Carlos Antonio Muñoz Cobo (born 25 August 1961), known simply as Carlos, 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. He represented seven clubs in his country, mainly

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

, moving to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

well into his 30s where he continued to score at an excellent rate. Over 11 seasons, he amassed

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 ...

totals of 314 matches and 111 goals. Carlos was a Spain international in the early 1990s.

Early years

Carlos was born in

Úbeda Úbeda () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Province of Jaén (Spain), province of Jaén, Andalusia. The town lies on the southern ridge of the so-called Loma de Úbeda, a Table (landform), table sandwiched in bet ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. At the age of 7, he moved to

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

with his family for working purposes, beginning his career with local amateur clubs and making his senior debut in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

with

CF Igualada Club de Futbol Igualada is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Igualada, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1939, it plays in , holding home matches at ''Estadi Les Comes'', with a capacity of 4,50 ...

. In 1981, Carlos moved to

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

for his

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

, going on to spend one year out of football as

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

tried to acquire him, being denied by Igualada.

Club career

In 1983, Carlos signed for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, going on to appear almost exclusively for its reserves during his spell – he did compete with the first team in the

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

– and also being consecutively loaned to

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

and

Real Murcia CF 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 , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

, all in

. In the 1987–88 season, still owned by Barcelona, he joined

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

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 ...

, with whom he achieved promotion (finished fourth, but

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in . It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a capacity of 6,000 seats. Reserve teams in Spain play in the ...

were ineligible) while winning the

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

. Carlos subsequently returned to the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

and, despite his wish to remain with Oviedo, was sold to

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

where he could never settle, being barred at the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

side by the likes of Baltazar and Manolo. He returned to the

Asturians Asturians () are a Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage The Asturians have Celtic ( Astures) and Latin cultural origins, most notably f ...

for the following campaign, proceeding to score 133 competitive goals for them; in seven top-flight seasons, he only netted once in single digits and had 20 in 1993–94. Subsequently, Carlos had an abroad spell with Mexico's

Club Puebla Club Puebla is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Puebla (city), Puebla. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, Mexican football. Founded in 1944 as Puebla Fútbol Club, and ...

, where he continued to display his abilities. In a 12 October 1996 match against

Tecos UAG Tecos Fútbol Club, simply known as Tecos, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco, and associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG). It competes in Liga Premier de México, Liga ...

, he scored four times in a 5–2 win. He retired from football altogether after a few games with another club in the country and region,

Lobos BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...

, at the age of 40; he was the only player ever to be crowned top scorer in both the

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

and the

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX, also known as Ascenso BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, was a professional association football league in Mexico and the second level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Primera División A de México (1994–2009 ...

International career

Carlos played six times for the Spain national team in six months, scoring as many goals. His first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

came on 12 September 1990 in a friendly with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

, and he found the net after ten minutes in a 3–0 victory. Following his stellar campaign with Oviedo, Carlos was overlooked by national boss

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

for his

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

squad even though he was the best national scorer. The pair had had a run-in whilst at Atlético Madrid.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Muñoz goal.''

Honours

Individual *

(

): 1987–88 *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

Golden Boot: Invierno 1996

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlos Munoz 1961 births Living people People from Úbeda 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Jaén (Spain) Footballers from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Elche CF players Hércules CF players Real Murcia CF players Real Oviedo players Atlético Madrid footballers Liga MX players Club Puebla players Lobos BUAP footballers Spain men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico