Ángel Javier Hernández Pindado (born 24 April 1976) is a Spanish former

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

, currently a goalkeeping coach. He appeared in 92

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

matches over six seasons, mainly at the service of

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

. He also competed professionally in Belgium, Cyprus and Albania, in a 17-year career.

Playing career

Pindado was born in

Ávila Ávila ( , , ) is a Spanish city located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m a ...

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

. During his early career he represented

Águilas CF Águilas Club de Fútbol was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Águilas, in the autonomous community of Region of Murcia, Murcia. Founded in 1925 and dissolved in 2010, it played its last season (2009–10 Segunda Divisi ...

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

Atlético Madrid B Atlético de Madrid B is a Spanish football team based in Madrid. Founded on 17 September 1963, it is the reserve team of Atlético Madrid and currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 2. They play their home games at Cerro del Espin ...

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

and

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

, also having an unassuming abroad spell with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

's Royal Antwerp F.C. in the 2003–04 season (one appearance, relegation from the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

as last). On 29 May 2005, in the closing round of the top-division campaign, Pindado played his only game in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

as Albacete were already relegated, a 1–0 away loss against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

. With Las Palmas, he was the undisputed starter as the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

club was in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

, but featured less in

; he did contribute 22 appearances in 2009–10, as

Fabián Assmann Walter Fabián Assmann (born 23 March 1986) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Career Born in Zárate, Assmann made his debut on 21 April 2007, and played two more games in the 2007 Clasura competition. For the ...

dealt with some injury problems. After only five competitive matches in the 2010–11 season where he conceded 18 goals, the 35-year-old Pindado was released by Las Palmas. He joined

Nea Salamis Famagusta FC Nea Salamis Famagusta FC (alternatively Nea Salamina, ) is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Ammochostos (also known by its Romanization of Greek, romanized name, Famagusta). It has been a r ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in the 2012 winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. In January 2014, after nearly two years with his hometown side, Pindado signed with

KS Kastrioti Klubi Sportiv Kastrioti is an Albanian football club based in the city of Krujë. The club's home ground used to be the Kastrioti Stadium, but after the stadium got closed and demolished, Kastrioti decided to move to the Kamëz Stadium in Kam ...

as a player–goalkeeping coach, becoming the first Spaniard in both capacities to compete in the

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

Coaching career

Pindado retired in June 2014 at the age of 38, immediately joining compatriot José Murcia's staff at

PFC Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was ...

. He subsequently worked as goalkeeper coach in Thailand ( Ubon United FC, under Scott Cooper) and the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

(

FC Pune City Football Club Pune City was an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Pune, Maharashtra, which last participated in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football league system, under licence from All Ind ...

, ATK and

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

, always under his compatriot Antonio López Habas).

References

External links