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The Pichichi is one of the most prestigious awards a footballer playing in the top flight of Spanish football can receive. Named after the legendary Athletic Bilbao player Rafael Moreno also known as Pichichi, the award is given to the player with the highest goal tally in the La Liga at the end of a given season.
The honour has been existent for a long time and has a lot of history attached to it. So here is what makes the Pichichi award more unique than a normal golden boot award.
Who is Pichichi?
Rafael Moreno born on May 23, 1892 in Bilbao and showed immense talent in football from a very young age. His love for the sport was so great that he went on to play as a striker for his hometown club, Athletic Bilbao, in 1911.
The player, being one of the shortest in the club at the time, was given the nickname “Pichichi” (Little Duck) by his friends. Similar to how Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech is identified with his black headgear, Pichichi was also recognized on the pitch as he was usually seen playing with a white headgear.
During his time at the club, he helped the team from the Basque country win four Copa del Rey finals with three of them coming back to back between 1914 to 1916. His most famous final was the one against RCD Espanyol in 1915, where he helped the team from the Basque country win 5-0 after scoring a hat-trick.
The player was also part of the first Spanish national team that took part in the 1920 Olympic games in Antwerp, where they won a silver medal.
His loyalty to the club was so great that he earned the title of being a one-club man after he finished his career with the club in 1921. Although he died at a young age of 29 after falling victim to typhus, his exploits at Athletic Bilbao left a mark in the history of football in Spain.
Selection process of the winner
The award, which is synonymous to the Golden Boot, was named the Pichichi award by Spanish newspaper Marca in 1953. While the winner of the award for the top scorer in the league is generally decided by the footballing authority of the country, the Pichichi award is handed out by the Marca.
Despite the fact that the award has been handed out every year since the incpetion of the La Liga in 1929, it was only in 1953 that it was called the Pichichi. Thus even though Paco Bienzobas, who played for Real Sociedad, won the top scorer award in 1929, he was not the first player to win the Pichichi.
The goal tally of Marca can differ from the official tally, as the award is based on the editor's personal subjective criteria on who scored. One such occasion was in the 2010/11 season, where Liga de Futbol Profesional claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo had scored 40 goals, while Marca claimed that it was in fact 41.
The inconsistency came due to a goal that was scored by the Portuguese winger during a match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad on 18 September 2010, when his powerful free-kick went into the back of the net after taking a slight deflection off Pepe’s back.
Notable players to have won the award
The Pichichi has been won by several legends of football over the years. While Ronaldo and Messi have been dominating the award in recent times, this is one such trophy where neither of them have broken any record.
Ironically, the player who has the record for winning the award the most number of times is Athletic Bilbao's Telmo Zarra. Zarra, who is another legend of Los Leones, has won the coveted award a record number of six times.
| Rank | Player | Country | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telmo Zarra | Spain | 6 | 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53 |
| 2 | Alfredo di Stéfano | Argentina | 5 | 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59 |
| 3 | Quini | Spain | 5 | 1973–74, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82 |
| 4 | Hugo Sánchez | Mexico | 5 | 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90 |
| 5 | Ferenc Puskás | Hungary | 4 | 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64 |
Although Telmo has the record for winning the award the most number of times, Alfredo di Stefano and Hugo Sanchez of Real Madrid hold the record for most consecutive victories. Both the Madrid players have won the award four times in a row, but Sanchez is the only person to have won the award without sharing it with anyone.
At the moment both Messi and Ronaldo have won the Pichichi three times each in the last six years, with the Argentine winning in 2010, 2012 and 2013 and the Portuguese winning in 2011, 2014 and 2015.*
Some of the other notable players to have won the award are Ferenc Puskás, Ronaldo Nazario, and Raul Blanco.
*Ahead of the 2015-16 season
