José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish retired

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, rugb ...

who played 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 ...

. Eleven years of his extensive professional career were spent at

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

and

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

, where he won a total of five titles. Over 14 seasons, he appeared in 415

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 Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

matches. A Spain international for four years, Molina represented the nation at the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

and two

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Playing career

Club

Born in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

, Molina started playing professionally with modest UD Alzira, being purchased in 1991 by local giants

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 ...

. After a loan stint with neighbours

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, ...

he was sold to

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

, making his

debut on 8 January 1995 in a 1–0 home win against

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club ...

. Even though he conceded eight goals in the last matchday, a home loss against

, his team managed to escape relegation in the playoffs. Molina's career was intimately related with

, of which he claimed to be a fan. Signing in 1995, he helped the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

side win a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

(league and

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 Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

) in his first year, going on to miss only two league matches in four seasons combined. Joining 2000 league champions Deportivo La Coruña after Atlético's relegation, Molina helped win a Spanish cup and two supercups, being an undisputed starter throughout his stint in

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. However, on 14 October 2002, he announced that he suffered from

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include a ...

, and that he was forced to undergo treatment for his illness, thus missing most of the 2002–03 campaign (ten league appearances, as ''Depor'' finished third); he eventually recovered fully. After his link expired, Molina returned home to Valencia for 2006–07, playing for top-division strugglers

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in Segunda División, holding home games at Ciu ...

, but did not renew his contract after the season's end, retiring subsequently after the club retained its league status.

International

Molina made his Spanish national team debut as an outfield player against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

on 24 April 1996 – a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

as a left winger, as all replacements had been made by coach Javier Clemente and Juan Manuel López retired injured. He was then included in the squads for

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

and the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for t ...

, but had to wait until Euro 2000 for first-choice status, although he was dropped after a blunder in the opening 0–1 loss to Norway and did not play afterwards.

Coaching career

In the 2009–10 campaign, Molina started a coaching career with Villarreal C in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

. On 12 May 2011, he replaced the fired Javi Gracia at the helm of the reserves 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 L ...

as the team was seriously threatened with relegation. Molina reached Villarreal's main squad on 22 December 2011, taking the place of sacked

Juan Carlos Garrido Juan Carlos Garrido Fernández (born 29 March 1969) is a Spanish football manager. He managed Villarreal and Betis in La Liga before working for several years in the Arab world, winning the CAF Confederation Cup with Egypt's Al Ahly and Mo ...

. He was himself dismissed on 18 March of the following year after a 0–1 away loss against former club Levante, with the ''Yellow Submarine'' dangerously close to the relegation zone (17th). In 2014, after leading Getafe CF B to the 14th place 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 Foo ...

, Molina was appointed at Hong Kong's

Kitchee SC Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won championships in Hong Kong 11 times, including 6 Hong Kong ...

. In his only season he managed win the domestic treble, also taking the team to the quarter-finals of the

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying ...

. On 3 May 2016, Molina was announced as the head coach of

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federa ...

side ATK, replacing countryman Antonio López Habas. On 14 November of the following year, he was appointed at

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX was the second tier of professional football in Mexico of the Mexican football league system. The champion of the competition was promoted to Liga MX (top-flight tier). The bottom team was relegated to Liga Premier (the third tier) ...

club

Atlético San Luis Club Atlético de San Luis, commonly known as Atlético San Luis, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Luis Potosí, replacing San Luis Potosí's Liga MX team San Luis FC after its relocation. San Luis was promoted to Liga MX in ...

ahead of the Clausura tournament. He was relieved of his duties by the latter on 18 February 2018 after just two wins in 11 matches in all competitions, with his side in last position in the league. In July 2018, Molina was appointed as sporting director of the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 19 ...

, replacing

Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Liga MX club C.D. Guadalajara. He won five La Liga ...

who had resigned in the aftermath of Spain's performance at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. In December 2022, he left his position following a last-16 elimination at the 2022 World Cup at the hands of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

Honours

Player

Atlético Madrid *

: 1995–96 *

: 1995–96 Deportivo *Copa del Rey: 2001–02 *

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 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Individual *

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ic ...

: 1995–96

Manager

Kitchee *

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

: 2014–15 *

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. ...

: 2014–15 * Hong Kong League Cup: 2014–15 Atlético Kolkata *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

External links

* *
CiberChe biography and stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molina, Jose Francisco 1970 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Valencia (city) Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers UD Alzira footballers Valencia CF players Villarreal CF players Albacete Balompié players Atlético Madrid footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players Levante UD footballers Spain international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Villarreal CF B managers Villarreal CF managers Kitchee SC managers Indian Super League head coaches ATK (football club) head coaches Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Hong Kong Expatriate football managers in India Expatriate football managers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico