Carlos Muñoz (footballer, born 1961)

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

Carlos

Personal information
Full name	Carlos Antonio Muñoz Cobo
Date of birth	(1961-08-25) 25 August 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth	Úbeda, Spain
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Santa Eulalia
	Juventud Hospitalet
	Polvoritense
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1983	Igualada
1983–1985	Barcelona B	29	(12)
1985–1988	Barcelona	0	(0)
1985	→ Elche (loan)	12	(5)
1985–1986	→ Hércules (loan)	20	(5)
1986–1987	→ Murcia (loan)	21	(4)
1987–1988	→ Oviedo (loan)	34	(25)
1988–1989	Atlético Madrid	21	(4)
1989–1996	Oviedo	240	(93)
1996–1998	Puebla	51	(33)
2000–2001	Lobos BUAP	52	(25)
Total		480	(206)
International career
1990–1991	Spain	6	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Carlos Antonio Muñoz Cobo (born 25 August 1961), known simply as Carlos, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He represented seven clubs in his country, mainly Oviedo, moving to Mexico well into his 30s where he continued to score at an excellent rate. Over 11 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 314 matches and 111 goals.

Carlos was a Spain international in the early 1990s.

Early years

Carlos was born in Úbeda, Andalusia, of Romani descent.[1] At the age of 7, he moved to Catalonia with his family for working purposes, beginning his career with local amateur clubs and making his senior debut in the Tercera División with CF Igualada.[2][3]

In 1981, Carlos moved to Cádiz for his military service, going on to spend one year out of football as Cádiz CF tried to acquire him, being denied by Igualada.[2][3]

Club career

In 1983, Carlos signed for FC Barcelona, going on to appear almost exclusively for its reserves during his spell – he did compete with the first team in the Copa de la Liga – and also being consecutively loaned to Elche CF, Hércules CF and Real Murcia CF, all in La Liga.[2][3] In the 1987–88 season, still owned by Barcelona, he joined Real Oviedo of Segunda División, with whom he achieved promotion (finished fourth, but Real Madrid Castilla were ineligible) while winning the Pichichi Trophy.[4][5][6]

Carlos subsequently returned to the Camp Nou and, despite his wish to remain with Oviedo, was sold to Atlético Madrid where he could never settle, being barred at the capital side by the likes of Baltazar and Manolo.[7][2][3] He returned to the Asturians for the following campaign, proceeding to score 133 competitive goals for them;[8] in seven top-flight seasons, he only netted once in single digits and had 20 in 1993–94.[6]

Subsequently, Carlos had an abroad spell with Mexico's Club Puebla, where he continued to display his abilities. In a 12 October 1996 match against Tecos UAG, he scored four times in a 5–2 win. He retired from football altogether after a few games with another club in the country and region, Lobos BUAP, at the age of 40;[9][3] he was the only player ever to be crowned top scorer in both the Liga MX and the Ascenso MX.[10]

International career

Carlos played six times for the Spain national team in six months, scoring as many goals.[11] His first cap came on 12 September 1990 in a friendly with Brazil in Gijón, and he found the net after ten minutes in a 3–0 victory.[12]

Following his stellar campaign with Oviedo, Carlos was overlooked by national boss Javier Clemente for his 1994 FIFA World Cup squad even though he was the best national scorer. The pair had had a run-in whilst at Atlético Madrid.[2][3]

Career statistics

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Muñoz goal.

List of international goals scored by Carlos Muñoz[13]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 September 1990	El Molinón, Gijón, Spain	Brazil	1–0	3–0	Friendly
2	10 October 1990	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Iceland	2–0	2–1	Euro 1992 qualifying
3	14 November 1990	Evžena Rošického, Prague, Czechoslovakia	Czechoslovakia	2–1	2–3	Euro 1992 qualifying
4	19 December 1990	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Albania	2–0	9–0	Euro 1992 qualifying
5	19 December 1990	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Albania	6–0	9–0	Euro 1992 qualifying
6	27 March 1991	El Sardinero, Santander, Spain	Hungary	2–3	2–4	Friendly

Honours

Individual

• Pichichi Trophy (Segunda División): 1987–88[6]
• Mexican Primera División Golden Boot: Invierno 1996

References

1. Cuervo, Javier (15 December 2018). ""Fui camarero, pintor, recadero y butanero; no creía que llegaría al fútbol"" ["I was a waiter, painter, gofer and gas man; I did not think I would make it to football"]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2025.
2. "Carlos Muñoz Cobo; "Carlos Gol", el delantero nato" [Carlos Muñoz Cobo; "Carlos Goal", the consummate striker] (in Spanish). Fútbol de Lux. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
3. Pérez, David (20 July 2020). "Carlos Muñoz, el último delantero salvaje: "Clemente me dejó sin Mundial por rencor"" [Carlos Muñoz, the last wild forward: "Clemente left me without World Cup out of spite"]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2025.
4. "Radiografía Segunda División "A"" [Second Division "A" X-ray]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 2 May 1988. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
5. Barceló, Carme (30 May 1988). "El Mallorca volvió a las andadas" [Mallorca back to old ways]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 May 2014.
6. "34 años de la llegada de Carlos Muñoz al Real Oviedo" [34 years of Carlos Muñoz's arrival to Real Oviedo] (in Spanish). OneFootball. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
7. López, Luis Fernando (7 May 2024). "Los 80 en el Atleti: una década poco prodigiosa" [The 80s at Atleti: decade of little remark] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
8. "Trigésimo aniversario del debut de Carlos" [Thirtieth anniversary of Carlos' debut] (in Spanish). Real Oviedo. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
9. Casado, Edu (8 June 2009). "Qué fue de… Carlos" [What happened to… Carlos]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 May 2012.
10. Batalla, Pablo (6 March 2023). "Carlos Muñoz: «El Barcelona ha hecho mucho daño al fútbol con el tiquitaca»" [Carlos Muñoz: "Barcelona have hurt football a lot with tiki-taka"] (in Spanish). Jot Down. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
11. Archs, Jordi (28 March 1991). "La selección casi dió lástima" [National team were nearly pitiful]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 May 2014.
12. Ortiz, Fabián (13 September 1990). "Entrenamiento con tres golazos" [Training with three wonder goals]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 May 2014.
13. "Carlos". European Football. Retrieved 28 September 2017.

External links

• Carlos at BDFutbol
• Carlos – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (archived) (in Spanish)
• Carlos at National-Football-Teams.com