Gustavo Munúa

Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently a manager.

After starting out at Nacional he spent most of his career in Spain, mainly at Deportivo de La Coruña where he could never be a starter in six seasons. He also played in the country for Málaga and Levante, being first choice and appearing in 151 La Liga matches over one decade.

An Uruguayan international for six years, Munúa represented the country at the 2002 World Cup. As manager, he had two spells at Nacional and also worked in the top divisions of Ecuador and Argentina.

Playing career

Club

Nacional

Born in Montevideo, Munúa started his career at local Club Nacional de Football, where he won four Uruguayan Primera División titles in a row. He held the record of being the first goalkeeper to score in Uruguayan football, when he netted from a free kick in a league win against Central Español.<ref name=PDA>Template:Cite web</ref>

Munúa later scored three goals from penalties, both in the league and the Copa Libertadores.<ref name=PDA/>

Deportivo

Munúa left Nacional in 2003, joining La Liga side Deportivo de La Coruña on a six-year contract,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where he struggled to gain first-choice status. From 2003 to 2006 he was topped by Spanish international José Francisco Molina and, subsequently, faced stiff competition from Israel's Dudu Aouate.

In January 2008, after regaining first-choice from Aouate, both goalkeepers were involved in a post-training punching session that resulted in both being suspended for the match against Villarreal CF, as well as subsequent league games.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February, due to B-team goalkeeper Fabri's inexperience, both players were reinstated in the squad, although the Israeli regained his lost spot.

After having started the following season, as Aouate, deemed surplus to requirements, Munúa eventually returned to back-up status, as Aouate was sold to RCD Mallorca and Fabri returned to the reserves. On 25 January 2009, due to the forced absence of new first-choice Dani Aranzubia (sent off the previous week against FC Barcelona), he returned to action for his only appearance of the campaign, a 1–0 loss at Real Madrid.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Málaga and Levante

File:Munúa Llevant-Reial Societat.jpg

Munúa facing a shot from Real Sociedad's Carlos Vela in 2012

On 28 June 2009, Munúa signed a one-year deal with Málaga CF.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At his new club he was an instant first choice, appearing in all the league games in his first year as the Andalusians barely avoided relegation (17th position).

After only one season, Munúa rejected a new contract offer and was released by the club, on 26 May 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 6 August he signed with Levante UD, returned to the top flight after two years,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and he made his official debut on 28 August, in a 1–4 home defeat to Sevilla FC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Munúa was a starter for the Valencian Community side throughout the vast majority of his spell.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, late into his third season, he, alongside Sergio Ballesteros and Juanlu, was accused by teammate José Barkero of lack of commitment during a 4–0 home loss against Deportivo, which led to several match fixing allegations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Later years

In January 2014, after a brief spell with ACF Fiorentina which consisted of two UEFA Europa League appearances,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the 36-year-old Munúa returned to his country and Nacional.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

International

Munúa made his debut for Uruguay aged 20, in a friendly match with Chile on 24 May 1998. As a backup, he represented the nation at the 2001 Copa América<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Coaching career

After winning the 2015 national championship with the latter, as team captain, Munúa was announced as Álvaro Gutiérrez's replacement as head coach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following season, he resigned in June 2016 due to a poor showing in the Clausura tournament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:NUEVO DT LDU (32107659145).jpg

Munúa being presented at L.D.U. Quito

In December 2016, Munúa was named manager of Ecuador's L.D.U. Quito.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was dismissed at the end of July, having won one of 20 league matches, but also reached the knockout stages of the Copa Sudamericana with victories over Defensor Sporting and Club Bolívar.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 7 November 2017, Munúa returned to his former club Deportivo as manager of their reserves in the Segunda División B.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In his one season in the dugout, the club reached the play-offs where they lost on away goals to Extremadura UD after a 3–3 aggregate draw.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Munúa joined fellow third division side FC Cartagena on 10 July 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He again took his team to the post-season, this time being eliminated 3–1 in the semi-finals by SD Ponferradina.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 22 December 2019, Munúa took advantage of a contract clause allowing him to leave for a top-flight or foreign team, and returned to Nacional for the upcoming season; he mentioned the necessity of being nearer his two teenage children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was relieved of his job on 15 October 2020, after losing the Apertura final to C.A. Rentistas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2021, Munúa was hired at Unión de Santa Fe, ranked 14th in the Argentine Primera División.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He led the team to the last 16 of the 2022 Copa Sudamericana, losing 4–1 on aggregate to his former team Nacional.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 4 April 2023, he was dismissed, with one win and four losses leaving the team second from bottom after nine games of the new season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career statistics

Club performance<ref>Template:BDFutbol</ref><ref>Template:Soccerway</ref>			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Uruguay			League		Cup		League Cup		South America		Total
1997	Nacional	Primera División	1	0	–	–	–	–	?	?	1	0
1998			11	0	–	–	–	–	?	?	11	0
1999			11	0	–	–	–	–	?	?	11	0
2000			0	0	–	–	–	–	?	?	0	0
2001			27	0	–	–	–	–	?	?	27	0
2002			33	1	–	–	–	–	?	?	33	1
2003			19	2	–	–	–	–	?	?	19	2
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Supercopa de España		Europe		Total
2003–04	Deportivo	La Liga	5	0	4	0	–	–	1	0	10	0
2004–05			17	0	2	0	–	–	2	0	20	0
2005–06			0	0	0	0	–	–	0	0	0	0
2006–07			0	0	6	0	–	–	–	–	6	0
2007–08			4	0	2	0	–	–	–	–	6	0
2008–09			1	0	0	0	–	–	0	0	1	0
2009–10	Málaga		38	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	38	0
2010–11	Levante		20	0	4	0	–	–	–	–	24	0
2011–12			37	0	2	0	–	–	–	–	39	0
2012–13			18	0	0	0	–	–	0	0	18	0
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		Supercoppa Italiana		Europe		Total
2013–14	Fiorentina	Serie A	0	0	0	0	–	–	2	0	2	0
Total	Uruguay		102	3	–	–	–	–	?	?	102	3
	Spain		140	0	20	0	–	–	3	0	163	0
	Italy		0	0	0	0	–	–	2	0	2	0
Career total			242	3	20	0	–	–	5	0	267	3

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Template:Abbr
				Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
Nacional	Template:Flagicon	29 June 2015	5 June 2016	<ref name=Nacional>Template:Cite web</ref>
LDU	Template:Flagicon	13 December 2016	3 July 2017	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Deportivo B	Template:Flagicon	7 November 2017	28 May 2018	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Cartagena	Template:Flagicon	10 July 2018	22 December 2019	<ref>Template:Cite web Template:Cite web</ref>
Nacional	Template:Flagicon	22 December 2019	16 October 2020	<ref name=Nacional/>
Unión Santa Fe	Template:Flagicon	27 September 2021	4 April 2023	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Murcia	Template:Flagicon	1 July 2023	8 November 2023	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Banfield	Template:Flagicon	22 June 2024	12 November 2024
Total				—

Honours

Nacional

• Uruguayan Primera División: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2014–15

Uruguay

• FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up: 1997<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:BDFutbol
• Template:BDFutbol manager
• Template:NFT player
• Template:FIFA player