Miguel Porlán Noguera, known as Chendo, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right back. He spent his entire professional career with Real Madrid, also being a member of the Spain national team, with which he appeared in two World Cups.
Club career
Born in Totana, Region of Murcia, Chendo played for Real Madrid during seventeen professional seasons, winning seven La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, one UEFA Champions League and back-to-back UEFA Cups. He arrived in Real Madrid at the age of fifteen and was part of its junior ranks for five years, making his official debut for the first team on 11 April 1982 in a 2–1 win at CD Castellón. The following campaign, he would feature in two further league matches. At the beginning of 1983–84, Juan José dominated the right-back position, starting five out of the first six games: injuries then struck him, after which Chendo was given the starting spot. As Juan José returned to the first team Chendo returned to the bench, but finished the season again as first-choice, appearing in 26 contests overall. Chendo became the starter in his fourth year, playing 25 league matches and adding 11 in European competition. At the end of the season, Real Madrid won the UEFA Cup against Hungarian club Videoton FC by a 3–1 aggregate score, though losing the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium 0–1, as well as the Spanish League Cup, with the player starting both finals; the team finished fifth in the league, 17 points behind champions FC Barcelona. For the next eight seasons, Chendo was the undisputed first-choice, starting in 297 games out of a possible 320 and being an integral part of a squad that collected five straight league titles. From 1992 to 1995, however, he would only amass 34 league appearances as only third-choice, losing his place to the likes of Nando, the reconverted Luis Enrique or Paco Llorente. In the following years more of the same befell, as he played second-fiddle to Quique Sánchez Flores, Carlos Secretário and Christian Panucci – although he did play 23 matches in the 1995–96 campaign, as Real stumbled to a final sixth place; he served more as a moral support and bench captain, like Manuel Sanchís later, subbing rarely and starting even more rarely. After Real Madrid lifted its seventh European Cup against Juventus F.C. on 20 May 1998, Chendo retired from professional football, aged almost 37. He immediately started working with the club as a match delegate, occupying that position for well over a decade.
