Francisco Sebastián Nadal Martorell (born 27 June 1986), commonly known as Xisco Nadal, is a Spanish former 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
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
.
Club career
Born in
Palma de Mallorca
Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...
,
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 ...
, Nadal moved to
Villarreal
Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain.
The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...
as a baby when his father Sebastián, also a footballer, joined
Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...
. He himself made his official debut for the same club against
CA Osasuna
Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El Sa ...
on 2 February 2003. On 15 June, in the
last minute of a 2–2 away draw with
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...
, he became the youngest player ever to score in a
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 ...
match, aged 16 years, 11 months and 18 days; he also appeared in four
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
and one
Champions League games for the side.
However, Nadal was not used very often at Villarreal, and served
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 ...
loans at
CD Numancia
Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...
and
Real Murcia
Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...
in the second halves of
2003–04 and
2004–05, respectively. He spent the entire
2006–07 season at
Hércules CF of the same league, and only made a total of 31 league appearances between the three teams.
Nadal lost all ties to Villarreal in January 2008, and signed with newly-created side
Granada 74 CF
Granada 74 Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Granada 74, was a Spanish football team based in Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It has not registered in any competition since 2009, it held home matches at ''Estadio La ...
in the second tier. Upon
their relegation he moved again, joining
Levante UD
Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community.
Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...
on a two-year contract.
Although rarely a starter in
2009–10, Nadal contributed three goals in 32 matches as the
Valencians
Valencians ( va, valencians) are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Legally, Valencians are the inhabitants of the community. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Aut ...
returned to the top flight after a two-year absence. In
the following campaign, in which he was used almost exclusively as a
winger, he went scoreless in 25 games in an eventual escape from relegation; on 15 May 2011, he 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 a late challenge on
Roberto Soldado
Roberto Soldado Rillo (; born 27 May 1985) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Segunda División club Levante UD, Levante.
After emerging through Real Madrid CF, ...
in a 0–0 away draw against
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 ...
which certified the team's permanence.
On 11 September 2011, the 25-year-old Nadal agreed to a short-term deal with Alqueries CF in the
Valencian regional divisions. After retiring in 2018 at the age of 32, he returned to the
Estadio de la Cerámica as match delegate following an invitation from his former teammate
Javier Calleja who acted as the club's manager.
International career
Nadal was part of
Spain's under-17 squad that finished runners-up at the
2003 UEFA European Championship. In
the same year he also played in the category's
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
, with the nation losing in the final to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
References
External links
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*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nadal, Xisco
1986 births
Living people
Spanish men's footballers
Footballers from Palma de Mallorca
Men's association football wingers
Men's association football forwards
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players
Villarreal CF B players
Villarreal CF players
CD Numancia players
Real Murcia players
Hércules CF players
Granada 74 CF footballers
Levante UD footballers
Spain men's youth international footballers
Villarreal CF non-playing staff