José Francisco Molina

José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is the current sporting director of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Molina and the second or maternal family name is Jiménez.

José Francisco Molina
Molina in action for Levante
Personal information
Full name José Francisco Molina Jiménez[1]
Date of birth (1970-08-08) 8 August 1970[1]
Place of birth Valencia, Spain[1]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Benimar
Valencia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1993 Valencia B 37 (0)
1990–1991 → Alzira (loan) 29 (0)
1993–1994 Valencia 0 (0)
1994 → Villarreal (loan) 18 (0)
1994–1995 Albacete 23 (0)
1995–2000 Atlético Madrid 189 (0)
2000–2006 Deportivo La Coruña 169 (0)
2006–2007 Levante 34 (0)
Total 499 (0)
National team
1996–2000 Spain 9 (0)
Teams managed
2009–2011 Villarreal C
2011 Villarreal B
2011–2012 Villarreal
2013–2014 Getafe B
2014–2015 Kitchee
2016 ATK
2017–2018 Atlético San Luis
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Eleven years of his extensive professional career were spent at Atlético Madrid and Deportivo de La Coruña, where he won a total of five titles. Over 14 seasons, he appeared in 415 La Liga matches.

A Spain international for four years, Molina represented the nation at the 1998 World Cup and two European Championships.

Playing career

Club

Born in Valencia, Valencian Community, Molina started playing professionally with modest UD Alzira, being purchased in 1991 by local giants Valencia CF. After a loan stint with neighbours Villarreal CF he was sold to Albacete Balompié, making his La Liga debut on 8 January 1995 in a 1–0 home win against Real Oviedo.[2] Even though he conceded eight goals in the last matchday, a home loss against Deportivo de La Coruña,[3] his team managed to escape relegation in the playoffs.

Molina's career was intimately related with Atlético Madrid, of which he claimed to be a fan. Signing in 1995, he helped the capital side win a double (league and Copa del Rey) in his first year, going on to miss only two league matches in four seasons combined.[4]

Joining 2000 league champions Deportivo La Coruña after Atlético's relegation, Molina helped win a Spanish cup and two supercups, being an undisputed starter throughout his stint in Galicia. However, on 14 October 2002, he announced that he suffered from testicular cancer,[5][6] and that he was forced to undergo treatment for his illness, thus missing most of the 2002–03 campaign (ten league appearances, as Depor finished third); he eventually recovered fully.[7][8]

After his link expired,[9] Molina returned home to Valencia for 2006–07, playing for top-division strugglers Levante UD, but did not renew his contract after the season's end, retiring subsequently after the club retained its league status.[10][11][12]

International

Molina made his Spanish national team debut as an outfield player against Norway on 24 April 1996 – a cameo appearance as a left winger, as all replacements had been made by coach Javier Clemente and Juan Manuel López retired injured.[13][14]

He was then included in the squads for UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but had to wait until Euro 2000 for first-choice status, although he was dropped after a blunder in the opening 0–1 loss to Norway and did not play afterwards.[15]

Coaching career

In the 2009–10 campaign, Molina started a coaching career with Villarreal C in Tercera División. On 12 May 2011, he replaced the fired Javi Gracia at the helm of the reserves in Segunda División as the team was seriously threatened with relegation.[16]

Molina reached Villarreal's main squad on 22 December 2011, taking the place of sacked Juan Carlos Garrido.[17] He was himself dismissed on 18 March of the following year after a 0–1 away loss against former club Levante, with the Yellow Submarine dangerously close to the relegation zone (17th).[18]

In 2014, after leading Getafe CF B to the 14th place in Segunda División B,[19] Molina was appointed at Hong Kong's Kitchee SC. In his only season he managed win the domestic treble, also taking the team to the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup.[20]

On 3 May 2016, Molina was announced as the head coach of Indian Super League side ATK, replacing countryman Antonio López Habas.[21] On 14 November of the following year, he was appointed at Ascenso MX club Atlético San Luis ahead of the Clausura tournament.[22] He was relieved of his duties by the latter on 18 February 2018 after just two wins in 11 matches in all competitions, with his side in last position in the league.[23]

In July 2018, Molina was appointed as sporting director of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, replacing Fernando Hierro who had resigned in the aftermath of Spain's performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[24]

Honours

Club

Atlético Madrid

Deportivo

Individual

Manager

Kitchee

Atlético Kolkata

References
  1. "José Francisco MOLINA Jiménez". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  2. Líbero, Pedro (9 January 1995). "El Oviedo no merece perder en Albacete" [Oviedo do not deserve to lose in Albacete]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  3. Líbero, Pedro; Arqué, A. (19 June 1995). "Al pozo a ritmo de mambo" [Down the pit mambo-style]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. G. Fuente, Chema (25 May 2016). "20 años del 'Doblete' del Atlético de Liga y Copa" [20th anniversary of Atlético's League and Cup ‘Double’]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  5. "Molina in cancer fight". UEFA. 14 October 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  6. "Molina: "Del cáncer se sale"" [Molina: "You can beat cancer"]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 14 January 2003. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  7. Arconada Lamsfus, Luis (14 January 2003). "Molina battles back". UEFA. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  8. "Molina back in the frame". UEFA. 10 March 2003. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  9. "Molina announces Depor departure". UEFA. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  10. "Molina: "Espero contribuir a consolidación Levante en Primera"" [Molina: «I hope to contribute to Levante's consolidation in Primera»]. ABC (in Spanish). 31 August 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  11. "El portero elegido es Kujovic" [Kujovic is the chosen goalkeeper]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). 14 June 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  12. Ventureira, Rubén (1 October 2007). "El adiós de la estrella discreta" [Farewell to the quiet star]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  13. Román, Rogelio (25 April 1996). "Molina marca ya" [Molina score already]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  14. Pérez, Javier (15 January 2012). "Él sabe lo que sentimos" [He knows how we feel]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  15. "Spain slain by Iversen". UEFA. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  16. "Molina sustituye al destituido Javi Gracia al frente del filial" [Molina replaces sacked Javi Gracia at the helm of reserves]. Marca (in Spanish). 12 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  17. "Molina to lead Villarreal". ESPN Soccernet. 22 December 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  18. "Villarreal sack Molina". ESPN Soccernet. 18 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  19. "El Getafe prescinde de Molina, entrenador del filial" [Getafe release Molina, reserves manager]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 18 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  20. Lau, Chris (2 July 2015). "Exclusive: Jose Molina – The final interview with the ex-Kitchee manager". Offside. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  21. "Indian Super League: Atletico de Kolkata announce Jose Molina as new head coach". Goal. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  22. Águila, Juan Pablo (14 November 2017). "San Luis presenta técnico" [San Luis present coach] (in Spanish). Ascenso MX. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  23. Benavente, Paulina (18 February 2018). "José Francisco Molina es cesado del Atlético San Luis" [José Francisco Molina is sacked from Atlético San Luis]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  24. Garcia, Adriana (9 July 2018). "Jose Francisco Molina new Spain director". ESPN. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
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