Vicente Engonga Maté (born 20 October 1965) 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 ...
who played mainly as a
central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
but occasionally as a
sweeper.
He played for six clubs in his career, having his longest and most successful spell at
Mallorca despite arriving there aged 32. In total, he appeared in 327
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' ...
matches and scored eight goals over 11 seasons.
Engonga was a
Spanish international for two years, and represented the team at
Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
The finals tournament was ...
.
Club career
Born in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
of
Equatorial Guinean descent, Engonga spent his childhood in the
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
region, where his father was a footballer.
He started his senior career with local lower league side
Gimnástica de Torrelavega
Real Sociedad Gimnástica de Torrelavega is a Spanish football team based in Torrelavega, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded on 28 September 1907 it is the oldest football club in the region, and currently plays in Tercera Divisià ...
, and then joined
CF Sporting Mahonés
Club de Fútbol Sporting Mahonés was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Mahón, Menorca, in the autonomous community of Balearic Islands prior to its 2012 dissolution. The club has a successor called ''Sporting Mahà ...
.
In 1991, Engonga moved to
Real Valladolid
Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system.
The club c ...
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' ...
. In his
first year
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ar ...
the club were
relegated
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
to the
Segunda División and he left for
RC Celta de Vigo, with whom he was a
finalist The final of a competition is the match or round in which the winner of the entire event is decided.
In sports competitions following a knockout system, where only two individuals or teams compete in each match, the final is usually played between ...
in the 1994
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del GeneralÃsimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
.
Engonga was bought by league powerhouse
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...
in summer 1994, spending three seasons at the
Mestalla Stadium
Mestalla Stadium ( es, Estadio de Mestalla , ca-valencia, Estadi de Mestalla ) is a football stadium in Valencia, Spain. The stadium is the home of Valencia Club de Fútbol and has a capacity of 48,600 seats, making it the 8th-largest stadium i ...
. After a shaky start, he made 35 appearances in
1996–97, although the ''Che'' finished tenth.
Subsequently, Engonga signed with
RCD Mallorca under
Héctor Cúper
Héctor Raúl Cúper (; born 16 November 1955) is an Argentine football manager and former player.
As a player, he was a defender who spent most of his career at Club Ferro Carril Oeste, where played 463 games. His nickname was "Cabezón" ("Big ...
's supervision, along with five other former teammates including
Iván Campo
Iván Campo Ramos (born 21 February 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer. Originally a centre-back, he featured in a defensive midfield role in the later years of his career.
He played for Real Madrid and four other teams in his c ...
. He displayed his best football at the
Balearic Islands side, helping them win the
1998 Supercopa de España
The 1998 Supercopa de España was a Spanish football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is ...
after beating
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Found ...
3–1 on aggregate. Also that year, they
reached the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
of the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...
, losing 2–1 to
S.S. Lazio.
During the
2000–01 campaign, Engonga scored twice in 31 league games as his team earned a third-place finish,
qualifying for the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
for the first time. In their first match in the competition, he scored the only goal to defeat
Arsenal at
Son Moix, an 11th-minute
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)
A p ...
after
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is cons ...
was
sent off
In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
for fouling
Albert Luque.
In 2002, Engonga's contract expired and he joined second-tier
Real Oviedo where he played for six months before moving abroad in late January 2003, signing a six-month
loan deal with English club
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
in the
Football League Division One. At the end of
the season the 37-year-old retired, going on to work with Mallorca in several coaching capacities.
International career
On 23 September 1998, aged nearly 33, Engonga made his debut with the
Spain national team, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0
friendly win over
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
in
Granada. He was the second-oldest player to debut for the country after
Ferenc Puskás, who was 34 and had previously represented
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
.
Engonga scored his only goal on 5 May 1999 in a friendly against
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, equalising an eventual 3–1 victory in
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
. He was picked for the
UEFA Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
The finals tournament wa ...
squad, making a late
substitute appearance in a 2–1 group stage defeat of
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
at the
Amsterdam Arena
The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...
, which was the last of his 14
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
.
Engonga was the first Spanish-born black player to play for the national team. During his career, he also represented the unofficial
Cantabria autonomous team.
[
In August 2008, Engonga was appointed manager of Equatorial Guinea.
]
International goals
:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Engonga goal.''
Personal life
Engonga's younger brother, Óscar Oscar or Oskar is a masculine given name of Irish origin.
Etymology
The name is derived from two elements in Irish: the first, ''os'', means "deer"; the second element, ''car'', means "loving" or "friend", thus "deer-loving one" or "friend of deer" ...
, was also a professional midfielder. He played most of his career in the lower leagues of Spain, but was at Valladolid at the same time as Vicente.
Engonga's nephew, Igor
Igor may refer to:
People
* Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name
* Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler
* Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling
* ...
, was selected by Equatorial Guinea for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...
.
Honours
Celta
*Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del GeneralÃsimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
runner-up: 1993–94
Valencia
*Copa del Rey runner-up: 1994–95
Mallorca
* Supercopa de España: 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 s ...
*Copa del Rey runner-up: 1997–98
*UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...
runner-up: 1998–99
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engonga, Vicente
1965 births
Living people
Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent
Spanish men's footballers
Footballers from Barcelona
Footballers from Cantabria
Men's association football midfielders
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
Gimnástica de Torrelavega footballers
CF Sporting Mahonés players
Real Valladolid players
RC Celta de Vigo players
Valencia CF players
RCD Mallorca players
Real Oviedo players
English Football League players
Coventry City F.C. players
Spain men's international footballers
UEFA Euro 2000 players
Spanish expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England
Spanish football managers
Segunda División B managers
RCD Mallorca B managers
Equatorial Guinea national football team managers