Dani Aquino

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

Daniel "Dani" Aquino Pintos (born 27 July 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Ceuta. Left-footed, he can play anywhere on the attacking line but usually appears as both a winger or forward.

Dani Aquino

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Aquino Pintos
Date of birth	(1990-07-27) 27 July 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Murcia, Spain
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Winger, forward
Team information
Current team	Ceuta
Number	11
Youth career
1998–2006	Murcia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2008	Murcia B	24	(10)
2007–2011	Murcia	73	(7)
2011–2012	Valladolid	1	(0)
2012–2013	Oviedo	12	(1)
2013	Atlético Madrid C	17	(13)
2013–2015	Atlético Madrid B	68	(27)
2013	Atlético Madrid	1	(0)
2015–2016	Numancia	28	(1)
2016–2018	Racing Santander	71	(36)
2018–2019	Murcia	17	(8)
2019	→ AEK Larnaca (loan)	12	(2)
2019	Piast Gliwice	1	(0)
2020–2022	Badajoz	53	(12)
2022–2023	Mar Menor	16	(5)
2023–2024	San Fernando	55	(13)
2024–	Ceuta	17	(5)
International career
2007	Spain U17	12	(4)
2007–2009	Spain U19	15	(5)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Spain U-17 World Cup Runner-up 2007 Korea European U-17 Championship Winner 2007 Belgium
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:34, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Murcia, Aquino made his professional debut for local Real Murcia CF at only 16 years of age, during 2006–07 in the Segunda División, against CD Tenerife; he scored in a 1–4 home loss for his only appearance of the season, which ended in promotion. In early 2007, rumours surfaced that Chelsea and Liverpool, amongst others, were after the youngster. Eventually no deals were arranged, as the player chose to stay in the country to further his development.^[1]

Aquino first appeared in La Liga on 20 January 2008, in a 3–1 away defeat to Real Zaragoza.^[2] After coach Lucas Alcaraz's dismissal and the arrival of Javier Clemente, he finished the campaign in the starting XI, and showed glimpses of an emerging talent. On 30 March he provided a cross for Quique de Lucas' opener at Deportivo de La Coruña (another 3–1 loss),^[3] and scored his first-top flight goal two months later, away against Racing de Santander – Murcia led by 2–0, lost 3–2 and ratified its relegation.^[4]

In 2008–09, Aquino was given a major role in the main squad but Murcia underachieved, battling for relegation during most of the competition and finally ranking 14th. At the end of the following season, the club finally dropped down a level and he left in June 2011, having featured sparingly in the process.^[5]

After further unsuccessful spells with Real Valladolid^[6] and Real Oviedo, Aquino moved to Atlético Madrid in mid-January 2013,^[7] and scored several goals for its C team in the Tercera División. He also caught the eye of main squad manager Diego Simeone who awarded him his first top-tier appearance in over five years on 1 June: after just a minute on the field, he assisted Diego Costa for the second goal in an eventual 3–1 win at Zaragoza.^[8]

On 10 June 2015, after scoring 17 times for Atlético's reserves in the Segunda División B,^[9] Aquino moved to CD Numancia.^[10] On 13 July of the following year, having netted only once during the whole season, he was released^[11] and signed for Racing de Santander just hours later.^[12] He netted 27 times in his first season in Cantabria,^[13] including all the goals of a 4–0 home victory over UD Mutilvera on 7 May 2017.^[14]

Aquino then had brief spells abroad with AEK Larnaca FC (Cypriot First Division)^[15] and Piast Gliwice (Polish Ekstraklasa), and a second one at Murcia.^[16] On 20 January 2020 he returned to Spain, signing with third-division club CD Badajoz with a "prohibitive buyout clause".^[17]

International career

Aquino represented Spain at both under-17 and under-19 levels. During the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup he scored three goals and was the nation's second-best scorer, only trailing Bojan Krkić's five.^[18]

Subsequently, Aquino appeared at the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship held in the Czech Republic.

Personal life

Aquino's father, also named Daniel, was born in Argentina, but played for seven teams in Spain, most notably Murcia and Real Betis.^[19]

His younger brother Matías (born 1996) was also a forward, who competed exclusively in the lower leagues.^[20][13]

Career statistics

As of match played 10 September 2021^[21][22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Murcia	2006–07	Segunda División	1	1	0	0	—		—		1	1
	2007–08	La Liga	13	1	0	0	—		—		13	1
	2008–09	Segunda División	24	2	1	0	—		—		25	2
	2009–10	Segunda División	15	2	2	0	—		—		17	2
	2010–11	Segunda División B	20	1	1	0	—		4[a]	1	25	2
	Total		73	7	4	0	0	0	4	1	81	8
Valladolid	2011–12	Segunda División	1	0	2	0	—		—		3	0
Oviedo	2012–13	Segunda División B	12	1	—		—		—		12	1
Atlético Madrid B	2012–13	Segunda División B	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2013–14	Segunda División B	31	10	—		—		2[b]	0	33	10
	2014–15	Segunda División B	34	17	—		—		—		34	17
	Total		66	27	0	0	0	0	2	0	68	27
Atlético Madrid	2012–13	La Liga	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
Numancia	2015–16	Segunda División	28	1	1	0	—		—		29	1
Racing Santander	2016–17	Segunda División B	36	23	4	1	—		6[a]	3	46	27
	2017–18	Segunda División B	35	13	—		—		—		35	13
	Total		71	36	4	1	0	0	6	3	81	40
Murcia	2018–19	Segunda División B	17	8	1	0	—		—		18	8
AEK Larnaca (loan)	2018–19	First Division	12	2	4	0	—		—		16	2
Piast Gliwice	2019–20	Ekstraklasa	1	0	2	0	2[c]	0	1[d]	0	6	0
Badajoz	2019–20	Segunda División B	7	1	2	0	—		2[a]	0	11	1
	2020–21	Segunda División B	22	8	1	0	—		2[a]	1	25	9
	2021–22	Primera División RFEF	3	2	0	0	—		—		3	2
	Total		32	11	3	0	0	0	4	1	39	12
Career total			314	93	21	1	2	0	17	5	354	99

1. Appearances in Segunda División B promotion playoffs
2. Appearances in Segunda División B relegation playoffs
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
4. Appearance in Polish Super Cup

Honours

Spain U17

• UEFA European Under-17 Championship: 2007^[23][24]
• FIFA U-17 World Cup runner-up: 2007^[25]

References

1. Pallarés Ripalda, José María (19 April 2007). "Europa se rifa a Aquino júnior" [Europe bids for Aquino Jr.]. La Verdad (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 October 2009.
2. "Real Zaragoza 3–1 Murcia". ESPN Soccernet. 20 January 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
3. "Deportivo La Coruña 3–1 Murcia". ESPN Soccernet. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
4. "Racing Santander 3–2 Murcia". ESPN Soccernet. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
5. Villalobos, Fran (21 June 2011). "Dani Aquino, promesa olvidada" [Dani Aquino, forgotten promise]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 July 2013.
6. "Jaime y Dani Aquino llegan al Valladolid" [Jaime and Dani Aquino arrive at Valladolid]. Marca (in Spanish). 8 July 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
7. "Dani Aquino ficha por el Atlético de Madrid C" [Dani Aquino signs for Atlético de Madrid C]. La Verdad (in Spanish). 17 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
8. Molina Pozo, Víctor (1 June 2013). "Dani Aquino: "Me voy muy contento por volver a jugar en Primera División"" [Dani Aquino: "I leave very happy for having played in Primera División again"] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
9. Lechuga, Juan Ignacio (10 June 2015). "Dani Aquino ficha por el Numancia" [Dani Aquino signs for Numancia] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
10. "Dani Aquino, primer fichaje del C. D. Numancia 2015–16" [Dani Aquino, first signing of 2015–16's C.D. Numancia] (in Spanish). CD Numancia. 10 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
11. "Dani Aquino rescinde su contrato con el C.D Numancia" [Dani Aquino terminates his contract with C.D Numancia] (in Spanish). CD Numancia. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
12. "Dani Aquino y Raúl Domínguez, nuevos futbolistas del Real Racing Club" [Dani Aquino and Raúl Domínguez, new footballers of Real Racing Club] (in Spanish). Racing Santander. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
13. "El Racing reúne de nuevo a los hermanos Aquino" [Racing reunite Aquino brothers again]. La Opinión de Murcia (in Spanish). 18 July 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
14. Herrero, Sergio (7 May 2017). "El póquer de Aquino devuelve la alegría" [Aquino's four goals bring back the joy]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 December 2017.
15. Manchón, Martín (26 February 2019). "Dani Aquino: "El gran artífice de mi llegada a Chipre fue Ander Murillo"" [Dani Aquino: "I all but owe my arrival in Cyprus to Ander Murillo"] (in Spanish). Migrantes del Balón. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
16. Manchón, Martín (1 July 2019). "El campeón polaco ficha a Dani Aquino" [Polish champions sign Dani Aquino]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 October 2021.
17. Aranda, Rafa (4 February 2021). "Dani Aquino, el 'torito' al que no se puede fichar que ni con "200 años de director deportivo"" [Dani Aquino, the 'little bull' one cannot sign not even with "200 years as sporting director"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
18. "Cruel exit for Ghana under-17 side". BBC Sport. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
19. "Spain's family atmosphere". UEFA. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
20. Menocal, Marcos (18 July 2017). "Una docena repite, dos llegan nuevos y siete a prueba" [A dozen remains, two new arrive and seven on trial]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
21. Dani Aquino at BDFutbol
22. Dani Aquino at Soccerway
23. "Bojan fulmina a Inglaterra y da a España su séptimo título de campeón de Europa sub'17 (1–0)" [Bojan finishes England and gives Spain their seventh under'17 European champions title (1–0)]. Libertad Digital (in Spanish). 13 May 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
24. "Dani Aquino se convierte en el primer fichaje del Numancia" [Dani Aquino becomes Numancia's first signing]. Marca (in Spanish). 10 June 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
25. "¿Los conoces? Estos fueron los finalistas del Mundial sub17 de 2007" [Do you know them? These were the 2007 under17 World Cup finalists]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 October 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2021.

External links

• Dani Aquino at BDFutbol
• Dani Aquino at Futbolme (in Spanish)
• Dani Aquino – FIFA competition record (archived)