Jacinto Elá Eyene (born 2 May 1982) is an Equatoguinean 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 lea ...

who played predominantly as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Born in

Añisoc Añisoc is a town in Equatorial Guinea. It is located in the province of Wele-Nzas Wele-nzas () is a province in the eastern portion of continental Equatorial Guinea. Its capital is Mongomo. It borders the Equatoguinean provinces of Centr ...

, Elá moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

at the age of ten with his parents. He played most of his youth football with

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

(five years), being selected to Spain's youth teams whilst with the club and also helping the reserves promote to

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 ...

in 2000; the following year, he won the

Copa del Rey Juvenil Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association * Parlia ...

with the juniors. On 24 July 1999, Elá made his competitive debut with Espanyol's first team, appearing in a

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

game against

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (; ), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC, is a French professional association football, football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie. The original club was ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, as a 70th-minute substitute ( 1–2 loss). It was his only appearance for the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

. In the 2001 off-season, Elá signed for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in England, penning a three-year contract after turning down

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. During his spell he never appeared officially with the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side, being limited to

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

football; additionally, in the 2001–02 season, he suffered a serious

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury. In 2002, Elá was loaned to

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 ...

in the Spanish third level, under former

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

and

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

player Felipe Miñambres. In March 2003, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

with

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 ...

, he suffered another severe injury to his knee, after a hard tackle by Raúl Pérez; upon his return to the Saints, he continued to appear exclusively for the second team. In August 2005, Elá signed for

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

of the

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

. His output consisted of two league matches, plus two appearances in the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

and one in the League Cup, going scoreless in the process; he left the club in late November. From 2005 until his retirement in 2010 at the age of only 28, Elá played exclusively in amateur football, the sole exception being eight third level games for

UDA Gramenet Unión Deportiva Atlético Gramenet is a Spanish football team based in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1945 it currently plays in , holding home games at '' Municipal de Sant Adrià'' in Sant Adrià ...

in the 2006–07 campaign.

Post-retirement / Personal life

After retiring, Elá returned to Barcelona and started his own clothing line, Malabona (a combination of "

Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approxim ...

" and "Barcelona"), working alongside his wife Esther in the design of T-shirts and all kinds of fashion clothes, which were then sold via the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

.Ara, no canvia el disseny pel futbol (Right now, he does not trade design for football)
Mundo Deportivo, 24 March 2009 (in Catalan) His younger brother, Ruslan, was also a footballer. A defender, he represented the Equatoguinean national team.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ela, Jacinto 1982 births Living people People from Añisoc Equatoguinean emigrants to Spain Naturalised citizens of Spain Naturalised association football players Spanish men's footballers Equatoguinean men's footballers 21st-century Equatoguinean sportsmen Men's association football wingers Segunda División B players Tercera División players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Hércules CF players Deportivo Alavés B players CF Gavà players UDA Gramenet footballers CE Premià players Southampton F.C. players Scottish Football League players Dundee F.C. players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Equatoguinean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in England Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Scotland 21st-century Spanish sportsmen