Daniel Aquino Pintos

Daniel "Dani" Aquino Pintos (born 27 July 1990) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Racing de Santander. Left-footed, he can play anywhere on the attacking line but usually appears as both a winger or forward.

Club career

Born in Murcia, Aquino made his professional debuts for local Real Murcia at only 16 years of age, during 2006–07 in the second division, against CD Tenerife: he scored in a 1–4 home loss for his only appearance of the season, which ended in promotion. In early 2007, rumours surfaced that Chelsea and Liverpool, amongst others, were after the youngster; eventually no deals were arranged, as the player chose to stay in the country to further his development.

Aquino first appeared in La Liga on 20 January 2008, in a 1–3 away defeat against Real Zaragoza. After coach Lucas Alcaraz's dismissal and the arrival of Javier Clemente, he finished the campaign in the starting XI, and showed glimpses of an emerging talent; on 30 March he provided a cross for Enrique de Lucas' opener at Deportivo de La Coruña (another 1–3 loss), and netted his first top flight goal two months later, away against Racing de Santander: Murcia led by 2–0, lost 2–3 and ractified its relegation.

In 2008–09, Aquino was given a major role in the main squad but Murcia underachieved, battling for relegation during most of the competition and finally ranking 14th. At the end of the following season, the club finally dropped down a level and he left in June 2011, having featured sparingly in the process.

After further unsuccessful spells with Real Valladolid and Real Oviedo, Aquino moved to Atlético Madrid in mid-January 2013, and scored several goals for its C-team in division four. He also caught the eye of main squad manager Diego Simeone who awarded him his first top division appearance in over five years on 1 June: after just a minute on the field, he assisted Diego Costa for the second goal in an eventual 3–1 win at Zaragoza.

On 10 June 2015, after scoring 17 goals for Atlético's reserve team in Segunda División B, Aquino moved to CD Numancia. On 13 July of the following year, after scoring only one goal during the whole season, he was released and signed for Racing de Santander just hours later.

International career

Aquino represented Spain at both under-17 and under-19 levels. During the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup he scored three goals and was the nation's second-best scorer, only trailing Bojan Krkić's five.

Subsequently, Aquino appeared at the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship held in the Czech Republic.

Personal life

Aquino's father, Daniel Toribio Aquino, was born in Argentina, but played for seven different teams in Spain, most notably Murcia and Real Betis.

Honours

Spain U17

• FIFA U-17 World Cup: Runner-up 2007