Javier Portillo (Spanish footballer)

Javier García Portillo (born 30 March 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a forward.

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

Javier Portillo
Portillo in 2003
Personal information
Full name Javier García Portillo[1]
Date of birth (1982-03-30) 30 March 1982[1]
Place of birth Aranjuez, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1994–2001 Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Real Madrid B 23 (15)
2002–2006 Real Madrid 31 (6)
2004 → Fiorentina (loan) 11 (1)
2005–2006 → Club Brugge (loan) 24 (8)
2006–2007 Gimnàstic 34 (11)
2007–2009 Osasuna 40 (3)
2010–2011 Hércules 42 (6)
2011–2012 Las Palmas 34 (8)
2012–2015 Hércules 124 (36)
Total 363 (94)
International career
2002–2003 Spain U21 10 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He started out at Real Madrid and appeared in 59 competitive games during his tenure, scoring 17 goals. In La Liga, he also played for Gimnàstic, Osasuna and Hércules for a total of 131 matches and 21 goals, and also competed professionally in Italy and Belgium.[2]

In a 14-year senior career, Portillo represented Hércules in all three major levels of Spanish football.

Club career

Portillo was born in Aranjuez, Community of Madrid. In 1994, aged 12, he entered Real Madrid's youth system. Over seven seasons he was a prolific scorer, netting 370 goals and breaking a record previously held by Raúl.[3] In August 2002 he signed his first professional contract, running until 2006 with a buyout clause of €15 million.[4]

On 6 October 2002, Portillo made his first La Liga appearance and second overall for the main squad, starting in a 5–2 home win over Deportivo Alavés[5] and ending that season with five goals in only ten games. He also scored a vital last-minute equaliser against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League second group phase, a goal which ultimately proved to be crucial to reach the knockout stages.[6]

Portillo was loaned to Serie A side ACF Fiorentina in July 2004, but was recalled by new manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who arrived midway through the 2004–05 campaign.[7] However, the same coach deemed him surplus to requirements and another loan ensued, to Club Brugge KV of the Belgian Pro League.[8]

At the end of this loan period, Portillo returned to Real under newly hired coach Fabio Capello. With new signing Ruud van Nistelrooy adding to already present Raúl, Antonio Cassano and Ronaldo, he was released and signed a two-year contract with recently promoted Gimnàstic de Tarragona.[9]

After a successful individual season (12 goals in all competitions, although the Catalans were relegated from the top flight),[10] in July 2007 Portillo replaced at Osasuna Roberto Soldado, who returned from loan to Real Madrid.[11] He was used irregularly in his first two years, and only netted three times in the league.

In late December 2009, Portillo – who was only fourth or fifth-choice striker for Osasuna coach José Antonio Camacho[12]– finally moved clubs, signing until the end of the season plus two more with Segunda División's Hércules CF. After some time to adjust he finished in the starting XI, netting vital goals in the final stretch, including one in the last round for a 2–0 victory at Real Unión as the Alicante side returned to the first division after 13 years.[13]

Portillo returned to reserve status in 2010–11, after Hércules signed David Trezeguet and Nelson Valdez in the off-season.[14] He only started through injury or suspension to the pair, and scored just twice in official matches, one coming in a 3–1 away defeat of Real Sociedad on 3 April 2011,[15] with Hércules being immediately relegated.

On 2 August 2011, Portillo signed for three years with UD Las Palmas in the second tier.[16] For the 2012–13 season, however, he moved teams again, returning to Hércules on a three-year deal.[17]

In late December 2015, Portillo announced his retirement at the age of 33.[18] Subsequently, he worked as his last club's director of football.[19]

International career

Making his debut in 2002 – shortly after his arrival at the Real Madrid senior setup – Portillo played ten times for Spain under-21s, and scored five goals.[20][21][22]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[23][24]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Madrid 2001–02[25] La Liga 000011–11
2002–03[25] 10568711[lower-alpha 1]02414
2003–04[25] 18171401[lower-alpha 2]0302
2004–05[25] 301000–40
total 316149122205917
Real Madrid B 2001–02[25] Segunda División B 231500––2315
Fiorentina (loan) 2004–05[26] Serie A 1117300–184
Club Brugge (loan) 2005–06[26] Belgian Pro League 2480083–3211
Gimnàstic 2006–07[25] La Liga 34112100–3612
Osasuna 2007–08[25] La Liga 1822000–202
2008–09[25] 2012000–221
2009–10[25] 201000–30
total 403500000453
Hércules 2009–10[25] Segunda División 1652000–186
2010–11[25] La Liga 2612100–282
total 426410000467
Las Palmas 2011–12[25] Segunda División 3481000–358
Hércules 2012–13[25] Segunda División 40171000–4117
2013–14[25] 38100000–3810
2014–15[25] Segunda División B 3391100–3410
2015–16[25] 1301000–140
total 1243631000012737
Career total 36394361520520421114
  1. Appearance in UEFA Super Cup
  2. Appearance in Supercopa de España

Honours

Real Madrid

Individual

References
  1. Javier Portillo at AS.com (in Spanish)
  2. Portillo, ex de la UD con 35 partidos, se retira en el Hércules (Portillo, former UD man with 35 matches, retires at Hércules); La Provincia, 29 December 2015 (in Spanish)
  3. Portillo, la bestia blanca del gol (Portillo, the goal's white beast); ABC, 10 November 2001 (in Spanish)
  4. El Madrid mantiene la cláusula a Portillo (Madrid keep Portillo's clause); La Voz de Galicia, 28 August 2002 (in Spanish)
  5. Ronaldo irrumpe con dos goles en media hora (Ronaldo bursts with two goals in thirty minutes); El Mundo, 6 October 2002 (in Spanish)
  6. Javier García Portillo – Matches in European Cups; at RSSSF
  7. Portillo regresa al Real Madrid (Portillo returns to Real Madrid); El Mundo, 14 January 2005 (in Spanish)
  8. Portillo, cedido al Brujas (Portillo, loaned to Brugge); UEFA, 31 August 2005 (in Spanish)
  9. El Real Madrid traspasa a Portillo al Nástic de Tarragona (Real Madrid transfer Portillo to Nástic de Tarragona); El País, 7 August 2006 (in Spanish)
  10. ¿Qué fue de Javier Portillo? (What happened to Javier Portillo?); Vavel, 30 October 2017 (in Spanish)
  11. Duo boost Osasuna forward line; UEFA, 19 June 2007
  12. Osasuna no coloca a Portillo y Nico Medina se queda sin ficha (Osasuna cannot relocate Portillo and Nico Medina is not registered); Marca, 1 September 2009 (in Spanish)
  13. El Hércules vuelve a Primera y condena al Real Unión (Hércules return to Primera and condemn Real Unión); Marca, 19 June 2010 (in Spanish)
  14. Valdez-Trezeguet, la sociedad del gol (Valdez-Trezeguet, the goal society); Diario Información, 30 November 2010 (in Spanish)
  15. Hercules claim giant win Archived 24 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN Soccernet, 3 April 2011
  16. La UD Las Palmas ficha al delantero Portillo por tres temporadas (UD Las Palmas sign forward Portillo for three seasons Archived 18 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine; UD Las Palmas, 2 August 2011 (in Spanish)
  17. Portillo regresa al Hércules (Portillo returns to Hércules) Archived 17 February 2013 at archive.today; Hércules CF, 2 August 2012 (in Spanish)
  18. Portillo se retira a los 33 años: "Es el momento idóneo" (Portillo retires at the age of 33: "This is the right moment"); Diario AS, 28 December 2015 (in Spanish)
  19. Portillo: "Esta es de las mejores plantillas que hemos tenido" (Portillo: "This is one of the best squads we have ever had"); Diario AS, 4 September 2019 (in Spanish)
  20. Los Sub'21 tumban a Eslovenia con tres golpes (The Under'21s down Slovenia with three blows); El Mundo, 15 October 2002 (in Spanish)
  21. Portillo abrió el camino al festival goleador sub 21 (Portillo paved way for under 21 scoring festival); ABC, 20 November 2002 (in Spanish)
  22. Los sub'21 se conforman con endosar una 'manita' a Armenia (Under'21s settle with handing Armenia a 'fiver'); El Mundo, 2 April 2003 (in Spanish)
  23. Javier Portillo at Soccerway
  24. Javier Portillo at FBref.com
  25. Javier Portillo at BDFutbol
  26. Javier Portillo at WorldFootball.net
  27. El Madrid arrasa al despertar (Madrid crushed after waking up); Diario AS, 11 September 2002 (in Spanish)
  28. Portillo y Tote hicieron de Ronaldo (Portillo and Tote played Ronaldo); El País, 7 November 2002 (in Spanish)
  29. Un Madrid frívolo y cargado de suplentes choca con el Terrassa (Frivolous and reserve-laden Madrid crash into Terrassa); El Periódico de Aragón, 9 January 2003 (in Spanish)
  30. El Madrid cumple (Madrid do their job); Eurosport, 15 January 2003 (in Spanish)
  31. El Mallorca obliga al Madrid a tomárselo en serio para la vuelta (Mallorca force Madrid to take second leg seriously); Diario AS, 23 January 2003 (in Spanish)
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