Toño (footballer, born 1979)

Antonio Rodríguez Martínez (born 17 December 1979), known as Toño (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtoɲo]), is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Not to be confused with Toño (footballer, born 1986).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rodríguez and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.
Toño
Toño with Racing Santander in 2008
Personal information
Full name Antonio Rodríguez Martínez
Date of birth (1979-12-17) 17 December 1979
Place of birth Alicante, Spain
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Betis Florida
Hércules
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Hércules B
1999–2003 Hércules 64 (0)
2003–2004 Recreativo 49 (0)
2005–2012 Racing Santander 177 (0)
2006 → Recreativo (loan) 19 (0)
2012–2013 Granada 24 (0)
2013–2014 Elche 9 (0)
2014–2017 Rayo Vallecano 39 (0)
Total 381 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent most of his professional career with Racing de Santander, appearing in 183 competitive matches over seven seasons. In La Liga, he also represented Granada, Elche and Rayo Vallecano.

Club career

Toño was born in Alicante, Valencian Community. After making his professional debut with hometown club Hércules CF, he joined Recreativo de Huelva (Segunda División) for the 2003–04 season, signing with La Liga side Racing de Santander in January 2005 but returning to Huelva on loan exactly one year later; during both his spells in Andalusia, he had an interesting battle for first-choice status with José Antonio Luque.[1]

Toño in action for Racing Santander in 2009

In the following years, Toño was the undisputed first-choice: in the 2007–08 campaign, as Racing achieved a first-ever qualification to the UEFA Cup,[2] he finished second to Iker Casillas in the Ricardo Zamora Trophy race,[3] an award which he had already won in his debut season with Recre.[4]

Toño begun 2009–10 as starter. On 28 February 2010, however, he suffered a leg injury as the Cantabrians lost 2–0 at home against UD Almería,[5] and would miss more than two months of action, although he would be reinstated for the final two games as Racing narrowly avoided relegation, including the decisive 2–0 home win against Sporting de Gijón.[6]

After leaving Santander in the summer of 2012, Toño continued competing in the top division by representing Granada CF and Elche CF. On 22 August 2014, he terminated his contract with the latter[7] and moved to fellow league team Rayo Vallecano on 1 September.[8]

In March 2018, the 38-year-old Toño announced his retirement due to recurrent physical problems.[9]

Honours

Recreativo

Individual

References
  1. Ubric, Ricardo (16 April 2013). "Luque, de ídolo del recreativismo a técnico del Puebla de Cazalla" [Luque, from Recreativo idol to Puebla de Cazalla manager] (in Spanish). Huelva 24. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. "El Racing se mete por primera vez en la UEFA al ganar a Osasuna (1–0)" [Racing reach UEFA for the first time after beating Osasuna (1–0)]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 18 May 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  3. Colino, Carmen; Guerrero, José Luis (15 April 2008). "Casillas y Toño luchan por el trofeo Zamora" [Casillas and Toño fight for Zamora trophy]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  4. "Toño regresa al Recreativo satisfecho y con ganas de volver a triunfar en el club" [Toño returns to Recreativo happy and hungry to make it big again at club]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). 2 February 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  5. "El Almería gana con facilidad a un Racing que acabó a la deriva" [Almería easily beat Racing who ended adrift]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 28 February 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  6. "El Racing consigue la permanencia ante el Sporting con dos goles de Tchité (2–0)" [Racing stay up against Sporting with two Tchité goals (2–0)]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 16 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  7. "El club llega a un acuerdo con Toño para rescindir su contrato" [Club reaches agreement with Toño to terminate his contract] (in Spanish). Elche CF. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  8. "Toño Martínez nuevo jugador del Rayo" [Toño Martínez new player of Rayo] (in Spanish). Rayo Vallecano. 1 September 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  9. "Toño anuncia que se retira" [Toño announces he is retiring]. Marca (in Spanish). 9 March 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  10. "El Recreativo se proclama campeón en Segunda" [Recreativo crowned champions in Segunda]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 18 June 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
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