Francisco "Patxi" Puñal Martínez (born 6 September 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
 Puñal training with Osasuna in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Francisco Puñal Martínez | ||
| Date of birth | 6 September 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Huarte, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive 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 at Madrid's CD Leganés, in the 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]
Puñal returned to the El Sadar Stadium as an undisputed first choice, scoring his first La Liga goal on 27 October 2001 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 times in 34 matches.
On 29 November 2006, as the side went on to reach the last-four in the UEFA Cup,[9] Puñal scored three goals (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]
In 2014, Puñal was awarded the Gold Medal for Sporting Merit, the highest accolade of the kind granted by the Government of Navarre.[17]
See also
- List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)
References
External links
- Francisco Puñal at BDFutbol
- Francisco Puñal at Soccerway
- Francisco Puñal at FootballDatabase.eu