- Gustavo Munúa
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Gustavo Munúa Personal information Full name Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera Date of birth 27 January 1978 Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Playing position Goalkeeper Club information Current club Levante Number 1 Youth career 1986–1997 Nacional Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1997–2003 Nacional 102 (3) 2003–2009 Deportivo La Coruña 27 (0) 2009–2010 Málaga 38 (0) 2010– Levante 31 (0) National team 1998–2004 Uruguay 21 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 November 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Munúa and the second or maternal family name is Vera.Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is an Uruguayan footballer who plays for Levante UD in the Spanish first division, as a goalkeeper.
He spent most of his professional career in Spain, namely at Deportivo de La Coruña, where he could never impose himself.
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Club career
Born in Montevideo, Munúa started his career at local Club Nacional de Football, where he won four Uruguyan league titles in a row. In Nacional, he established the record for the longest time without conceding a goal at 963 minutes, and also held the record of being the first goalkeeper to score in Uruguayan football, when he netted from a free-kick in a league win against Central Español. He also scored some goals from penalties, both in the league and the Libertadores Cup.
Munúa left Nacional in 2003, joining La Liga side Deportivo de La Coruña on a six year-link,[1] where he struggled to gain first-choice goalkeeper status: from 2003–06, he was topped by Spanish international José Francisco Molina. Subsequently, he faced stiff competition from Israel's Dudu Aouate.
In January 2008, after regaining first-choice from Aouate, both goalkeepers were involved in a post-training punching session that resulted in both being suspended for the match against Villarreal CF, as well as subsequent league games.[2] In February, due to B-team keeper Fabri's inexperience, both players were reinstated in the squad, although the Israeli regained his lost spot.
After having started the following campaign, as Aouate, deemed surplus to requirements, Munúa eventually returned to back-up status, as Aouate was sold to RCD Mallorca and Fabri returned to the reserves. On 25 January 2009, to due the forced absence of new first-choice Daniel Aranzubia (sent off the previous week against FC Barcelona), he returned to first team action, in a 0–1 loss at Real Madrid (his only appearance in the campaign).
On 28 June 2009, Munúa signed a one-year contract with Málaga CF.[3] At his new club he was an instant first-choice, appearing in all the league games in his debut season, as the Andalusians barely avoided relegation (17th position).
After only one season, Munúa rejected a new contract offer and was released by the club, on 26 May 2010.[4] On August 6, he signed with Levante UD, returned to the top level after two years.[5] He made his official debut on 28 August, in a 1–4 home defeat against Sevilla FC.
International career
Munúa made his debut for Uruguay aged 20, in a friendly match against Chile on 24 May 1998. As a backup, he would represent the nation at the 2001 Copa América and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Club statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Uruguay League Cup League Cup South America Total 1997 Nacional Uruguayan League 1 0 – – – – ? ? 1 0 1998 11 0 – – – – ? ? 11 0 1999 11 0 – – – – ? ? 11 0 2000 0 0 – – – – ? ? 0 0 2001 27 0 – – – – ? ? 27 0 2002 33 1 – – – – ? ? 33 1 2003 19 2 – – – – ? ? 19 2 Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total 2003–04 Deportivo Spanish League 5 0 4 0 – – 1 0 10 0 2004–05 16 0 2 0 – – 2 0 20 0 2005–06 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0 0 0 2006–07 0 0 6 0 – – – – 6 0 2007–08 4 0 2 0 – – – – 6 0 2008–09 1 0 0 0 – – 0 0 1 0 2009–10 Málaga 38 0 0 0 – – – – 38 0 2010–11 Levante 20 0 4 0 – – – – 24 0 Total Uruguay 102 3 – – – – ? ? 102 3 Spain 84 0 18 0 – – 3 0 105 0 Career total 186 3 18 0 – – 3 0 207 3 Honors
Club
- Nacional
- Uruguayan League: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002
- Deportivo
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008
Country
- FIFA U-20 World Cup: Runner-up 1997
References
- ^ Deportivo dive in for Munúa; UEFA.com, 26 August 2003
- ^ Deportivo keepers axed after fight; CNN, 11 January 2008
- ^ "Duo make Málaga moves". Sky Sports. 28 June 2009. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12875_5404068,00.html. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
- ^ "El Málaga no renovará a Munúa [Málaga will not renew Munúa]" (in Spanish). Diario Sur. 26 May 2010. http://malagacf.sur.es/noticias/2010-05-26/malaga-renovara-munua-20100526.html. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ "El Levante UD llega a un acuerdo con Munúa para la próxima temporada y será presentado esta misma tarde [Levante UD reach an agreement with Munua for the next season and he will be presented this afternoon]" (in Spanish). Levante's official website. 6 August 2010. http://es.levanteud.com/noticias/levante11308.html. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
- ^ WorldSoccer stats
External links
- Levante official profile (Spanish)
- BDFutbol profile
- Gustavo Munúa at National-Football-Teams.com
- Gustavo Munúa – FIFA competition record
- Transfermarkt profile
- Official website (Spanish)
Uruguay squads Uruguay squad – 2001 Copa América Fourth Place Uruguay squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Carini • 2 Méndez • 3 Lembo • 4 Montero (c) • 5 García • 6 Rodríguez • 7 Guigou • 8 Varela • 9 Silva • 10 O'Neill • 11 Magallanes • 12 Munúa • 13 Abreu • 14 Sorondo • 15 Olivera • 16 Romero • 17 Regueiro • 18 Morales • 19 Bizera • 20 Recoba • 21 Forlán • 22 De los Santos • 23 Elduayen • Coach: PúaLevante UD – current squad 1 Munúa · 2 Koné · 3 Nano · 4 Farinós · 5 Rodas · 6 Pallardó · 7 Barkero · 9 Rafa Jordà · 10 Iborra · 11 W. Silva · 12 Juanfran · 13 Navas · 14 X. Torres · 15 Del Horno · 16 Mateu · 17 Javi Venta · 18 Ballesteros (c) · 19 P. López · 20 Juanlu · 21 Rubén · 22 Cabral · 23 Valdo · 24 Aranda · 25 El Zhar · Manager: Martínez
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- People from Montevideo
- Uruguayan people of Spanish descent
- Uruguayan footballers
- Association football goalkeepers
- Association football goalkeepers who have scored
- Club Nacional de Football players
- La Liga footballers
- Deportivo de La Coruña players
- Málaga CF footballers
- Levante UD footballers
- Uruguay international footballers
- 2001 Copa América players
- 2002 FIFA World Cup players
- Uruguayan expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
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