Gorka Pintado del Molino (born 24 March 1978) 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 le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Football career

Pintado was born in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

. During his Spanish career he played mostly in the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

, having an unassuming spell in the second level with

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

(no goals scored in nearly two full seasons). On 6 June 2008, at already 30, Pintado signed with

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

from Granada CF for a fee of around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

200,000, after netting 18 goals during the campaign. At the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

side he hooked up with compatriots

Guillem Bauzà Guillem Bauzà Mayol (born 25 October 1984) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Welsh club Merthyr Town as a striker, second striker or attacking midfielder. He spent most of his career in Wales and England, in representation of several clu ...

Jordi Gómez Jordi Gómez García-Penche (; born 24 May 1985) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. After playing for the reserve teams of both Barcelona and Espanyol, he went on to spend the vast majority of his career in ...

, Roberto Martínez (coach),

Àngel Rangel Àngel Rangel Zaragoza (; born 28 November 1982) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Pontardawe Town's under-12 team. After playing lower league football in his native country for six years, he went ...

and

Albert Serrán Albert Serrán Polo (born 17 July 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for CF Montañesa. He can occupy all three defensive positions. Club career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Serrán was a product of RCD Espany ...

, and he scored his first league goal for them during a 3–1 win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, at the

Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...

. Although limited to substitute appearances, Pintado netted his second goal of the season in Swansea's 2–2 draw at home to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, volleying home for the equaliser. He went on to score three more times, against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Derby County and Crystal Palace. On 6 January 2011, Pintado moved to Cypriot First Division club

AEK Larnaca FC AEK Larnaca FC ( el, AEK; for short Αθλητική Έvωση Κίτιον Λάρνακας , translit=''Athletiki Enosi Kition Larnakas'', "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club ...

on loan until June.Cruyff signs Gorka for AEK Lanarka
Swansea City A.F.C, 7 January 2011 On 23 August, the move was made permanent.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pintado, Gorka 1978 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from San Sebastián Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Unión footballers CA Osasuna B players CD Leganés players UE Figueres footballers UDA Gramenet footballers Granada CF footballers English Football League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Cypriot First Division players AEK Larnaca FC players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Wales Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Wales Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus