Antony de Ávila

Antony William de Ávila Charris (born December 21, 1962) is a Colombian former soccer striker nicknamed El Pitufo ("The Smurf"), who last played for América de Cali.

Antony de Ávila
de Ávila in Unión de Santa Fe, 1987
Personal information
Full name Antony William de Ávila Charris
Date of birth (1962-12-21) December 21, 1962
Place of birth Santa Marta, Colombia
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1987 América de Cali 470 (total) (201)
1987–1988 Unión de Santa Fe 37 (17)
1988–1996 América de Cali (see above)
1996–1997 MetroStars 31 (15)
1997–1999 Barcelona SC 52 (27)
2009 América de Cali 9 (2)
National team
1983–1998 Colombia 54 (13)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is De Ávila and the second or maternal family name is Charris.

Career

De Ávila spent his career with four clubs: América de Cali in his native Colombia, the MetroStars of Major League Soccer, Unión de Santa Fe of Argentina [2] and Barcelona SC of Ecuador. His 25 goals for América in 1990 led Colombia.

De Ávila's MLS career spanned a season and a half, as he joined the Metros midway through the 1996 season as a replacement for colossal disappointment Rubén Darío Hernández. With the club playing on AstroTurf for parts of the season, El Pitufo was surprisingly adept at what was called "ping-pong soccer".[3] He scored 15 goals and added 11 assists in his time in the league, plus another two goals and an assist in the playoffs.

De Ávila retired in 1999, but returned to competitive football at the age of 46 with América de Cali,[4] eventually finishing his career with a club record 208 goals.[1] His 29 goals in the Copa Libertadores ranked him sixth highest scorer in the history of the tournament.[1]

International career

De Ávila also scored 13 in 54 appearances for the Colombia national team between 1983 and 1998.[5] He played for his country in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups. De Ávila made his senior debut on July 26, 1983.

International goals

Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first.[6]

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.June 27, 1989Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States Haiti
4–0
4–0
Friendly
2.July 3, 1989Estádio Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil Venezuela
3–0
4–2
1989 Copa América
3.February 3, 1991Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States  Switzerland
2–0
2–3
1991 Miami Cup
4.June 25, 1991Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Costa Rica
1–0
1–0
Friendly
5.July 7, 1991Estadio Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile Ecuador
1–0
1–0
1991 Copa América
6.July 13, 1991Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile Brazil
1–0
2–0
7.July 21, 1991Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile Argentina
1–2
1–2
8.March 31, 1993Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín, Colombia Costa Rica
2–0
4–1
Friendly
9.April 17, 1994Estadio Centenario, Armenia, Colombia Nigeria
1–0
1–0
10.May 5, 1994Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States El Salvador
2–0
3–0
1994 Miami Cup
11.July 7, 1996Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia Uruguay
3–1
3–1
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
12.July 20, 1997 Ecuador
1–0
1–0
13.August 20, 1997 Bolivia
1–0
3–0

Personal

Nicknamed El Pitufo ("The Smurf") or El Pipa, he was known as much for his short height of 1.57m (5 ft 3 in) as for his goal-scoring prowess.

References
  1. "Ántony Wílliam de Ávila Charris" (in Spanish). América de Cali. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  2. BDFA profile
  3. Ping-pong soccer
  4. "Former MetroStar De Avila, 46, Signed By Colombian Club". SoccerAmerica.com. July 23, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  5. rsssf: Colombia record international footballers Archived December 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Ántony de Ávila International Matches"., 11v11.com Retrieved on August 8, 2014
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