Paulino Alcántara
Paulino Alcántara RIESTRA, ( born October 7, 1896 in Iloilo City, Philippines, † February 13, 1964 in Barcelona, Spain) was a Filipino football players. He is considered the most successful to date Philippine football player of all time.
Alcántara was born in Iloilo, the son of a Filipino mother and a Spanish soldier the light of day. With 369 goals in 357 official and friendly matches he had until March 16, 2014, the top scorer of FC Barcelona, for whom he played for many years. After his career Paulino Alcántara worked as a physician.
Since the football is in the Philippines in the shadow of the basketball and boxing, Alcántara is a cult figure for the local football fans; in Barcelona, he is a legend.
Career
Beginning of the career in Spain
The striker grew up in Barcelona and initially played for FC Galeno before he was taken by Joan Gamper to FC Barcelona. On February 25, 1912 he played at the age of 15 years, four months and 18 days his first game for the first team of the Catalans; that lot by the Catalan Championship against SC Catala ended 9-0 for Barça. Alcántara, who scored the first three goals in this game is still the youngest player ever played for FC Barcelona, and thus also the youngest scorer in the club's history. With him, the club won in 1913 and 1916, the Catalan Championship in 1913 and in addition the Copa del Rey.
Return to the Philippines
Alcantara's parents decided in 1916 to return to the Philippines and bring her son. There he studied medicine and played for the club Bohemians from Manila. He was also appointed in 1917 to the national team of the Philippines, with which he participated in the Far East Games in Tokyo, where the Japanese team could be defeated with 15:2 - the highest Philippine National team victory of all time. During this time he also represented his country at international table tennis events. The FC Barcelona tried in talks with Alcantara parents long in vain for a return of the player to Spain. When the striker but infected with malaria, he refused to seek treatment until he could return to Spain, to which his parents finally consented.
Great career with FC Barcelona
After his return Alcántara was first used by coach Jack Greenwell as a defender, but soon moved back into the attack and won the championship again in 1919 de Catalunya. The final of the Copa del Rey was lost in the same year with 5-2 victory over Arenas Club de Getxo, 1920, however you could win the cup after another Catalan Championship. Together with his Argentine strike partner Sagi - Barba and Ricardo Zamora, Josep Samitier and Félix Sesúmaga rang Alcántara the beginning of the first "golden era " Barça one. Overall, the offensive player could win ten times the championship five times de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey. On 5 July 1927 he finished his playing career to become a doctor. Between 1931 and 1934 he was a member of the Supervisory Board of FC Barcelona.
Alcántara in the national
Even before his games for the Philippine national team debuted Alcántara in 1915 for the Catalan football team for which he played some games until 1924. The coach of the Spanish national team called the native Filipino in the squad for the Olympic Summer Games in Antwerp in 1920. However, Alcántara chose to stay at home because he was at that time just before the final exams of medical school; the Spanish team won the silver medal without him. Between 1921 and 1924, the striker played five times for Spain, where he scored six goals. In 1951, Paulino Alcántara worked for three games as a Spanish national coach, but won them only one and was subsequently replaced by Ricardo Zamora.
Achievements
- Copa del Rey: 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926
- Catalan Championship ( 10): 1913, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927
- Pyrenees Cup ( 1): 1913
- Philippine Cup (2): 1916, 1917
- Silver medal in the Far Eastern Games (1): 1917