Antony de Ávila

Football player infobox


playername = Ántony de Ávila
fullname = Ántony Wílliam de Ávila Charris
height = 1.57m (5ft 3in)
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|12|21
cityofbirth = Santa Marta
countryofbirth = Colombia
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1983/1987-1988/1995
1987-88
1995-1997
1997-1999
clubs = América de Cali
Unión de Santa Fe
MetroStars
Barcelona SC
caps(goals) = 470 (169)
037 0(17)
031 0(15)
052 0(18)
nationalyears = 1983-1998
nationalteam = Colombia
nationalcaps(goals) = 053 0(13)

pcupdate = June 2007

Ántony Wílliam de Ávila Charris (born December 21, 1962 in Santa Marta, Colombia) is a former Colombian soccer striker. Nicknamed "El Pitufo" ("The Smurf") or "El Pipa", he was known as much for his short height of 1.57m (5 ft 3 in) as for his goal-scoring prowess.

De Ávila spent his career with four clubs: América de Cali in his native Colombia, the MetroStars of Major League Soccer, Unión de Santa Fe of Argentina [ [http://www.bdfa.com.ar/jugador2.asp?codigo=3130 BDFA profile] ] and Barcelona SC of Ecuador. His 25 goals for América in 1990 led Colombia. He is the top scorer in the history of América de Cali, with 201 goals, making him one of the fans' idols. De Ávila scored 29 goals during his career in Copa Libertadores making him the 6th highest scoring player in the history of the tournament. De Ávila also scored 13 in 54 appearances for the Colombia national team between 1983 and 1998. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/col-recintlp.html rsssf: Colombia record international footballers] ] He played for his country in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups.

De Ávila's MLS career spanned a season and a half, as he joined the Metros midway through the 1996 season as a replacement for colossal disappointment Rubén Darío Hernández. With the club playing on AstroTurf for parts of the season, "El Pitufo" was surprisingly adept at what was called "ping-pong soccer". [ [http://www.metrofanatic.com/story.jsp?ID=3354 Ping-pong soccer] ] He scored 15 goals and added 11 assists in his time in the league, plus another two goals and an assist in the playoffs.

References

External links

* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=17816 Career statistics] at National Football Teams