The Last Native Winner of the Pichichi Trophy
The golden boot, a trophy awarded to the top scorer in each respected competition. Leagues, cups and international tournaments all recognise the award and hand out a trophy to commemorate each player to have finished top of the scoring charts. The usual names are among the recipients of the award, Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and in more recent times Erling Haaland.
It isn’t uncommon for the winners of a leagues golden boot to be a native of the country. Harry Kane has three Premier League golden boots to his name. Ciro Immobile (Italian) has four of them in Italy, Kylian Mbappé (French) had just won six in a row prior to his move to Real Madrid from PSG. All of these winners have won the award in recent times. What about the Spanish football league though?
Of course, this is going to be a different scenario, a league blessed with both Messi and Ronaldo in their prime is always going to struggle to find a Spanish top scorer. You have to turn the clock all the way back to the 2007/08 season to find the last Spanish recipient of the coveted Pichichi Trophy. You could be surprised to learn that the last Spanish winner is not who one would expect, it is not Raúl, his last Pichichi came in 2001. It is neither Fernando Torres or David Villa, both failed to win a single Pichichi. Instead, it was Dani Güiza.
Who? Some of you may be asking yourself. This was before the Messi and Ronaldo era so it is forgivable to forget, on the other hand the winners before Güiza were also superstars, Van Nistelrooy, Eto’o, Forlan and the Brazilian Ronaldo. Who is Güiza then? A journeyman predominantly of the Spanish leagues, Güiza started his career at Xerez before quickly catching the eye of Mallorca. Given plenty of loan opportunities, notably to Barcelona B it was clear this kid had talent that needed nurturing.
A permanent move from Mallorca to the Segunda División saw Güiza really start to push his career forward. Finishing in the top five scorers for two consecutive seasons, one of which he found himself as a runner-up. This form in the second division was enough to convince Getafe to sign him as a starting number nine in the top division of Spanish football. Two mid-table finishes for Getafe accompanied with 27 goals in 70 games, including cups. Famously, in Spain at least, the then club president Ángel Torres described Güiza as ‘the best finisher in the league after Ronaldo (Brazilian).
In 2007 Güiza made the move back to Mallorca, a five million euro move, brokered by his wife, who happens to be his agent saw him back and with a mission. This became the most memorable season of his career and one to this day has not been matched by a Spanish player since. 27 goals in the league, notably none of which were from the penalty spot. This tally saw Güiza win the Pichichi, ahead of players such as Luís Fabiano and Sergio Agüero. For Güiza the season kept getting better, understandably called up to the Spanish national team for the 2008 European Championships.
A tournament to remember for the Spanish and for Güiza personally. Despite finishing with the Pichichi in hand he was dubious about whether he would make the final 23-man squad. Fortunately, he made the cut, not only that Güiza played a big part in the final outcome. Coming on in the final group stage game against Greece he scored the winning goal in the final moments. His next big moment was scoring in the semi-final win over Russia before replacing Fernando Torres for 15 minutes in the final where Spain went on to win the first of their back-to-back European Championship trophies.
Post European Championship success Güiza took an opportunity to ply his trade abroad. Moving to Turkish giants Fenerbahçe in a fourteen million euro move. Things quickly looked positive scoring twice in his first month of the league season as well as scoring twice in the Champions League. Unfortunately, a loss of form saw Güiza not score for several months, eventually notching a goal against Bursaspor in mid-March 2009. He led his team to two consecutive Turkish cup finals, unfortunately losing to Trabzonspor and Besiktas, albeit he did score in the second game as they went on to lose 4-2.
Following on from his success in the European Championships, Güiza came under public scrutiny for behavioural issues in training for the national team. This was quickly swept under the rug when being called up for the 2009 confederations cup. Spain eventually finished third in the tournament and it was the third place-play off where Güiza performed admirably. Coming on as a substitute late in the game and scoring a brace in the final minutes of extra-time to take the win over host nation South Africa 3-2.
Will we ever see another Spanish recipient of the Pichichi? At the current time it looks highly unlikely. Understandably it is likely to be an attacker from Real Madrid or Barcelona, Mbappé or Lewandowski perhaps? Are there any potential future Spanish players coming through who could take the award? Maybe Lamine Yamal or Nico Williams? Both had exceptional tournaments at the 2024 European Championships and do contribute with plenty of goals and assists, but can they really close the gap with Mbappé?
Dani Güiza, the last Spanish recipient of the Pichichi. Perhaps the dominance of Messi and Ronaldo contributed to this, however both have moved on. Can a new Spaniard win the trophy or will Mbappé become the next dominant force in La Liga scoring? Only time will tell. Unknown to many but embedded into the hearts of many Spanish football fans. 16 years since lifting the Pichichi, will it be another 16 before the next Spaniard lifts the Pichichi?
Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell
