EMILIO BUTRAGUEÑO

Nicknamed "the Vulture", Spanish striker Emilio Butragueño was one of the most prolific strikers in world football through the 1980s. He enjoyed great success at club level with Real Madrid but was unable to inspire Spain's perenially underachieving national team to success in major championships.

Having started his career with Real Madrid reserve side Castilla in 1982, Butragueño moved on to the first team a year later and was with the club through a period of domestic dominance in the second half of the 1980s. His first major honour came in 1985 when Real won the U.E.F.A. Cup, and they held on to the trophy a year later as well as winning the Spanish League title. Having made his international debut in the qualifying competition, Butragueño led Spain's attack in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Having scored one goal in the group games, he hit four in a 5-1 second round win over Denmark but could not prevent a penalty shoot-out defeat in the quarter-final at the hands of Belgium. Real's domestic dominance saw Butragueño win four more league championship medals by 1990, as the team won five titles in a row, also adding the Spanish Cup in 1989.

Butragueño played in an unsuccessful European Championship for Spain in 1988, where he scored once in three games as Spain went out in the group stage. Two years later, he captained the team in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where they were knocked out in the second round. Butragueño played more defensively and did not score any goals.

Having won a second Spanish Cup in 1993 and a sixth league title two years later, Butragueño left Real in 1995 and moved to Mexico, where he signed for Atlético Celaya. The team narrowly missed out on the Mexican championship in his first season, but that was the closest he would get to winning a major honour in Mexico. He spent three years with Celaya before ending his playing career in 1998, aged 35. Following his retirement, Butragueño returned to Real Madrid where he took a job as a Director of Football.