Miguel Ángel Espínola Jiménez (born 5 April 1974) 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 le ...

who played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Born in

Guadix Guadix (; Local pronunciation: aˈðih is a city and municipality in southern Spain, in the province of Granada. The city lies at an altitude of 913 metres, on the centre of the Hoya of Guadix, a high plain at the northern foothills of the Sie ...

Province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropical). ...

, Espínola played mostly in his native

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

. In his first decade as a senior he represented

Guadix CF Guadix Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Guadix, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It plays in Primera Andaluza, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal de Guadix'', which holds a capacity of 3,000 people. History Fo ...

Motril CF Motril Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Motril, Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1984 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at ''Estadio Escribano Castilla'', with a capacity of 4,400 seats. ...

, Manchego CF,

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

Real Balompédica Linense Real Balompédica Linense is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in La Línea de la Concepción, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1912 it plays in Primera División RFEF, Primera División RFEF – ...

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

and

Algeciras CF Algeciras Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Algeciras, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1909 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home matches at ''Estadio Nuevo Mirador''. History Foot ...

. With ''Recre'', Espínola competed 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's ...

in 2002–03, starting in 28 of his 31 appearances as the season ended in relegation for the oldest club in Spain. On 15 December 2002, he scored his only goal to put the visitors ahead 2–0 at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, but his team eventually finished with ten men and lost 4–2, with him being placed as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

following José Antonio Luque's

dismissal Dismissal or dismissed may refer to: Dismissal *In litigation, a dismissal is the result of a successful ''motion to dismiss''. See motion *Termination of employment, the end of employee's duration with an employer **Dismissal (employment), ter ...

and not being able to stop the subsequent

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-ti ...

. In 2004–05, Espínola played in Scotland for

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

. He returned to his homeland in the summer of 2005, for one final campaign with

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Espinola, Miguel Angel 1974 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Andalusia Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Motril CF players UD Almería players Real Balompédica Linense footballers Recreativo de Huelva players Algeciras CF footballers Granada CF footballers Scottish Football League players Clyde F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Sportspeople from the Province of Granada People from Guadix