"The voice of sport" in Spain dies aged 74: his "Gol de Señor" in a 12-1 match became a cultural icon

"Goool de Señor!". For every Spaniard of a certain age, those words are forever imprinted in memory, with the voice of José Ángel de la Casa, Spanish journalist who commentated over 300 football games for the Spanish national team since 1979 to 2007 in the Spanish national TV. "The voice of sport", as RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) described him, has died aged 74 due to pneumonia, after years with Parkinson.

De la Casa will be forever associated with his narrations of the Spanish national team games, but also other sports seen in TVE, like six Olympic Games (from 1984 to 2004). Probably the match he most famously narrated was a Spain 12-1 Malta on December 21, 1983, for the Euro Cup qualifiers. Spain needed to win by a 11-goal margin to qualify for the UEFA Euro played next summer... and the miracle happened.

Naturally, nobody expected that a feat like that could be achieved. The result was a moment of euphoria for the country and a turning point in the public perception of the Spanish national team, which from then on received much larger support, and went on to reach the final of the Euro Cup 1984 (losing to France 2-0). Greaters results would still take some decades to come, until Euro Cup in 2008 and World Cup in 2010, but that match was unforgettable in a country passionate about football.

José Ángel de la Casa was the commentator of the match, and the enthusiasmin in his voice as he narrates more and more goals, ending with a squawk when he narrated the 12-1, scored by Juan Señor in the 84th minute, has become a cultural icon in the history of sport in Spain.