Juan Manuel Asensi

Juan Manuel Asensi
Personal information
Full nameJuan Manuel Asensi Ripoll
Date of birth23 September 1949
Place of birthAlicante, Spain
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
Elche
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1966–1967Ilicitano
1967–1970Elche80(23)
1970–1980Barcelona299(73)
1980–1982Puebla69(19)
1982–1983Oaxtepec29(0)
Total477(115)
National team
1967–1968Spain U184(2)
1969–1971Spain U238(1)
1967–1971Spain amateur9(2)
1969–1980Spain41(7)
Teams managed
1992–1995Barcelona (youth)
2002Orihuela
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Asensi and the second or maternal family name is Ripoll.

Juan Manuel Asensi Ripoll (born 23 September 1949) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Born in Alicante, Valencian Community, Asensi began his career at local Elche CF – at the time in La Liga – before joining FC Barcelona in 1970, for 80 million pesetas. During his time at the club, he was instrumental in helping the Catalans win the league in 1974 (34 matches, 11 goals, third-best in squad), also adding the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1979 and scoring in the final held in Basel.[1]

After only ten matches in the 1980–81 season, but 484 competitive appearances with 124 goals, 32-year-old Asensi moved to Mexico where he would play until his retirement in 1983. He had two brief spells at coaching, with Barça's youth sides and lowly Orihuela CF.

International career

Asensi represented Spain 41 times, scoring seven goals. His debut came on 23 February 1969 in a 1–2 loss against Belgium for the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification, as the country did not make it to the final stages.[2]

Asensi was picked for the squads at the 1978 World Cup and UEFA Euro 1980 – his last international was played in the latter competition, also against Belgium (and also 1–2 defeat) – and also competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics.[3]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 23 February 1969 Sclessin, Liège, Belgium  Belgium 2–1 2–1 1970 World Cup qualification
2. 11 October 1972 Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  Argentina 1–0 1–0 Friendly
3. 19 October 1972 Insular, Las Palmas, Spain  Yugoslavia 2–2 2–2 1974 World Cup qualification
4. 23 February 1974 Sarrià, Barcelona, Spain  West Germany 1–0 1–0 Friendly
5. 11 June 1978 José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Sweden 1–0 1–0 1978 FIFA World Cup
6. 15 November 1978 Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain  Romania 1–0 1–0 Euro 1980 qualifying
7. 13 December 1978 Helmántico, Salamanca, Spain  Cyprus 1–0 5–0 Euro 1980 qualifying

Honours

Barcelona

References

  1. ↑ "1978/79: Barcelona win seven-goal thriller". UEFA.com. 1 June 1979. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Juan Manuel Asensi – International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Asensi". Sports Reference. Retrieved 29 October 2009.

External links