Pedro Areso

Pedro Pablo Areso Aramburu (29 June 1911 – 1 December 2002) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender for Real Betis and FC Barcelona in Spain,  and for Tigre and River Plate in Argentina. He also played for the Spanish national team on three occasions in 1935.

As a manager, he took over teams in Spain, Portugal, Venezuela, and Chile, including RCD Espanyol in 1963–64.

Playing career
Pedro Areso was born on 29 June 1911 in Ordizia, Gipuzkoa. After playing for a few years in his hometown teams, Villafranca de Oria, and then Barakaldo CF, Areso moved to Tolosa, where he played for Tolosa CF in the 1928–29 season. There, he stood out as a great defender and thus caught the attention of the many scouts who were fishing in the Basque youth academy in those years, with Real Murcia acquiring his services in the summer of 1930, along with his partner in the Tolosa defense Gabriel Andonegui.

Areso was signed by Real Betis in October 1932, making his debut a few days later, on 12 October, in the 1932–33 Mancomunado Centro-Sur regional championship against CD Nacional de Madrid at the El Parral field in Madrid. He adapted to the Betis defense very quickly, becoming an undisputed starter and thus playing in all of the remaining official matches of the season. He was fast and forceful and always stood out for his maturity and understanding of the game. The following year, goalkeeper Joaquín Urquiaga and defender Serafín Aedo joined Betis, thus forming the famous defensive triplet that was the basis of Betis' historic league title in 1934–35, conceding a mere 7 goals in the entire tournament. In his 3 seasons at Betis, Areso played a total of 52 League games, 16 in the Copa del Rey, 26 in the Joint Regional Championship, 2 in the Andalusia Cup and 14 friendly matches.

In the summer of 1935, Areso was the star signing of FC Barcelona, where he joined coach Patrick O'Connell, but the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 put a premature end to his career at Barça. During his short time there, the central defender became known in Barcelona as l'Stop.

During the civil war, Areso played for several teams in Argentina and Venezuela, such as Tigre (1938), Racing de Avellaneda (1939–40), River Plate (1941), C.D. Vasco (1942–45) before returning to Spanish football in 1945, where he played a season for both Racing de Santander and Gimnástica Burgalesa, finishing his career with his hometown team. In his last years, he combined the position of footballer and coach.

International career
On 24 January 1935, Areso made his debut with the Spanish national team in a friendly match against France at the Chamartín, playing in defense alongside his club teammate Aedo, and together they kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 win. Never before and never since have two Betis players debuted together in the national team in the same match. He went on to play a further two matches for Spain, both being friendlies in 1935, against Portugal in Lisbon (3–3) and then Germany in Cologne (1–2).

On 1 January 1936, Areso earned his first and only international cap for the Catalan national team in a match against Andalusia at the Nervión in Seville, featuring in defense alongside Ramón Zabalo in a 1–5 loss.

During the Civil War, Areso and Aedo were part of the Basque Country national team that was organized by the Basque government of José Antonio Aguirre to play various friendly matches in Europe and later in America. After the end of the tour, he settled in Argentina and returned to Spain in 1945, while Aedo stayed forever in Mexico.

Managerial career
Areso began his managerial career at the helm of Racing de Santander in 1946, at the age of 35. He then took charge of Gimnástica Burgalesa in the Tercera División, replacing Florentino Florenza. He then moved to neighboring Portugal, to take charge of Atlético de Portugal, a first division team that was in a delicate situation, but Areso managed to put together a homogeneous, magnificent team, which rose to third place, so he received tempting offers from Benfica and Belenenses, but Atlético did not let him leave.

After Portugal, Areso went on to coach teams in Venezuela and Chile. In the later, he guided La Serena to the 1961 Copa Chile. In 1963, he was hired by RCD Espanyol as a technical director, where he formed a tandem with Alejandro Scopelli, but due to poor results he did not even finish the 1963–64 season.

Later life and death
Areso was a central character in the Basque novel Ez dadila eguzkia sartu (Let not the sun go down).

Areso died on 1 December 2002, at the age of 91.