Paulino Alcantara

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paulino Alcantara
Paulino Alcantara.jpg
Paulino Alcantara
Personnel
Surname Paulino Alcántara Riestrá
birthday October 7, 1896
place of birth Iloilo City ,  Philippines
date of death February 13, 1964
Place of death Barcelona ,  Spain
size 170 cm
position striker
Juniors
Years station
FC Galeno
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1912-1916 FC Barcelona
1916-1918 Bohemians Club Manila
1918-1927 FC Barcelona
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1917 Philippines
1921-1923 Spain 5 (6)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
1951 Spain
1 Only league games are given.

Paulino Alcántara Riestrá (born October 7, 1896 in Iloilo City , Philippines , † February 13, 1964 in Barcelona , Spain ) was a Filipino-Spanish football player and football coach . He is considered the most successful Filipino soccer player of all time and one of the greatest in the history of FC Barcelona .

Alcántara was born in Iloilo to a Filipino mother and a Spanish soldier . With 369 goals in 357 competitive and friendly matches, he was the top goalscorer at FC Barcelona until March 16, 2014, for whom he played for many years. He also ran for the Filipino and Spanish national teams . After his career, Paulino Alcántara worked as a doctor .

Since football in the Philippines is overshadowed by basketball and boxing , Alcántara is only a cult figure for local football fans; in Barcelona he is a legend. In 1951 he briefly coached the Spanish national team.

Career

Start of career in Spain

The striker grew up in Barcelona and initially played for FC Galeno before being brought to FC Barcelona by Joan Gamper . On February 25, 1912, he played his first game for the Catalans' combat team at the age of 15 years, four months and 18 days; the game in the Catalan Championship against SC Catalá ended 9-0 for Barça . Alcántara, who scored the first three goals in this game, is still the youngest player to ever play for FC Barcelona, ​​and thus also the youngest goalscorer in the club's history. With him, the club won the Catalan Championship in 1913 and 1916 and the Copa del Rey in 1913 .

Return to the Philippines

Alcántara's parents decided in 1916 to return to the Philippines and take their son with them. There he studied medicine and played for the Bohemians Club from Manila . In 1917 he was also appointed to the national team of the Philippines , with which he took part in the Far East Games in Tokyo , where the Japanese team could be defeated 15-2 - the highest Philippine international win of all time. During this time he also represented his country at international table tennis events. In talks with Alcántara's parents, FC Barcelona tried in vain to get the player back to Spain. However, when the striker contracted malaria , he refused to seek treatment until he was allowed to return to Spain, to which his parents finally agreed.

Great career at FC Barcelona

Paulino Alcántara on the field

After his return, Alcántara was initially used as a defender by coach Jack Greenwell , but was soon pulled back into the attack and again won the Championat de Catalunya in 1919 . The final of the Copa del Rey was lost in the same year 5-2 against Arenas Club de Getxo , but in 1920 they could win the cup after another Catalan championship. Together with his Argentinian strike partner Sagi-Barba as well as Ricardo Zamora , Josep Samitier and Félix Sesúmaga , Alcántara heralded the beginning of Barça's first “golden era”. In total, the offensive player was able to win the Championship de Catalunya ten times and the Copa del Rey five times. On July 5, 1927, he ended his playing career to become a doctor. Between 1931 and 1934 he was a member of the board of directors of FC Barcelona.

Alcántara in the national team

Even before his games for the Philippine national team, Alcántara made his debut in 1915 for the Catalan football team , for which he played a few games until 1924. The coach of the Spanish national team called the native Filipino into the squad for the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp . Alcántara decided to stay at home, however, as he was about to take his final medical exams at the time; the Spanish team won the silver medal without him. Between 1921 and 1924, the striker played five times for Spain, scoring six goals. In 1951 Paulino Alcántara worked for three games as the Spanish national coach, but won only one of them and was then replaced by Ricardo Zamora.

successes

Web links

Commons : Paulino Alcántara  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ fcbarcelona.cat: Messi, one goal away from César's record (English)
personal data
SURNAME Alcantara, Paulino
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alcántara Riestrá, Paulino
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Filipino-Spanish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Iloilo City , Philippines
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 1964
Place of death Barcelona , Spain