Antonio Galdeano Benítez (born 13 February 1984), known as Apoño, is a Spanish retired

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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. A player with both hard-working and playmaking skills, he was also a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

specialist. He amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 138 matches and 28 goals over five seasons, representing in the competition

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. He also competed professionally in Greece.

Club career

Early career

Born in

, Apoño began his career with local UD San Pedro and, for the 2004–05 season, moved to

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

neighbours UD Marbella in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

, where he would remain three years.

Málaga

In July 2007, Apoño joined

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

– after having emerged through their youth system– also in his native region, being an instrumental figure in their

return Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...

after a two-year absence. He was brought in as the club was coached by Juan Ramón López Muñiz, who had briefly managed the player at Marbella. In the following campaign, Apoño remained a starter: he made his top division debut on 31 August 2008, in a 0–4 away loss against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, and finished the campaign with nine league goals – best in the squad with striker

Nabil Baha Nabil Baha (Arabic: نبيل باها; born 12 August 1981) is a retired footballer who played as a striker. He started playing for Montpellier in 2000 and spent much of his career in the top divisions of Portugal and Spain, with notable stint ...

– seven from penalty kicks, notably in a 3–4 loss at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. On 30 July 2010, after a season with many injury problems, with Málaga only ranking in 17th position, Apoño signed a contract extension running until June 2014. He made his 100th official appearance for the club alongside teammate Weligton, in a 1–4 home defeat against Real Madrid on 16 October 2010, and finished

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

with 27 league appearances (26 starts) and one goal. After the first match in the following campaign, a 1–2 away loss to

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

in which he was replaced at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

– with the score at 2–0 for the hosts – reacting angrily, Apoño was suspended by coach

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

. He returned to action nearly two months after, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–4 home defeat against Real Madrid; on 9 January 2012 the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an told the player to start looking for a new club, as their altercation had continued for too long.

Zaragoza

On 19 January 2012, Apoño was loaned out to fellow league side

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

for the rest of the season. He made his debut for his new team three days later, starting in a 0–0 draw at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. Apoño scored his first goal(s) for the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese on 21 March, netting a brace (one penalty) for bottom-placed Zaragoza in a 2–1 away win against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

. The following round, again from the 11-meter spot, he scored in the 95th minute for the game's only goal in a home success over Atlético Madrid, and featured heavily as the club again retained its division status in the last round.

Later years

On 5 September 2013,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Apoño joined second level's

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

on a one-year deal. He netted twice during his spell in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, including once in the

promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

at home to

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

(1–1 home draw,

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

elimination). Subsequently, after an unassuming spell in the

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

with OFI Crete FC, 31-year-old Apoño returned to Spain and went on to represent CD El Palo and Marbella again. On 6 May 2015, representing the former against the latter, he was handed a 12-match ban after being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

during a third tier match held five days earlier, having allegedly insulted the refereeing team as well as making death threats.

Personal life

Apoño's younger brother,

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He also appeared for Málaga, but only for the B-team. The siblings shared teams at El Palo.Apoño y Juanillo miran a México (Apoño and Juanillo look to Mexico)
Málaga Hoy, 13 August 2015 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apono 1984 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Málaga Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Marbella FC players Málaga CF players Real Zaragoza players UD Las Palmas players El Palo FC players Super League Greece players OFI Crete F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece 21st-century Spanish sportsmen