Alfonso Pérez

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Spain
Men's Football
Gold	1992 Barcelona	Team Competition

Alfonso Pérez Muñoz (born 26 September 1972), simply Alfonso, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a striker.

Having represented both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona during his career, Alfonso possessed above-average heading ability despite not reaching 180 cms; he appeared in 307 La Liga games for three teams (also represented Real Betis), scoring 84 goals.

The recipient of nearly 40 caps for Spain, Alfonso represented the nation in one World Cup and two European Championships.

Club career

Alfonso was born in Getafe, in the outskirts of Madrid. In 1990, aged just 18, he made his professional debuts with Real Madrid and, although he never carved a regular place in the starting XI (playing mostly as understudy to club great Emilio Butragueño and then Iván Zamorano), helped the capital side to the 1994–95 national championship.

In that summer, Alfonso signed with Real Betis. In his second season at the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, he converted 25 La Liga goals which was the most goals ever scored by a player in a season in the club's history. Teaming up with Pier, the pair combined for 60 first division goals from 1995–97, and helped the Andalusia outfit finish fourth in the latter.

In 2000–01, FC Barcelona signed Alfonso, who had a difficult time adjusting at Camp Nou, scoring only twice in his debut season, and serving an unsuccessful loan spell at French League's Olympique de Marseille in January 2002 (alongside Real Madrid midfielder Alberto Rivera), where he once again failed to shine.

Barça then loaned Alfonso to former club Betis, which signed him permanently at the end of the season. After another two seasons where he struggled with injuries and loss of form (ten scoreless games in 2004–05), Alfonso retired from football when his contract expired in June 2005, having scored more than 100 official goals during his career. He subsequently returned to Real Madrid, joining its veterans' team.

International career

Alfonso appeared in thirty-eight international games for Spain, making his debut in a friendly match against England on 9 September 1992, in Santander, Cantabria.

The most important of Alfonso's 11 international goals was scored against Yugoslavia in UEFA Euro 2000. Spain were losing 3–2 in injury time, needing a win to qualify from the group at Norway's expense. In the 90th minute, Spain won a penalty, which was converted by Gaizka Mendieta. With seconds remaining, Alfonso volleyed a spectacular shot past Ivica Kralj to claim victory for Spain and his second goal of the match.^[1]

He also appeared in all of the nation's matches at Euro 1996, including the match against Bulgaria which he scored the equalizer after just one minute on the pitch, he played in two 1998 FIFA World Cup matches.

Alfonso was also a member of the national side that won the golden medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 December 1992	Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Latvia	3–0	5–0	1994 World Cup qualification
2.	6 September 1995	Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain	Cyprus	2–0	6–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
3.	9 June 1996	Elland Road, Leeds, England	Bulgaria	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 1996
4.	4 September 1996	Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	1–2	2–6	1998 World Cup qualification
5.	4 September 1996	Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	1–4	2–6	1998 World Cup qualification
6.	4 September 1996	Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	1–6	2–6	1998 World Cup qualification
7.	12 February 1997	Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain	Malta	2–0	4–0	1998 World Cup qualification
8.	12 February 1997	Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain	Malta	3–0	4–0	1998 World Cup qualification
9.	29 March 2000	Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain	Italy	1–0	2–0	Friendly
10.	21 June 2000	Jan Breydel, Bruges, Belgium	Yugoslavia	1–1	3–4	UEFA Euro 2000
11.	21 June 2000	Jan Breydel, Bruges, Belgium	Yugoslavia	3–4	3–4	UEFA Euro 2000

Honours

Club

Real Madrid

• Spanish League: 1994–95
• Spanish Cup: 1992–93
• Spanish Supercup: 1990, 1993

Betis

• Spanish Cup: 2004–05

Country

Spain U23

• Summer Olympics: 1992

Personal

• Alfonso is the older brother of another footballer and striker, Iván Pérez Muñoz. Both Real Madrid youth graduates, they coincided one season at Betis, and reunited at Real Madrid veterans.^[2]

• Getafe CF's stadium, the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, is named after him, despite the fact that he never played professionally for his hometown club (or even once in the ground).^[3]

References

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Alfonso Pérez French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• Alfonso Pérez at National-Football-Teams.com
• Alfonso Pérez – FIFA competition record

Spain squads v t e Spain squad – 1992 Summer Olympics Gold Medalists 1 Cañizares 2 Ferrer 3 Lasa 4 Solozábal 5 López 6 Villabona 7 Amavisca 8 Luis Enrique 9 Guardiola 10 Abelardo 11 Manjarín 12 Paqui 13 Toni 14 Vidal 15 Soler 16 Miguel 17 Berges 18 Pinilla 19 Kiko 20 Alfonso Coach: Miera v t e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Zubizarreta 2 López 3 Belsué 4 Alkorta 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro 7 Amavisca 8 Guerrero 9 Pizzi 10 Donato 11 Alfonso 12 Sergi 13 Cañizares 14 Kiko 15 Caminero 16 Otero 17 Manjarín 18 Amor 19 Salinas 20 Nadal 21 Luis Enrique 22 Molina Coach: Clemente v t e Spain squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta (c) 2 Ferrer 3 Aranzábal 4 Alkorta 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro 7 Morientes 8 Guerrero 9 Pizzi 10 Raúl 11 Alfonso 12 Sergi 13 Cañizares 14 Campo 15 Aguilera 16 Celades 17 Etxeberria 18 Amor 19 Kiko 20 Nadal 21 Luis Enrique 22 Molina Coach: Clemente v t e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Cañizares 2 Salgado 3 Aranzábal 4 Guardiola 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro (c) 7 Helguera 8 Fran 9 Munitis 10 Raúl 11 Alfonso 12 Sergi 13 Casillas 14 Gerard 15 Engonga 16 Mendieta 17 Etxeberria 18 Paco 19 Velasco 20 Urzaiz 21 Valerón 22 Molina Coach: Camacho