Toñito
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Antonio Jesús García González | ||
Date of birth | 24 February 1977 | ||
Place of birth | La Orotava, Spain | ||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
Tenerife | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1995–1997 | Tenerife B | 32 | (7) |
1997–1999 | Vitória Setúbal | 43 | (6) |
1999–2004 | Sporting CP | 87 | (9) |
2001–2002 | → Santa Clara (loan) | 30 | (7) |
2004–2005 | Boavista | 24 | (1) |
2005–2006 | Tenerife | 35 | (7) |
2006–2007 | Rijeka | 20 | (4) |
2007–2008 | União Leiria | 23 | (1) |
2008 | Ionikos | ||
2009 | AEK Larnaca | 4 | (1) |
Total | 298 | (43) | |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Antonio Jesús García González (born 24 February 1977 in La Orotava, Tenerife), known as Toñito, is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder.
He played most of his professional career in Portugal where he represented five clubs (mainly Sporting), amassing Primeira Liga totals of 207 games and 24 goals.
Football career
A player with skill and teamwork approach alike, Toñito started playing professionally with hometown's CD Tenerife. After having made no appearances for the first team, he moved to Portugal for the 1997–98 season and joined Vitória de Setúbal, going on to represent in the country Sporting Clube de Portugal, C.D. Santa Clara – loaned, where he joined compatriot Mauricio Hanuch, in the same predicament[1]– and Boavista FC; he played an important part in Sporting's conquest of the 2000 Primeira Liga championship, the club's first in 18 years, playing 28 games, although 25 of those were as a substitute.[2]
In the 2005–06 campaign, Toñito returned to Spain and Tenerife, with the club now in the second division, scoring seven league goals including two in a 3–2 away win against Racing de Ferrol on 27 May 2006, before he was stretchered off.[3] After a quick spell in Croatia with HNK Rijeka he returned to Portugal, netting a late equalizer for U.D. Leiria at former side Sporting (1–1 in Lisbon[4]), although his team would eventually drop down a level.
For 2008–09, Toñito moved to Greece's Ionikos FC. However, in January 2009, he switched to Cyprus and AEK Larnaca FC, reuniting with former Sporting teammate Elpídio Silva; he retired from the game at the end of the season, aged 32.
References
- ^ Toñito e Hanuch impedidos de actuar (Toñito and Hanuch prevented from playing) Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine; Record, 16 October 2001 (in Portuguese)
- ^ Toñito: «Esperava ser titular» (Toñito: «I expected to be a starter»); Record, 6 October 2000 (in Portuguese)
- ^ El Racing de Ferrol certifica su descenso tras caer con el Tenerife (Racing de Ferrol confirms relegation after being downed by Tenerife); Marca, 27 May 2006 (in Spanish)
- ^ Vukcevic entrou em pânico (Vukcevic panicked); Record, 4 December 2007 (in Portuguese)
External links
- Toñito at BDFutbol
- Template:TheFinalBall
- Toñito at ForaDeJogo (archived)
- Toñito at WorldFootball.net
- 1977 births
- Living people
- Spanish footballers
- Canarian footballers
- Association football midfielders
- Segunda División players
- Segunda División B players
- Tercera División players
- CD Tenerife B players
- CD Tenerife players
- Primeira Liga players
- Vitória F.C. players
- Sporting CP footballers
- C.D. Santa Clara players
- Sporting CP B players
- Boavista F.C. players
- U.D. Leiria players
- Croatian First Football League players
- HNK Rijeka players
- Ionikos F.C. players
- Cypriot First Division players
- AEK Larnaca FC players
- Spanish expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Portugal
- Expatriate footballers in Croatia
- Expatriate footballers in Greece
- Expatriate footballers in Cyprus
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
- Spanish expatriates in Croatia
- Spanish expatriates in Cyprus
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece