Manuel Zúñiga

Manuel Zúñiga Fernández (born 29 June 1960) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right midfielder, and is a manager.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Zúñiga and the second or maternal family name is Fernández.

Manuel Zúñiga
Personal information
Full name Manuel Zúñiga Fernández
Date of birth (1960-06-29) 29 June 1960
Place of birth Luciana, Spain
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Calvo Sotelo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1979 Calvo Sotelo 26 (3)
1979–1988 Español 259 (18)
1981 → Cádiz (loan) 10 (3)
1988–1991 Sevilla 64 (1)
1991–1993 Sabadell 24 (1)
1993–1996 Écija 84 (0)
Total 467 (26)
National team
1977–1978 Spain U18 10 (0)
1979 Spain U19 3 (0)
1979 Spain U20 3 (1)
1979–1987 Spain U21 6 (0)
1980 Spain amateur 1 (0)
1986–1988 Spain U23 4 (2)
Teams managed
2010–2011 Écija
2011–2012 Puertollano
2012–2013 San Roque
2013–2014 Caudal
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He amassed La Liga totals of 323 games and 19 goals over the course of 12 seasons, mainly with Espanyol (nine years) but also Sevilla. He subsequently worked as a coach, in the lower leagues.

Club career

Zúñiga was born in Luciana, Ciudad Real. After starting professionally with lowly CD Calvo Sotelo in the third division, he signed with RCD Español in 1979, being immediately cast in the team's rotation at the age of 19.

After only three appearances in his second season, which also included a loan to Cádiz CF, he went on to average more 30 La Liga matches per campaign in the following years, including 43 – with two goals – in 1986–87 as the Catalans qualified for the UEFA Cup. He helped them reach the final in the subsequent continental competition, but missed his penalty in the shootout, in an eventual loss against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.[1]

In the following three years, Zúñiga played for fellow league club Sevilla FC, where he still was regularly used. After 1991–92, spent with CE Sabadell FC in the second level, he moved to Écija Balompié, helping it promote to division two in 1995 and partnering Real Betis and Real Madrid legend Rafael Gordillo in 1995–96, following which he retired at the age of 36.

Subsequently, Zúñiga worked as a manager, never in higher than the third tier.[2]

International career

A longtime Spanish under-21 international, Zúñiga never earned however a single cap for the full side. He did represent the nation at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

References
  1. Manuel ZUÑIGA; Hall of Fame Perico, 17 April 2009 (in Spanish)
  2. Manuel Zúñiga: «De entrenador se sufre mucho, de futbolista eres un privilegiado» (Manuel Zúñiga: «You suffer a lot as a coach, one is blessed as a footballer»); La Tribuna de Ciudad Real, 22 February 2014 (in Spanish)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.