Manuel Jesús Casas García (born 14 June 1985), known as Molo, is a Spanish former

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

central defender 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 ...

and a current manager. He made five appearances in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

for

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

and Lorca, but spent most of his career in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Foot ...

, where he played 256 games in service of eight clubs, mostly Lleida Esportiu.

Playing career

Born in

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 ...

, Molo played as a youth for CD Comarca de Níjar before joining UD Almería. He made his professional debut for his hometown club in

on 22 January 2006 in a 2–1 home win over CD Castellón, coming on for José Ortiz for the last eight minutes, and added three more games over the season. Molo then moved on to

UE Figueres Unió Esportiva Figueres is a Spanish football team based in Figueres, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1919 and refounded in 2007 it plays in the Primera Catalana league, holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal de Vilateni ...

Villarreal CF B Villarreal Club de Fútbol "B" is a Spanish football team based in Villarreal, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1999, it is the reserve team of Villarreal CF and plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Ciudad Deporti ...

and

CA Osasuna B Club Atlético Osasuna B, usually known as Osasuna Promesas is the reserve team of CA Osasuna, a Spanish football club based in Pamplona, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1962, currently plays in Primera Federación – Group ...

. In November 2008, while training with the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

of the last of those sides, he suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

. After a year with

CD Guijuelo Club Deportivo Guijuelo is a Spanish football team based in Guijuelo, Province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1974 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at the 1,500-seat ...

, Molo joined Lleida Esportiu in 2012. Four years later, after being denied promotion in the play-offs by Sevilla Atlético, he became the first signing of the renamed

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...

; despite his experience in the third level it was his first experience of Group IV, the one containing clubs from his own region. They gained promotion and he made his only professional appearance since the start of his career on 25 November 2017, playing the last two minutes of a 2–0 win at Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Molo left Lorca in January 2018, returning to the third tier with Real Murcia. After being eliminated from the playoffs by Elche CF, he cancelled the last 12 months of his contract in June and made his way to

CD El Ejido Club Polideportivo El Ejido 1969 is a Spanish football club based in El Ejido, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1989 under the name of El Ejido Fútbol Sala (was only a futsal club until 2012), it currently plays in Segunda D ...

in the same division.

Coaching career

In June 2019, shortly after El Ejido's relegation, Molo returned to Lleida to manage them for the upcoming campaign. He was dismissed by president Albert Esteve on 24 May 2021, following a descent to the fourth tier. In July 2022, he joined UCAM Murcia CF, who had recently been relegated to the fourth tier of Spanish football. He replaced José Manuel Aira.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molo 1985 births Living people Footballers from Almería Spanish footballers Men's association football defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players UD Almería B players UD Almería players UE Figueres footballers Villarreal CF B players CA Osasuna B players CD Guijuelo footballers Lleida Esportiu footballers Lorca FC players Real Murcia players CD El Ejido players Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers Segunda Federación managers Lleida Esportiu managers Águilas FC managers UCAM Murcia CF managers