Benito Díaz conquered the Bernabéu with his WM | OneFootball

Benito Díaz, Real Sociedad’s longest-serving coach, pioneered the WM in Spain and masterminded a Bernabéu ambush on the way to the 1951 Copa final.

According to Diario Vasco, he took charge of 389 games across two spells, 1926-30 and 1943-51, reaching the Copa finals of 1928 and 1951 and finishing fourth in the inaugural 1929 Liga. A quick, agile forward, he played for La Real from 1917 to 1927, became player-coach in 1926, steered the 1928 triple final in Santander, then quit in 1930 for business.

He exported oranges to France and, exiled by the 1936 Civil War, advertised for coaching work in Iparralde. Girondins hired him, he won a Cup in Bordeaux, and he returned to La Real in 1943. With Guillermo Eizagirre he helped Spain finish fourth at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.

In his second spell he recast tactics. Drawing on English and Italian ideas, he dropped the centre-half to form three at the back with two screeners, two inside-forwards and three up top, the WM. First dismissed as dour, it spread once results improved.

Díaz oversaw the 1940s yo-yo years, the last promotion arriving in 1949. In 1950-51 La Real were fifth and won the ‘semifinal of the whistles’, a 1-0 first leg in Atocha through Artigas then a Bernabéu counter-attack with Barinaga and Caeiro scoring, before Barça won the final 3-0, César striking first. Díaz left thereafter, later coached Atlético for a season, and died on 1 April 1990 aged 91.

Source: Diario Vasco