Since football began in Málaga, there have been singular players, perhaps because of their country of origin, being so far away, or from countries who maybe haven’t stood out in international football. In the mid-20s we had the case of Atanasio Pardo from Chile, the son of Spanish parents who played at Málaga CF, or Moroccan-born Abdeslam Butina, an FC Malagueño forward. In this article we look back at foreign players who passed through La Rosaleda, either with CD Málaga or Málaga CF.
Exotic players
In the 40s, two players arrived at Málaga, Spanish for all intents and purposes, but born in Cuba and Algeria respectively. We are talking about Amancio Hermosa Pariol, who played several friendlies in the 1941-42 season and goalkeeper Julio Cuesta Gómez, a Malaguista keeper in the 1943-44 season.
Moving on more than three decades, in the 1977-78 season, Pertti Kalevi Jantunen was the first Finnish player to play for CD Málaga and the first player from Finland in Spanish football. Coming from Reipas Lahti, and a firefighter by profession in his home country, during his time with the Blue and Whites he played 14 official matches, all in the Second Division. He didn’t end the season, as on 11th January 1978 he rescinded his contract with CD Málaga.
The Spain World Cup in 1982 brought with it a series of players who, after playing with their respective national teams, remained in our country after the event. In the case of CD Málaga, there was central defender from Honduras Anthony Costly, who had performed well with his country, drawing with Spain. However, he only played 12 official games (six in the League and six in the Cup) with a lower than expected performance. At the end of the 1982-83 season, he left the Club.
At the end of the 1989-90 campaign, Albeiro 'Palomo' Usuriaga signed to CD Málaga, a Colombian forward who had just won the Copa Libertadores with Atlético Nacional.
Despite his speed, he lacked goals. He played 18 official matches and scored five goals (between April 1990 and December of the same year) with the Blue and Whites.
Another World Cup, Italia ’90, brought Makanaky from Cameroon to CD Málaga from French side Toulon. Following a standout first season, his performance level dropped in the 1991-92 season, which had a bad ending for the entity.
The last player we can call ‘exotic’ at CD Málaga was Bulgarian Atanas Kirov, who also played during that last season of the Club’s existence (91-92). Coming from Deportivo de La Coruña, he arrived on loan once the season had started, and played 14 matches (two goals) in the Second Division and three Copa del Rey games.
In regard to Málaga CF, as exotics, we can highlight the cases of Brazilian forward Genilson, unknown to football fans and who wore the Blue and White jersey in the 99-00 season, on the recommendation of Rivaldo. He played three League matches, two Cup games, totalling 178 minutes as a Malaguista player.
Much more recently, we had the case of Indonesian Arthur Irawan, who was in the ranks of Atlético Malagueño and played a friendly with Málaga CF against Centro de Deportes El Palo on 19th May 2014.
Extraordinary cases
CD Málaga competed in the Third Division in the 1959-60 season. One of the star signings that year was Manuel Sánchez Martín, an Argentinean player from Real Oviedo, then in the First Division. Despite his name and having played two League matches, he had to leave on 17th October 1959 as foreign players couldn’t compete in the Third Division according to the rules of the time, and Sánchez didn’t play as a native. Luckily, none of Málaga’s rivals filed any complaints, which could have resulted in a loss of points.
The most remarkable case in terms of foreign players started at the beginning of July 1973, when it was reported in the national press that CD Málaga was making two signings, Guerini from Argentina and Petkovic from Yugoslavia. We’ll focus on the latter.
Weeks beforehand it was speculated that Ilija Petkovic from OFK Belgrade and an international with his country, would sign to Real Madrid, but in the end, he came to Martiricos. A week after his signing to CD Málaga was announced, the transfer had not yet been confirmed and Petkovic remained in Yugoslavia due to a family tragedy. He lost his mother, sister and brother-in-law in a car accident on their wedding day. This terrible tragedy was compounded by the suicide of his father after the accident in which he had been injured. This led Petkovic to make a suicide attempt by poisoning himself. The signing for his transfer should have taken a few days, but it never happened as while the CD Málaga board awaited news of his recovery, the player had miraculously 'recovered' and days earlier had signed to French side, Troyes.
The first foreign player
Although Lakatos is considered the first foreign player with CD Málaga, the first foreign player to take part in an official match with CD Málaga was Uruguayan Carlos Gutiérrez, on matchday 1 of the First Division in the 1950-51 season, in the Valencia CF 3-1 CD Málaga clash.
The introduction of the ‘Bosman Law’ at the time meant the number of foreign players at Málaga CF was far more than at CD Málaga, even though there were fewer players.
Without being strictly foreigners, in the 1994-95 season two players born in France (Armando) and Switzerland (Toño) respectively, played for Málaga CF.
In the 1997-98 campaign Trobbiani and Guede arrived, both from Argentina, but in the case of the former he was born in Elche, whilst the latter was in possession of a Spanish passport when he arrived from Xerez CD.
In regard to foreign players at Málaga from a single country, in the MCF era there was Wanchope from Costa Rica, a star in his home country, or North American defender Onyewu, who played for AC Milan. There were countless players with double nationality in the two big Málaga’s, although the case of Pedro Aicart (CD Málaga, 1975-77) is one of the most bizarre. The son of Spanish parents was born in Chulumani, Bolivia, and was a Peru national.
Players who didn’t debut with Málaga
Joszef Lakatos, a Hungarian striker who subsequently acquired Spanish nationality, was the first foreign player to sign to CD Málaga. He started with the Blue and Whites a few days before the beginning of the 49-50 season, Málaga’s debut in the First Division. He played two friendlies but was loaned out midway through the season to UD España de Tánger.
There was little transfer news in the 84-85 season in CD Málaga, which featured a block of homegrown players. However, one of the signings was unable to debut. Diego Sessolo Rosa, a Swiss player, with Italian and Spanish parents, had signed for two seasons and underwent the pre-season with the team, but was unable to obtain Spanish nationality in order to compete. The start of the competition and the delay of documents to obtain nationality meant he returned to his home country.
At Málaga CF there was the curious case in the 2009-10 season, where we had the only Spanish player – without double nationality and who wasn’t born outside Spain – on the list: Guillermo Ubierna. He arrived at Málaga CF as winner of the goalkeeper competition ‘In Search of the Future Goalkeeper’, in which over 4,000 keepers took part. Ubierna, who came from CD Móstoles, couldn’t have had a worse time in Málaga. In the pre-season he suffered with mononucleosis (commonly known as kissing disease), had an operation for peritonitis and dislocated his shoulder. In January he moved down to Malagueño, having played seven matches in the Third Division. At the end of the season he left.
In addition, there are the recent cases of Cenk Gönen from Turkey, a Málaga CF goalkeeper between 2017 and 2020; Argentinean goalkeeper Werner and Serbian Brezancic, who were with MCF in the second half of last season and didn’t make their official debut.
The last case was that of Shinji Okazaki, who couldn’t be registered – financial reasons – with Málaga this 19/20 season having completed the pre-season with the team.
Players on trial
The first foreign player on trial at CD Málaga was Roger Dard from France, who played a friendly against Atlético de Madrid at the Metropolitano stadium, which ended in a 6-5 win for the ‘Colchoneros’ on 10th November 1948. Dard scored one goal, but didn’t play again with CD Málaga nor the Spanish league, something his twin brother Georges did that 48-49 season with Sevilla FC.
The Trofeo Costa del Sol served as a player trial for CD Málaga to reinforce the squad. Players included Argentinean Óscar Fullone, who won the Cup competition with CD Málaga in 1963, defeating Real Madrid by 3-1; and Casco and Bogado from Paraguay (playing with CD Málaga in the 1965 competition).
Furthermore, in the friendly game where Viberti donned the Blue and White jersey for the first time (dressed in white that day) against Granada CF, on 26th November 1969, two players from Paraguay were part of CD Málaga, Irala and Riveros.
In February 1897, a player from Mali, Adú arrived on trial, along with Brazilian Gilmar, but neither player convinced Antonio Benítez. In the summer of 1990, Colombian Guerrero played a few friendlies with CD Málaga, but didn’t remain on the squad, along with Romanian Florian Simion, who ended up with UE Figueres.
Already part of Málaga CF, one of the first cases was in the 1996-97 season when two Dutch players arrived to take part in a friendly; De Konnig and Van de Bergh. Although not on trial as such, Tiago Gomes arrived at Málaga on 29th January 2008 from Estrela Amadora to sign for five seasons, passed the medical and was presented to the media. On matchdays 24 and 25 of the league, against Córdoba CF and CD Castellón, Tiago Gomes had options to be called-up and even debut with the team. However, a dispute regarding the rights of the player and problems with the transfer resulted in the Portuguese player not debuting with Málaga CF.
In the 2009-10 season, standout names appeared within Málaga CF. Jorge Andrade, Portuguese international defender who played for RC Deportivo, was on trial in the summer of 2009. Midway through the 09-10 season, also on trial was Bader Al-Mutawa from Kuwait, but he couldn’t stay with the team. He was the first Asian player to play a match with Málaga, a friendly, on 27th January 2010, between Málaga CF 0-0 Arka Gdynia.
To end this article, it should be noted that there were many more players, particularly from South America, who arrived to play a friendly match or who were on trial, but either due to their physical condition, the Club's financial situation or the lack of available registrations, they didn’t remain.
