Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager, who played as a forward.

[6] Sánchez is regarded as one of La Liga's best foreign imports, and one of Real Madrid's top strikers of all time.

Famous for his acrobatic goal celebrations throughout his club and international career, Sánchez was the first notable exponent of the backflip.

After managing Necaxa, he was announced as coach of the Mexico national football team in 2006, but was fired in March 2008 due to poor results.

In 1979, UNAM agreed to exchange players during the off-season with the San Diego Sockers of the North American Soccer League.

In 1980–81, his last season with the club, Sánchez and UNAM won its second league championship, a CONCACAF Champions Cup and a Copa Interamericana.

It took him a while to find his feet in La Liga, only managing twenty league appearances and scoring eight goals in his first season, but by the 1984–1985 season he was scoring regularly with a team that won the Copa del Rey, finished second in the league and won the Spanish Super Copa.

[15] It was reported that due to Atlético Madrid's reluctance to anger their fan base with a direct deal with Real, Sánchez was transferred to UNAM back in his home country on 4 July before being signed by Real Madrid, with the contract signing taking place in a bank in Mexico City.

[16] He played alongside the famed group of players known as the La Quinta del Buitre ("Vulture's Cohort"), which consisted of Emilio Butragueño, Manuel Sanchís, Martín Vázquez, Míchel, and Miguel Pardeza.

[4] After Mexico failed to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, Sánchez was a part of the Mexico team that reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup on home soil, losing out to eventual runners-up West Germany in a penalty shootout.

Although the team went on to have a good campaign under his leadership, differences between the club president and Sánchez resulted in his sacking in August of that year.

On 27 June 2007, in the opening game of the 2007 Copa América held in Venezuela, Sánchez led the Mexico national team to a stunning 2–0 win Brazil, Hugo's first major victory as a coach.

After easing through the group stage of the tournament, Hugo led the team to the semi-finals (beating Paraguay 6–0 in the quarter-finals) where they were beaten 3–0 by Argentina.

The two main arguments against him were that the decision was breaking a long-standing Mexican tradition, yet the strongest critics suggested that he should devote more time to the strategy and training of the Mexico team rather than entertaining himself with superfluous features of the sport.

In March 2008, Sánchez suffered poor results, including draws with Australia and Finland, [citation needed] and a loss at home in Querétaro against Ecuador's U-23 team.

Nicknamed Hugol and Pentapichichi, Sánchez was a prolific goalscorer, who usually played as a centre-forward; he is widely regarded as Mexico's greatest-ever footballer, and one of the greatest players of his generation.

[1][4] A quick and mobile striker, with good skills and an eye for goal, he was known for his intelligence, positional sense, movement, and anticipation in the area, and was an accurate and efficient finisher, who was capable of scoring with few touches.

[1][4][17][28] Due to his athleticism, Sánchez was good in the air, despite his diminutive stature, and was also known for his ability to score acrobatic and flamboyant goals from spectacular strikes and volleys from any position on the pitch, both inside or outside the area; his mastery of the "Chilena", or "Bicycle kick", was a result of his own early training in gymnastics, and his goals scored in this manner were later dubbed Huguinas.

[1][4][29] His trademark was to perform a celebratory somersault followed by a fist pump after each goal he scored, in honour of his sister, who was a gymnast and participated in the Montreal Olympics.

[31] According to his FIFA profile, Sánchez is credited as the creator of the scorpion kick, which was later popularised by Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita.

On 8 November 2014, Sánchez Portugal died from the effects of a gas leak in a Mexico City apartment as stated by the Mexican Red Cross.