Antonio Pinilla Miranda (born 25 February 1971) is a Spanish retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played mainly as a forward. Best known for his stints with

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

and Gimnàstic – he began playing professionally for

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, but had virtually no impact for its first team – he also served as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

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 The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

over the course of 11 seasons (40 goals scored).

Club career

Barcelona

Born in Badalona,

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, Pinilla was formed in the youth ranks of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

. During the 1989–90 season, a week before turning 19,

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

gave him the chance to make his

debut, on 18 February 1990 in a match against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

: he appeared 25 minutes in the 4–1 away win, having come on as a substitute for Julio Salinas. The following campaign, Barcelona won the league and Pinilla appeared in seven matches, scoring a decisive goal against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

. He also played in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

, subbing in for veteran

José Ramón Alexanko José Ramón Alexanko Ventosa (; born 19 May 1956) is a Spanish retired footballer and manager, who later served as director of football of Valencia CF. During his career the central defender played with success for both Athletic Bilbao and Ba ...

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 he signed with top level newcomer

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

, only missing two games as the Castile-La Mancha club retained its league status.

Tenerife and Nàstic

Pinilla was finally released in the summer of 1993, signing for

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

where he remained seven seasons, helping the Canary Islands team to the semi-finals of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup. He previously entered the club's history books when scoring its first goal ever in

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...

, against

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...

on 15 September 1993; 1998–99 brought with it relegation, and the player followed the side into the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. After one season with

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...

, also in the second level, Pinilla joined

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

, freshly promoted into that tier. His seven goals, however, proved insufficient to prevent the team from being immediately relegated; 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. After recovering on his own, Pinilla was re-taken by Gimnàstic in the 2003 winter

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

. Although he barely managed to make the team while they were in

division three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

, he became a basic element in their return to the second level, adding five goals in the last ten days of 2005–06 in an historic return to the top flight. Pinilla served as captain during Gimnàstic's short-lived spell in the top division, netting twice from 28 appearances for the last-ranked team, against

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

(4–0 at home) and against Athletic Bilbao (2–0, away). On 11 September 2007, the club was proclaimed champion of the Catalonia Cup for the first time after a 2–1 defeat of Barcelona – the player, who started the final, netted one of the ''Grana''. At the end of the 2007–08 season, after helping ''Nàstic'' retain its second tier status, Pinilla announced his retirement after having competed in 200 games overall with the club, promptly being named its

and leaving the post in early February 2010.

International career

Pinilla never earned one full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, 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 The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, appearing in two of six games. Pinilla also played seven matches with the unofficial Catalonia national team.

Honours

Barcelona *

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

* Supercopa de España:

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

: runner-up

Gimnàstic *

Copa Catalunya The Copa Catalunya (''Catalonia Cup'') is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. History Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the '' Champions ...

: 2007 Spain U23 * Summer Olympic Games: 1992

References

External links

*
Gimnàstic profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinilla, Antonio 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Badalona Footballers from the Province of Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players FC Barcelona C players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players RCD Mallorca players Albacete Balompié players CD Tenerife players UD Salamanca players Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Olympic footballers for Spain Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Spain