Francisco Manuel "Paco" Soler Atencia (born 5 March 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a manager. He only played with

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

during his career, amassing La Liga totals of 168 matches and three goals over nine seasons and spending 14 years with the first team overall. He subsequently became a coach.

Club career

A hard-nosed player, Soler was born in Palma, Majorca,

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

, and played his entire career for local club

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

. He made his first-team debut in the 1990–91 season, and went on to make 419 overall appearances for them. In 1996–97, Soler was instrumental in helping Mallorca return to La Liga, and also appeared regularly the following campaign as the team finished fifth. He was named on the substitutes bench for the final of the

1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The 1998–99 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup club tournament was the last season of the competition before it was abolished. Lazio won the final against Mallorca to earn their only title in the competition. Chelsea were the defending champio ...

. In his final two years, however, Soler played almost no part in the side's lineups, and retired after 2003–04 at the age of 34. Subsequently he took up coaching and, in January 2007, was appointed at Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club S.C. Beira-Mar after it signed a cooperation deal with Inverfutbol, a Spanish-based sporting company, not being able to help the Aveiro team avoid relegation. In February 2009, Soler returned to his native region, replacing former Spanish international Francisco at the helm of lowly

CD Atlético Baleares Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares, S.A.D. ( ca, Club Esportiu Atlètic Balears) is a Spanish football team based in Palma, Majorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded on 1920, it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

and suffering another relegation. Four years later, he left his post as director of football and again became their manager.

International career

Soler was part of the Spain 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 ...

in Barcelona, appearing in four matches for a total of 277 minutes.

Honours

Club

Mallorca * Copa del Rey: 2002–03; Runner-up 1997–98 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1998–99

International

Spain U23 *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soler, Paco 1970 births Living people Footballers from Palma de Mallorca Spanish footballers Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RCD Mallorca B players RCD Mallorca players Spain under-23 international footballers Olympic footballers of Spain Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic gold medalists for Spain Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers CD Atlético Baleares managers Primeira Liga managers S.C. Beira-Mar managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal