Alfonso Pérez Muñoz (born 26 September 1972), known simply as Alfonso, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Having represented both Real Madrid and Barcelona during his career, he appeared in 307 La Liga games for three clubs, also having two spells with Real Betis. He scored 84 goals in the competition over 15 seasons.
The recipient of 38 caps for Spain, Alfonso appeared for the nation in the 1998 World Cup and two European Championships.
Club career Real Madrid Alfonso was born in Getafe, in the outskirts of Madrid. In 1991, aged just 18, he made his professional debut with Real Madrid and, although he never carved a regular place in the starting XI – playing mostly second-fiddle to Emilio Butragueño first and then Raúl and Iván Zamorano – helped the capital side to the 1995 national championship.
On 2 December 1993, Alfonso scored twice in the first leg of the Supercopa de España, a 3–1 home win against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (4–2 on aggregate).
Betis and Barcelona In the summer of 1995, Alfonso joined Real Betis. In his second year at the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, he scored 25 La Liga goals which was the most by a player in a single season in the club's history. Teaming up with Pier, the pair combined for 60 from 1995 to 1997, and helped the Andalusia team finish fourth in the latter campaign.
Alfonso signed with Barcelona for the 2000–01 campaign. The player had a difficult time adjusting at the Camp Nou, netting only twice in his first year and serving a loan spell at French Ligue 1 side Marseille in January 2002, alongside Real Madrid's Alberto Rivera.
Barcelona then loaned Alfonso to his former employers Betis, which signed him permanently at the end of 2002–03. After another two seasons where he struggled with injuries and loss of form (ten scoreless games in 2004–05), he retired from football when his contract expired in June 2005, having scored 112 official goals during his career.
International career Alfonso appeared in 38 games for Spain, making his debut in a friendly with England on 9 September 1992 in Santander. The most important of his 11 goals was scored against Yugoslavia at UEFA Euro 2000; the team was losing 3–2 in injury time, needing a win to qualify from the group at Norway's expense. In the 90th minute, a penalty was won and converted by Gaizka Mendieta, and with seconds remaining Alfonso volleyed a spectacular shot past Ivica Kralj for his second of the game and the win.
At Euro 1996, Alfonso took part in all of the fixtures, including against Bulgaria in which he scored the equaliser after just one minute on the pitch. Additionally, he played two 1998 FIFA World Cup matches in a group-stage exit in France.
Alfonso was also a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He scored once during the tournament, in a 2–0 victory over Qatar.
Style of play Alfonso possessed above-average heading ability, despite not reaching 180 cm.
Personal life Alfonso was the older brother of fellow footballer Iván Pérez. Both Real Madrid youth graduates, they coincided one season at Betis and reunited at Real Madrid veterans.
Getafe's stadium, the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, was named after him, despite the fact that he never played professionally for his hometown club. His name was dropped from the facilities in October 2023 after he made disparaging remarks about female footballers in an interview.
Career statistics Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pérez goal. + List of international goals scored by Alfonso PérezNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 16 December 1992 Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium, Seville, Spain 3–0 5–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification2 6 September 1995 Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain 2–0 6–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying3 9 June 1996 Elland Road, Leeds, England 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 19964 4 September 1996 Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands 2–1 6–2 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification5 4–16 6–17 12 February 1997 Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain 2–0 4–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification8 3–09 29 March 2000 Estadi de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain 1–0 2–0 Friendly10 21 June 2000 Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium 1–1 4–3 UEFA Euro 200011 4–3
Honours Real Madrid La Liga: 1994–95 Copa del Rey: 1992–93 Supercopa de España: 1993
Betis Copa del Rey: 2004–05
Spain U23 Summer Olympic Games: 1992
Individual Don Balón Award: 1998
References
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