Javier Portillo (Spanish footballer)

Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Javier García Portillo (born 30 March 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He started out at Real Madrid and appeared in 59 competitive games during his tenure, scoring 17 goals. In La Liga, he also played for Gimnàstic, Osasuna and Hércules for a total of 131 matches and 21 goals, and also competed professionally in Italy and Belgium.<ref name=LP>Portillo, ex de la UD con 35 partidos, se retira en el Hércules (Portillo, former UD man with 35 matches, retires at Hércules); La Provincia, 29 December 2015 (in Spanish)</ref>

In a 14-year senior career, Portillo represented Hércules in all three major levels of Spanish football.

Club career

Portillo was born in Aranjuez, Community of Madrid. In 1994, aged 12, he entered Real Madrid's youth system. Over seven seasons he was a prolific scorer, netting 370 goals and breaking a record previously held by Raúl.<ref>Portillo, la bestia blanca del gol (Portillo, the goal's white beast); ABC, 10 November 2001 (in Spanish)</ref> In August 2002, he signed his first professional contract, running until 2006 with a buyout clause of €15 million.<ref>El Madrid mantiene la cláusula a Portillo (Madrid keep Portillo's clause); La Voz de Galicia, 28 August 2002 (in Spanish)</ref>

On 6 October 2002, Portillo made his first La Liga appearance and second overall for the main squad, starting in a 5–2 home win over Alavés<ref>Ronaldo irrumpe con dos goles en media hora (Ronaldo bursts with two goals in thirty minutes); El Mundo, 6 October 2002 (in Spanish)</ref> and ending that season with five goals in only ten games. He also scored a vital last-minute equaliser against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League second group phase, a goal which ultimately proved to be crucial to reach the knockout stages.<ref>Javier García Portillo – Matches in European Cups; at RSSSF</ref>

Portillo was loaned to Serie A side Fiorentina in July 2004, but was recalled by new manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who arrived midway through the 2004–05 campaign.<ref>Portillo regresa al Real Madrid (Portillo returns to Real Madrid); El Mundo, 14 January 2005 (in Spanish)</ref> However, the same coach deemed him surplus to requirements and another loan ensued, to Club Brugge of the Belgian Pro League.<ref>Portillo, cedido al Brujas (Portillo, loaned to Brugge); UEFA, 31 August 2005 (in Spanish)</ref>

At the end of this loan period, Portillo returned to Real under newly hired coach Fabio Capello. With new signing Ruud van Nistelrooy adding to already present Raúl, Antonio Cassano and Ronaldo, he was released and signed a two-year contract with recently promoted Gimnàstic.<ref>El Real Madrid traspasa a Portillo al Nástic de Tarragona (Real Madrid transfer Portillo to Nástic de Tarragona); El País, 7 August 2006 (in Spanish)</ref>

After a successful individual season (12 goals in all competitions, although the Catalans were relegated from the top flight),<ref>¿Qué fue de Javier Portillo? (What happened to Javier Portillo?); Vavel, 30 October 2017 (in Spanish)</ref> in July 2007, Portillo was replaced at Osasuna by Roberto Soldado, who returned from a loan to Real Madrid.<ref>Duo boost Osasuna forward line; UEFA, 19 June 2007</ref> He was used irregularly in his first two years, and only netted three times in the league.

In late December 2009, Portillo – who was only fourth or fifth-choice striker for Osasuna coach José Antonio Camacho<ref>Osasuna no coloca a Portillo y Nico Medina se queda sin ficha (Osasuna cannot relocate Portillo and Nico Medina is not registered); Marca, 1 September 2009 (in Spanish)</ref>– finally moved clubs, signing until the end of the season plus two more with Segunda División's Hércules. After some time to adjust he finished in the starting XI, netting vital goals in the final stretch, including one in the last round for a 2–0 victory at Real Unión as the Alicante side returned to the first division after 13 years.<ref>El Hércules vuelve a Primera y condena al Real Unión (Hércules return to Primera and condemn Real Unión); Marca, 19 June 2010 (in Spanish)</ref>

Portillo returned to reserve status in the 2010–11 season, after Hércules signed David Trezeguet and Nelson Valdez in the off-season.<ref>Valdez-Trezeguet, la sociedad del gol (Valdez-Trezeguet, the goal society); Diario Información, 30 November 2010 (in Spanish)</ref> He only started through injury or suspension to the pair, and scored just twice in official matches, one coming in a 3–1 away defeat of Real Sociedad on 3 April 2011,<ref>Hercules claim giant win Template:Webarchive; ESPN Soccernet, 3 April 2011</ref> with Hércules being immediately relegated.

On 2 August 2011, Portillo signed for three years with Las Palmas in the second tier.<ref>La UD Las Palmas ficha al delantero Portillo por tres temporadas (UD Las Palmas sign forward Portillo for three seasons Template:Webarchive; UD Las Palmas, 2 August 2011 (in Spanish)</ref> For the 2012–13 season, however, he moved teams again, returning to Hércules on a three-year deal.<ref>Portillo regresa al Hércules (Portillo returns to Hércules) Template:Webarchive; Hércules CF, 2 August 2012 (in Spanish)</ref>

In late December 2015, Portillo announced his retirement at the age of 33.<ref>Portillo se retira a los 33 años: "Es el momento idóneo" (Portillo retires at the age of 33: "This is the right moment"); Diario AS, 28 December 2015 (in Spanish)</ref> Subsequently, he worked as his last club's director of football.<ref>Portillo: "Esta es de las mejores plantillas que hemos tenido" (Portillo: "This is one of the best squads we have ever had"); Diario AS, 4 September 2019 (in Spanish)</ref>

International career

Making his debut in 2002 – shortly after his arrival at the Real Madrid senior setup – Portillo played ten times for Spain under-21s, and scored five goals.<ref>Los Sub'21 tumban a Eslovenia con tres golpes (The Under'21s down Slovenia with three blows); El Mundo, 15 October 2002 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>Portillo abrió el camino al festival goleador sub 21 (Portillo paved way for under 21 scoring festival); ABC, 20 November 2002 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>Los sub'21 se conforman con endosar una 'manita' a Armenia (Under'21s settle with handing Armenia a 'fiver'); El Mundo, 2 April 2003 (in Spanish)</ref>

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref name=SW>Template:Soccerway</ref><ref>Template:FBref</ref>

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Real Madrid	2001–02<ref name=BDF>Template:BDFutbol</ref>	La Liga	0	0	0	0	1	1	–		1	1
	2002–03<ref name=BDF/>		10	5	6	8	7	1	1Template:Efn	0	24	14
	2003–04<ref name=BDF/>		18	1	7	1	4	0	1Template:Efn	0	30	2
	2004–05<ref name=BDF/>		3	0	1	0	0	0	–		4	0
	total		31	6	14	9	12	2	2	0	59	17
Real Madrid B	2001–02<ref name=BDF/>	Segunda División B	23	15	0	0	–		–		23	15
Fiorentina (loan)	2004–05<ref name=WF>Template:WorldFootball.net</ref>	Serie A	11	1	7	3	0	0	–		18	4
Club Brugge (loan)	2005–06<ref name=WF/>	Belgian Pro League	24	8	0	0	8	3	–		32	11
Gimnàstic	2006–07<ref name=BDF/>	La Liga	34	11	2	1	0	0	–		36	12
Osasuna	2007–08<ref name=BDF/>	La Liga	18	2	2	0	0	0	–		20	2
	2008–09<ref name=BDF/>		20	1	2	0	0	0	–		22	1
	2009–10<ref name=BDF/>		2	0	1	0	0	0	–		3	0
	total		40	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	45	3
Hércules	2009–10<ref name=BDF/>	Segunda División	16	5	2	0	0	0	–		18	6
	2010–11<ref name=BDF/>	La Liga	26	1	2	1	0	0	–		28	2
	total		42	6	4	1	0	0	0	0	46	7
Las Palmas	2011–12<ref name=BDF/>	Segunda División	34	8	1	0	0	0	–		35	8
Hércules	2012–13<ref name=BDF/>	Segunda División	40	17	1	0	0	0	–		41	17
	2013–14<ref name=BDF/>		38	10	0	0	0	0	–		38	10
	2014–15<ref name=BDF/>	Segunda División B	33	9	1	1	0	0	–		34	10
	2015–16<ref name=BDF/>		13	0	1	0	0	0	–		14	0
	total		124	36	3	1	0	0	0	0	127	37
Career total			363	94	36	15	20	5	2	0	421	114

Honours

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 2002–03<ref name=SW/>
• Supercopa de España: 2003<ref name=SW/>
• UEFA Champions League: 2001–02<ref name=LP/>
• UEFA Super Cup: 2002<ref name=SW/>

Individual

• Copa del Rey top scorer: 2002–03 (8 goals)<ref>El Madrid arrasa al despertar (Madrid crushed after waking up); Diario AS, 11 September 2002 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>Portillo y Tote hicieron de Ronaldo (Portillo and Tote played Ronaldo); El País, 7 November 2002 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>Un Madrid frívolo y cargado de suplentes choca con el Terrassa (Frivolous and reserve-laden Madrid crash into Terrassa); El Periódico de Aragón, 9 January 2003 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>El Madrid cumple (Madrid do their job); Eurosport, 15 January 2003 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>El Mallorca obliga al Madrid a tomárselo en serio para la vuelta (Mallorca force Madrid to take second leg seriously); Diario AS, 23 January 2003 (in Spanish)</ref>

External links

• Template:BDFutbol
• Template:Futbolme