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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 five clubs in his professional career 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.

Early years

Born in Úbeda, Andalusia, Carlos is of Romani descent. 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 Tercera División with CF Igualada.

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

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, all in La Liga. In the 1987–88 season, still owned by Barcelona, he joined Real Oviedo in Segunda División, with whom he achieved promotion (finished fourth, but Real Madrid Castilla were ineligible) while winning the Pichichi Trophy.

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. He returned to the Asturians for the following campaign, proceeding to score 133 competitive goals for them; in seven top-flight seasons, he only netted once in single digits and had 20 in 1993–94.

Subsequently, Carlos had an abroad spell with Mexico's Puebla FC, where he continued to display his scoring ability. 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.

International career

Carlos played six times for the Spain national team in six months, scoring as many goals. 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.

After 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.

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

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
• Mexican Primera División Golden Boot: Invierno 1996

References

1. "La Generalitat inicia el primer curso de romaní para formar a futuros profesores". La Vanguardia. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
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. "Radiografía Segunda División "A"" [Second Division "A" X-ray]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 2 May 1988. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
4. Barceló, Carme (30 May 1988). "El Mallorca volvió a las andadas" [Mallorca back to old ways]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 May 2014.
5. ^ "34 años de la llegada de Carlos Muñoz al Real Oviedo" [34 years of Carlos Muñoz's arrival to Real Oviedo] (in Spanish). One Football. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
6. "Trigésimo aniversario del debut de Carlos" [Thirtieth anniversary of Carlos' debut] (in Spanish). Real Oviedo. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
7. Casado, Edu (8 June 2009). "Qué fue de… Carlos" [What happened to… Carlos]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 May 2012.
8. Archs, Jordi (28 March 1991). "La selección casi dió lástima" [National team were nearly pitiful]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 May 2014.
9. Ortiz, Fabián (13 September 1990). "Entrenamiento con tres golazos" [Training with three wonder goals]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 May 2014.
10. "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

• 1961 births
• Living people
• People from Úbeda
• Footballers from the Province of Jaén (Spain)
• Spanish men's footballers
• Footballers from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat
• Men's association football forwards
• La Liga players
• Segunda División players
• Tercera División players
• FC Barcelona Atlètic players
• FC Barcelona players
• Elche CF players
• Hércules CF players
• Real Murcia CF players
• Real Oviedo players
• Atlético Madrid footballers
• Liga MX players
• Club Puebla players
• Lobos BUAP footballers
• Spain men's international footballers
• Spanish expatriate men's footballers
• Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico
• Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
• Romani footballers
• Spanish Romani people
• 20th-century Spanish sportsmen