Rafael 'Rafa' Antonio Ponzo García (born 18 October 1978) is a Venezuelan

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 ...

who plays 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 ...

Club career

Born in Caracas, Ponzo left his country at the age of 20 and moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he played for the vast majority of his career, albeit almost exclusively in the lower leagues. His first stop was at

Club Siero Club Siero is a Spanish football team based in Pola de Siero, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1916, it plays in Tercera División – Group 2, holding home matches at '' Estadio El Bayu'', with a capacity of 5,000 seats. His ...

in the fourth division, and he went on to represent, also in that tier,

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

's reserves and Real Oviedo, achieving promotion to the

third level Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

with the latter in 2005. With his next team, Girona FC, Ponzo achieved two consecutive promotions, making his Segunda División debut on 30 August 2008 in a 1–0 away win against RC Celta de Vigo and appearing in 37 matches during the season to help the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

retain their league status after ranking 16th (44 goals conceded – three of those in a 0–3 loss at Hércules CF in the late stages in which he was held responsible for the outcome by his own manager

Raül Agné Raül Agné Montull (born 24 May 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Mequinenza, Province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Agné never competed in higher than Segunda División ...

). He started 2009–10 back in division three with

AD Ceuta Asociación Deportiva Ceuta was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Ceuta. Founded in 1996, its last season was 2011–12 in Segunda División B, holding home matches at ''Estadio Alfonso Murube'', with a capacity of 6,500. ...

, but moved after a few months to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

, where he played for two clubs in quick succession before returning to his homeland and join

Mineros de Guayana Asociación Civil Club Deportivo Mineros de Guayana, known as Mineros de Guayana or simply Mineros, is a professional football club based in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. History The Colegio Loyola Gumilla's field, located in Puerto Ordaz, was us ...

. On 7 July 2011, Ponzo signed with another side in the Spanish third division and

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

Marino de Luanco Club Marino de Luanco is a Spanish football team based in Luanco, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1931 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Miramar'', with a capacity of 3,500 seats. ...

. After two years back in his country with Aragua FC, he moved to C.D. Universidad de El Salvador. 38-year-old Ponzo returned to Venezuela in the middle of 2017, signing with Segunda División's Angostura FC.

International career

Ponzo made two appearances for the Venezuela national team.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponzo, Rafael 1978 births Living people Footballers from Caracas Venezuelan footballers Association football goalkeepers A.C.C.D. Mineros de Guayana players Aragua FC players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Tenerife B players Real Oviedo players Girona FC players AD Ceuta footballers Marino de Luanco footballers Cypriot First Division players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players Ermis Aradippou FC players Venezuela international footballers Venezuelan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in El Salvador Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in El Salvador