 1969.
Four of his 24 international goals were at the 1962 World Cup on home soil, where he was the top scorer along with five other players as Chile finished the tournament in third place. In that World Cup he is also remembered for his disputes with several Italian players in the infamous Chile – Italy match in the first round: he knocked out the Italian player Mario David with a punch in an altercation after being fouled, and was subsequently kicked in head by David a few minutes later, resulting in the Italian defender's sending off. Sánchez later also broke Humberto Maschio's nose with a left hook; Chile won the match 2–0. Because of his role in the match, later dubbed the "Battle of Santiago", in 2007, The Times placed Sánchez at number 6 in their list of the 50 hardest footballers in history.
Sánchez remained in Universidad de Chile, although he received numerous offers from well known European clubs such as A.C. Milan. In 1969, after a contract rule was settled, Universidad de Chile was forced to sell him. He finished his career playing for different Chilean clubs such as Colo-Colo, Palestino and Ferroviarios.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Participation in the World Cup

Honours

Club

; Universidad de Chile
; Colo-Colo