Jesús María Zamora


Jesús María Zamora Ansorena is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

Football career

Born in Rentería, Gipuzkoa, Zamora played his entire professional career with local club Real Sociedad. After a slow 1974–75 he went on to amass a further 446 La Liga matches in the next 14 years, being an instrumental figure alongside namesake Jesús María Satrústegui.
Zamora's finest hour as a player undoubtedly came on the last game of the 1980–81 season, as he scored the tying goal at Sporting de Gijón, giving the Basque the needed point to clinch the league title at the expense of Real Madrid, whose players were already celebrating after a 3–1 away win against Real Valladolid, only to be told about Zamora's feat over a radio broadcast. He scored three in 31 appearances the following campaign, as Sociedad renewed its domestic supremacy.
After retiring in 1989, Zamora worked with his only club in several capacities. From 2002 to 2004 he assisted Raynald Denoueix, and aided to a runner-up position in his second year. However, after another legendary teammate, José Mari Bakero, was relieved of his general manager duties by him, in late 2006, the season ended in relegation, the first in 40 years, and Zamora too resigned.
Zamora played 30 times for Spain and scored three goals, his debut coming in a friendly with Italy on 21 December 1978. He took part in the UEFA Euro 1980 and 1982 FIFA World Cup finals, retiring after the 0–0 draw against England on 5 July 1982, in the latter competition – this would also be longtime clubmate Satrústegui's last match.