Antonio Pinilla

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Antonio Pinilla
Toni pinilla.jpg
Personal information
Full name Antonio Pinilla Miranda
Date of birth (1971-02-25) 25 February 1971 (age 54)
Place of birth Badalona, Spain
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Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1991 Barcelona B 90 (35)
1990–1993 Barcelona 8 (1)
1991–1992 → Mallorca (loan) 21 (4)
1992–1993 → Albacete (loan) 36 (8)
1993–2000 Tenerife 184 (30)
2000–2001 Salamanca 34 (4)
2001–2008 Gimnàstic 196 (33)
Total 569 (115)
International career
1987 Spain U16 5 (5)
1987 Spain U17 1 (0)
1987–1988 Spain U18 8 (2)
1988–1989 Spain U19 3 (0)
1989–1990 Spain U20 5 (2)
1990–1991 Spain U21 5 (1)
1991–1992 Spain U23 8 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Olympic medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's Football
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona Team Competition

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This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Pinilla and the second or maternal family name is Miranda.

Antonio Pinilla Miranda (born 25 February 1971) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a forward.

Best known for his stints with Tenerife and Gimnàstic – he began playing professionally for Barcelona, but had virtually no impact for its first team – he also served as general manager at the latter club, playing in more than 500 official matches for seven different clubs in exactly 20 years, 242 of those in La Liga over the course of 11 seasons (40 goals scored).

Club career

Barcelona

Born in Badalona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Pinilla was formed in the youth ranks of FC Barcelona. During the 1989–90 season, a week before turning 19, Johan Cruyff gave him the chance to make his La Liga debut, on 18 February 1990 in a match against Rayo Vallecano: he appeared 25 minutes in the 4–1 away win, having come on as a substitute for Julio Salinas.[1]

The following campaign Barcelona won the league and Pinilla appeared in seven matches, scoring a decisive goal against Valencia CF. He also appeared in the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, subbing in for veteran José Ramón Alexanko in a 1–2 loss against Manchester United.

However, strong competition in the emerging Dream Team meant Pinilla had to leave Barça on loan, and he joined RCD Mallorca, scoring four goals in a season which ended in top flight relegation. The following campaign brought the player to top level newcomer Albacete Balompié, only missing two games as the Castile-La Mancha club retained its league status.

Tenerife / Nàstic

The summer of 1993 Pinilla was finally released, signing for CD Tenerife where he remained seven seasons, helping the Canary Islands' team to the semifinals of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup.[2] He previously entered the club's history books when scoring its first goal ever in European competition, against AJ Auxerre on 15 September 1993. 1998–99 brought with it relegation, and the player followed the side into the second division.

After one season with UD Salamanca, also in the second level, Pinilla joined Catalonia's Gimnàstic de Tarragona, freshly promoted into that category. His seven goals, however, proved insufficient to prevent the team from dropping down a category; in addition, a serious knee injury in the final months of the campaign forced him into the operating room, which led two a six-month period of inactivity, in turn prompting his release by the club.[3]

After recovering on his own, Pinilla was re-taken by Gimnàstic in the 2003 winter transfer window: although he barely managed to make the team while it was in division three, he became a basic element in the team's return to the second division, adding five goals in the last ten days of 2005–06 as it achieved an historic return to the top flight.

Pinilla served as club captain during Gimnàstic's short-lived spell in the first division, netting twice in 28 contests for the last-ranked team, against RCD Espanyol (4–0 at home) and against Athletic Bilbao (2–0, away).

On 11 September 2007, the club was proclaimed for the first time ever champion of the Catalonia Cup after a 2–1 defeat of Barcelona – Pinilla, who started the final, netted one of the Grana. At the end of the 2007–08 season, after helping Nàstic retain its second level status, he announced his retirement after having competed in 200 games overall with the club,[4] promptly being named its general manager[5] and leaving the post in early February 2010.[6]

International career

Pinilla never gained one full cap for Spain, but did represent the nation in various youth levels. Additionally, he was a member of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, appearing in two of six games.

Pinilla also played seven matches with the unofficial Catalonia national team.

Honours

Club

Barcelona
Gimnàstic

Country

Spain U23

References

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External links

  1. ↑ Pinilla: debut feliz (Pinilla: happy debut); Mundo Deportivo, 19 February 1990 (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Pinilla: "En Tenerife viví cosas grandes, pero el Nástic me ha marcado más" (Pinilla: "In Tenerife i experienced great things, but Nàstic touched me more"); Marca, 4 June 2008 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Pinilla anuncia su retirada (Pinilla announces retirement); Mundo Deportivo, 13 June 2008 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Antonio Pinilla, nuevo director general del Nastic (Antonio Pinilla, new Nastic general manager); Marca, 17 June 2008 (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Pinilla medita marcharse del Nàstic cuanto antes (Pinilla considers leaving Nàstic as soon as possible); Sport, 19 December 2009 (Spanish)
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