Francisco Puñal

Francisco "Patxi" Puñal Martínez (born 6 September 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Puñal and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.
Patxi Puñal
Puñal training with Osasuna in 2010
Personal information
Full name Francisco Puñal Martínez
Date of birth (1975-09-06) 6 September 1975
Place of birth Huarte, Spain
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Natación Pamplona[1]
Osasuna
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1998 Osasuna B 32 (4)
1994–1995 → Oberena (loan)
1995–1996 → Egüés (loan)
1997–2014 Osasuna 458 (23)
1999–2001 → Leganés (loan) 62 (11)
Total 552 (38)
International career
2002–2007 Basque Country 3 (0)
2003–2004 Navarre 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

The vast bulk of his professional career was connected with Osasuna, where he was often charged with penalty-taking and for which he appeared in 513 competitive matches.[2][3][4]

Club career

Born in Huarte, Navarre,[5] Puñal played his entire professional career with CA Osasuna save for two on-loan seasons with Madrid's CD Leganés, in Segunda División.[6] His first official game for the first team came on 15 June 1997 in a 1–1 away draw against SD Eibar, in the same tier.[7]

After his loan spell, Puñal returned as an undisputed first choice, scoring his first La Liga goal on 27 October 2001 at already 26, in a 4–0 home win over RCD Mallorca.[8] In Osasuna's 2005–06 historical league campaign, which brought a best ever fourth-place finish, he netted four in 34 matches.

On 29 November 2006, as the side went on to reach the last-four in the UEFA Cup easily beating teams like Bayer Leverkusen, Parma, Girondins de Bordeaux or Glasgow Rangers.[9], Puñal scored three times (one in his net) in a 3–1 home defeat of Odense Boldklub in the group stage.[10] He made 47 official appearances that season.[11]

From 2007 to 2010, veteran Puñal continued to figure prominently for Osasuna, featuring in exactly 100 league games – scoring twice through penalties, in a 2–0 win at Getafe CF[12] and a 1–2 home loss to Real Madrid,[13] both goals coming during 2007–08 – and also being the captain after the retirement of César Cruchaga.[14] During that timeframe, he was booked a total of 37 times.

Puñal finished 2012 on a high note, being a father for the first time and having appeared in a total of 470 competitive matches for his main club, a best-ever. He obtained the record after his 464th overall appearance on 21 October, against Real Betis,[15] and on 26 May 2013 he again entered the team's history books, netting from 30 meters and contributing to a 2–1 home victory over Sevilla FC which certified permanence in the top division for another year, with one game remaining.[16]

Merits

References
  1. Historia (History); at Club Natación Pamplona (in Spanish)
  2. Patxi Puñal, la imparable leyenda 'rojilla', alcanza el récord de partidos con Osasuna (Patxi Puñal, the unstoppable 'red' legend, reaches record of games with Osasuna); Diario de Navarra, 7 October 2012 (in Spanish)
  3. Más que un capitán (More than a captain) Archived 8 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Revista de Navarra, 4 April 2014 (in Spanish)
  4. 741 días después (741 days later); Noticias de Navarra, 27 August 2016 (in Spanish)
  5. Puñal, el eterno capitán (Puñal, the eternal captain); Vavel, 21 April 2020 (in Spanish)
  6. Sólo siguen diez (Only ten continue); Mundo Deportivo, 9 June 2000 (in Spanish)
  7. Eibar pierde 150 millones (Eibar lose 150 million); Mundo Deportivo, 16 June 1997 (in Spanish)
  8. Osasuna pasa por encima de un Mallorca a la deriva (Osasuna steamroll drifting Mallorca); Mundo Deportivo, 28 October 2001 (in Spanish)
  9. "All the teams that CA Osasuna beat in that magic season". Club Atlético Osasuna. 23 Jun 2020. Retrieved 10 Nov 2022.
  10. Puñal puts Osasuna on brink; UEFA, 29 November 2006
  11. Los 388 partidos de Puñal (Puñal's 388 matches); Navarra Sport, 10 May 2010 (in Spanish)
  12. Getafe 0–2 Osasuna; ESPN Soccernet, 30 March 2008
  13. Osasuna 1–2 Real Madrid; ESPN Soccernet, 4 May 2008
  14. Puñal: "Vamos a intentar tener un año sin problemas" Puñal: "Vamos a intentar tener un año sin problemas" (Puñal: "We will try to have a problem-free year"); Diario AS, 19 July 2009 (in Spanish)
  15. Patxi Puñal nunca podrá olvidar un año como 2012 (Patxi Puñal will never be able to forget a year like 2012); Marca, 27 December 2012 (in Spanish)
  16. Cejudo earns the points; ESPN FC, 26 May 2013
  17. "Patxi Puñal receives the Gold Medal for Sport Merit from the Government of Navarra". Diario de Navarra. 2 Dec 2014. Retrieved 10 Nov 2022.
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