Marcial Pina

Marcial
Personal information
Full nameMarcial Manuel Pina Morales
Date of birth23 August 1946
Place of birthBárzana de Quirós, Spain
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
Elche
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1963–1964Ilicitano
1964–1966Elche48(5)
1966–1969Español59(15)
1969–1977Barcelona210(47)
1977–1980Atlético Madrid63(12)
National team
1967–1970Spain U234(0)
1966–1975Spain15(0)
Teams managed
1996–1997Elche
2000Elche
2001Elche
* 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 Pina and the second or maternal family name is Morales.

Marcial Manuel Pina Morales (born 23 August 1946), simply Marcial, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

Over the course of 16 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 379 games and 79 goals in representation of four teams, mainly Barcelona, with which he won three major titles.

Club career

Born in Bárzana de Quirós, Asturias, Marcial made his professional debuts with Elche CF at the age of 18, finishing his first season in La Liga – he only competed in the main category during his professional career – with 24 games and three goals. In the summer of 1966, he joined RCD Español after rejecting offers from F.C. Internazionale Milano, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.[1]

In his first season with the Pericos, Marcial scored 11 goals in 29 contests to help the club to a best-ever third place in the league, but suffered team relegation in his third year, which did not prevent, however, his signing for neighbouring Barcelona, where he went on to appear in 357 official matches during his eight-year spell, netting 84 goals; in 1973–74, as the Catalans won the national championship, he was the competition's second-best scorer at 17, only trailing Sporting de Gijón's Quini.

In 1977, Marcial left the Blaugrana after having been suspended by the club during the previous season due to a breach of club regulations alongside legendary club player Carles Rexach, who remained with the club, however.[1] He then joined Atlético Madrid for a further three top-flight seasons, retiring at the end of 1979–80 (aged nearly 34) after only appearing in nine games for the capital outfit.

Marcial holds the curious record of being the only player to have scored against Real Madrid with four different teams.[1] In 1986 he returned to first club Elche to work in directorial capacities, then had two coaching spells with the side in the following decades, including ten games in the second division in the 2000–01 season, with the Valencian retaining their status in dramatic fashion in the last round with a 2–2 home draw against SD Compostela, which would drop down a level instead.[1]

International career

Marcial played 15 times with the Spanish national team. His international debut was on 23 October 1966 against the Republic of Ireland, a 0–0 draw.

Honours

Barcelona

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Marcial Pina – Un gran exponente de la cantera franjiverde (Marcial Pina – Cornerstone of the franjiverde youth system); Elche official website (Spanish)

External links