Miguel Ángel García Pérez-Roldán (born 12 February 1981), known as Corona, 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 an

attacking midfielder 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. ...

. He is the current

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

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 ...

club

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. After starting out at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, he spent most of his career at

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

, appearing in 333 official matches and scoring 23 goals. He also played professionally in Australia.

Club career

Real Madrid and Zaragoza

Corona was born in

Talavera de la Reina Talavera de la Reina () is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Its population of 83,303 makes it the second most populated municipalit ...

Province of Toledo Toledo () is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the western part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid Province, Madrid, Cuenca Province (Spai ...

. A product of

powerhouse

, he played for their C and B teams, the latter competing 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 ...

. Corona was signed by

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

in January 2001, but only appeared in 33 top-division games for the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese over four seasons, with loans in the

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 ...

in between ( one season with

Polideportivo Ejido Poli Ejido 2012 Sociedad Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in El Ejido, Province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1969 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo'' ...

, six months with

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 ...

Almería

Corona was loaned again in 2006–07, now to

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

, being instrumental in the

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 ...

side's first-ever promotion to the top flight and reuniting with his former Zaragoza teammate

Fernando Soriano Fernando Soriano Marco (born 24 September 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He spent most of his 19-year career with Almería, totalling ten seasons in two different spells. In La Liga, where ...

. The move was made permanent for the following campaign, and both players were instrumental as the team went on to finish eighth in their maiden season in that league. Corona scored his first goal in the top division with a header, in a 2–1 away defeat against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

on 9 March 2008, his only in the season. He continued to be a regular in the subsequent years, often starting but rarely finishing a match. On 19 January 2011, Corona scored one of Almería's most important goals, in a 3–2 win at

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

(4–2 on aggregate), with the club reaching the semi-finals of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

for the first time ever. On 9 April, through a counter-attack, he opened the score for the last-placed team at

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 ...

– his second goal of the season – but the hosts eventually won 3–1, and the visitors eventually suffered relegation after a four-year stay. In the following two seasons in division two, Corona was an undisputed starter for the ''Rojiblancos'', totalling seven goals. However, he was sparingly used during the first half of 2013–14's top flight, regaining his starting position in mid-March 2014 and thus becoming the third player with most appearances in the competition for the club.

Brisbane Roar

Corona terminated his contract with Almería on 23 September 2015, and signed for Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

side

Brisbane Roar FC Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

the following week. He left the former with competitive totals of 312 games and 23 goals, only behind José Ortiz. On 12 May 2016, Corona won the 'Gary Wilkins Medal' as the Roar's Player of the Year.

Return to Almería

After cutting ties with Brisbane, Corona returned to Almería on 15 July 2016 after agreeing to a one-year deal. He was used mainly as a substitute during the second-tier campaign, contributing 580 minutes as his team avoided relegation in the last matchday. On 15 June 2017, the 36-year-old Corona announced his retirement and was immediately appointed Almería's

. In January 2020, he joined

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

in the same capacity.

Career statistics

Honours

Spain *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Individual * PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Corona 1981 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Toledo Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Zaragoza players Polideportivo Ejido footballers Albacete Balompié players UD Almería players A-League Men players Brisbane Roar FC players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Valencia CF non-playing staff