Joaquín Alonso

Joaquín Alonso González (born 9 June 1956 in Oviedo, Asturias), known simply as Joaquín, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

During his 16-year professional career, Joaquín played solely for Sporting de Gijón, even though he was born in the city of neighbouring Real Oviedo. After 17 appearances and one goal in his debut season in La Liga he became an undisputed starter, going on to appear in a further 462 top division games until June 1992 (679 overall), with a total of 65 goals scored.

In the 1986–87 campaign, as the Asturians finished fourth, Joaquín netted eight times in 40 contests (third-best in the squad in scoring), and continued to appear prominently until the end of his career, retiring at the age of 36 with the most matches played in the Spanish top flight, a record which stood for less than one year, however.

International career

Joaquín earned 18 caps and scored once for Spain, and was selected to the 1982 FIFA World Cup squad. His debut came on 14 November 1979 in a 1–3 friendly defeat with Denmark, in Cádiz.

International goals