Antonio Jesús García González (born 24 February 1977), known as Toñito, 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 mainly 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 spent most of his professional career in Portugal where he represented five clubs (mainly

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

), playing 206 games in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

and scoring 24 goals.

Playing career

Toñito was born in

La Orotava La Orotava is a town and a municipality in the northern part of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands of Spain. The area of the municipality stretches from the north coast to the mountainous interior, and includes the summit of the Teide volcano, ...

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

. A player with skill and teamwork approach alike, he started his senior career with hometown club

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� ...

. Having made no appearances for the first team, he moved to Portugal ahead of the 1997–98 season and signed for

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

, going on to represent in the country

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, C.D. Santa Clara – loaned, where he joined

Mauricio Hanuch Mauricio Fabio Hanuch (16 November 1976 – 26 May 2020) was an Argentine footballer who played as a right midfielder. He amassed Argentine Primera División totals of 137 games and 14 goals over the course of eight seasons, representing five ...

, also on loan– and

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Boavista, is a Portuguese professional sports club from the of Porto that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Estádio do Bessa. It is one of the oldest clubs ...

. Toñito played an important part as Sporting won the 1999–2000 national championship, their first in 18 years, making 27 appearances although 24 of those were as a substitute. On 7 October 2002, he provided the assist for

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

's first career goal, against Moreirense F.C. in the

(3–0 win). In the 2005–06 campaign, Toñito returned to Spain and Tenerife, with the club now 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 ...

, scoring seven league goals including two in a 3–2 away victory over

Racing de Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol, commonly known as Racing de Ferrol, is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in , holding home games at '' E ...

on 27 May 2006, before he was stretchered off. After a quick spell in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

he returned to Portugal, netting a late equaliser for

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria (), commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pe ...

in a 1–1 draw at former side Sporting on 2 December 2007, although his team would eventually drop down a level. For 2008–09, Toñito moved to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

's Ionikos FC. However, in January 2009, he switched to the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

with

AEK Larnaca FC AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EPA Larnaca and Pezoporikos. The club also has a men' ...

, reuniting with his former Sporting teammate

Elpídio Silva Elpídio Pereira da Silva Filho (born 19 July 1975), known as Silva, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Portugal, mainly representing Boavista and amassing Primeira Liga total ...

; he retired at the end of the season, aged 32.

Post-retirement

Afterwards, Toñito opened a football academy in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

called Sporting de Tenerife.

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 1999–2000 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonito 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Tenerife 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Tenerife B players CD Tenerife players Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Vitória F.C. players Sporting CP footballers C.D. Santa Clara players Sporting CP B players Boavista F.C. players U.D. Leiria players Croatian Football League players HNK Rijeka players Ionikos F.C. players Cypriot First Division players AEK Larnaca FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus