Pedro Munitis

Pedro Munitis
Personal information
Full name Pedro Munitis Álvarez
Date of birth (1975-06-19) 19 June 1975
Place of birth Santander, Spain
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 Ponferradina (coach)
Youth career
1992–1993 Santoña
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1997 Racing B
1995–2000 Racing Santander 83 (14)
1997–1998 → Badajoz (loan) 28 (10)
2000–2003 Real Madrid 53 (4)
2002–2003 → Racing Santander (loan) 30 (8)
2003–2006 Deportivo La Coruña 90 (5)
2006–2012 Racing Santander 191 (12)
Total 475 (53)
National team
1999–2002 Spain 21 (2)
Teams managed
2012–2014 Reocín (w)
2014–2015 Bansander (youth)
2015 Racing Santander (assistant)
2015–2016 Racing Santander
2016– Ponferradina

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Munitis and the second or maternal family name is Álvarez.

Pedro Munitis Álvarez (born 19 June 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a forward, and the current manager of SD Ponferradina.

He was one of the shortest players in La Liga, and was best known for his fighting spirit. His professional career was mainly associated with Racing de Santander – he also represented Real Madrid for two years – and he played in 447 top flight games over the course of 17 seasons, scoring 43 goals.[1][2]

A Spanish international in the late 1990s/early 2000s, Munitis represented the country at Euro 2000.

Club career

Born in Santander, Cantabria, Munitis played in three separate periods for hometown Racing de Santander. He first appeared with its first team on 22 January 1995, in a 0–0 home draw against Real Sociedad.

After a loan to CD Badajoz (second division) and scoring 14 goals in 72 league games with Racing from 1998 to 2000, Munitis attracted attention from La Liga giants Real Madrid, who signed him for £6.8 million.[3] He would be relatively used during his two seasons with the capital club, helping it to one league and one UEFA Champions League.

Munitis spent the 2002–03 season on loan at Racing Santander, notably netting (and celebrating) against Real Madrid in a 2–0 home win on 19 October 2002.[4][5] In the following off-season, he was purchased up by Deportivo de La Coruña on a free transfer;[6] after a poor first year he would be one of the Galicia side's most important offensive players, also being used as a left winger, providing rest for veteran captain Fran and being his replacement when Fran retired at the end of 2004–05.

Munitis returned to Racing in July 2006, forming an interesting offensive partnership with gigantic Serbian Nikola Žigić in his first season[7][8] and helping it achieve a first ever qualification to the UEFA Cup in his second.[9] On 19 April 2009 he played his 200th league match for the club, at RCD Espanyol.

In the 2009–10 campaign, 34-year-old Munitis was again an undisputed starter, but did not manage to find the net in 29 league contests, and his season was over during Racing's 3–1 home win against Espanyol due to a knee injury, on 14 April 2010;[10] at that time he ranked second in assists, only trailing FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi.[11]

On 17 October 2010, after more than one year without scoring, Munitis netted from 30 metres for the only goal of the home fixture against UD Almería.[12] During the season, he again featured prominently in the starting XI, under both Miguel Ángel Portugal and his successor Marcelino García Toral, the latter returned to the club after nearly three years; in the following campaign he failed to score in 32 games, and Racing returned to the second level after one decade, with the player announcing shortly after his decision to leave his main club.[13]

Still not having announced his retirement, Munitis began his managerial career, with women's football club SD Reocín.[14] In 2014 he was appointed at Club Bansander, taking charge of the youth squads.[15]

Munitis returned to Racing on 4 March 2015, being appointed assistant manager along with former teammate Gonzalo Colsa.[16]

International career

Munitis gained 21 caps for Spain, and scored two goals. He represented the nation at UEFA Euro 2000, appearing as a substitute and netting in a 4–3 group stage win against Yugoslavia[17] and starting in the quarterfinal loss to France (1–2).[3]

Munitis' debut came on 27 March 1999 in an Euro 2000 qualifier against Austria, playing 30 minutes in a 9–0 thrashing in Valencia.[18]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 18 August 1999 Polish Army, Warsaw, Poland  Poland 1–2 1–2 Friendly
2. 21 June 2000 Jan Breydel, Bruges, Belgium  Yugoslavia 2–2 3–4 Euro 2000

Honours

Real Madrid

References

  1. ↑ "Munitis" (in Spanish). El Diario Montañés. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Munitis es ya el racinguista con más partidos en Primera (Munitis is already Racing player with more games in Primera); Marca, 12 December 2011 (Spanish)
  3. 1 2 Munitis in "dream move"; BBC Sport, 11 July 2000
  4. ↑ Spain round-up: Madrid stumble at Santander; UEFA.com, 19 October 2002
  5. ↑ Racing 2 – Real Madrid 0 (2002–03); at YouTube
  6. ↑ Munitis makes Depor move; UEFA.com, 28 August 2003
  7. ↑ "Munitis y Zigic, pareja letal" [Munitis and Zigic, lethal duo] (in Spanish). Diarios de Fútbol. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "El Racing, sin Zigic ni Munitis, se hunde" [Racing, without Zigic nor Munitis, sinks] (in Spanish). El País. 10 December 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "El Racing se mete por primera vez en la UEFA al ganar a Osasuna (1–0)" [Racing reaches UEFA for the first time after beating Osasuna (1–0)] (in Spanish). 20 Minutos. 18 May 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Munitis se perderá el resto de la temporada por sufrir una rotura del ligamento lateral interno de su rodilla dercha [sic] (Munitis to lose rest of the season after internal lateral ligament rupture to his right knee); Marca, 15 April 2010 (Spanish)
  11. ↑ Munitis es clave en la recuperación del equipo (Munitis is key in team recovery); Diario AS, 19 January 2010 (Spanish)
  12. ↑ Racing Santander 1–0 Almeria; ESPN Soccernet, 17 October 2010
  13. ↑ Munitis se despide orgulloso de su carrera racinguista (Munitis bids farewell to Racing with pride); Racing's official website, 18 May 2012 (Spanish)
  14. ↑ Un gol en el minuto final priva a Munitis de un estreno con triunfo en el banquillo (A goal in the last minute deprives Munitis of win in his bench debut); El Diario Montañés, 10 September 2012 (Spanish)
  15. ↑ Pedro Munitis dirigirá al Juvenil del Bansander (Pedro Munitis will manage Balsander's Juvenil); Contrameta, 25 April 2014 (Spanish)
  16. ↑ Hoy comienza la quinta era de Pedro Munitis en el Racing (Pedro Munitis' fifth spell at Racing begins today); Diario AS, 4 March 2015 (Spanish)
  17. ↑ Spain survive in seven-goal classic; BBC Sport, 21 June 2000
  18. ↑ "España vive una noche idílica" [Spain lives idyllic night] (in Spanish). El País. 28 March 1999. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
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