Manuel Jiménez Abalo

Manuel Enrique Jiménez Abalo (born 27 October 1956 in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra, Galicia) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

Football career

During his professional career, Jiménez Abalo played for Sporting de Gijón and Real Burgos CF. With the Asturias club, he spent 12 of his 13 professional seasons, appearing in nearly 500 official matches – in La Liga he never played in less than 30 games, and helped the team to the fourth place in the 1986–87 campaign after contributing with 43 appearances (3,870 minutes).

With Burgos, in his final season, Jiménez played in all the games and minutes, and the modest Castile and León side retained their top level status while posting the eighth-best defensive record in the league. He retired at nearly 36, and also earned one cap for Spain on 18 November 1981, a 3–2 friendly win in Poland, being selected to the 1982 FIFA World Cup squad.