Francisco Puñal

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

Francisco "Patxi" Puñal Martínez (born 6 September 1975) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Patxi Puñal

Puñal training with Osasuna in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Francisco Puñal Martínez
Date of birth	(1975-09-06) 6 September 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth	Huarte, Spain
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
	Natación Pamplona[1]
	Osasuna
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1998	Osasuna B	32	(4)
1994–1995	→ Oberena (loan)
1995–1996	→ Egüés (loan)
1997–2014	Osasuna	458	(23)
1999–2001	→ Leganés (loan)	62	(11)
Total		552	(38)
International career
2002–2007	Basque Country	3	(0)
2003–2004	Navarre	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

The vast bulk of his career was connected with Osasuna, where he was often charged with penalty-taking and for which he appeared in 513 competitive matches.^[2][3][4]

Club career

Born in Huarte, Navarre,^[5] Puñal played his entire professional career with CA Osasuna save for two on-loan seasons at Madrid's CD Leganés, in the Segunda División.^[6] His first official game for the first team came on 15 June 1997 in a 1–1 away draw against SD Eibar, in the same tier.^[7]

Puñal returned to the El Sadar Stadium as an undisputed first choice, scoring his first La Liga goal on 27 October 2001 in a 4–0 home win over RCD Mallorca.^[8] In Osasuna's 2005–06 historical league campaign, which brought a best ever fourth-place finish, he netted four times in 34 matches.

On 29 November 2006, as the side went on to reach the last-four in the UEFA Cup,^[9] Puñal scored three goals (one in his net) in a 3–1 home defeat of Odense Boldklub in the group stage.^[10] He made 47 official appearances that season.^[11]

From 2007 to 2010, veteran Puñal continued to figure prominently for Osasuna, featuring in exactly 100 league games – scoring twice through penalties, in a 2–0 win at Getafe CF^[12] and a 2–1 home loss to Real Madrid,^[13] both goals coming during 2007–08 – and also being the captain after the retirement of César Cruchaga.^[14] During that timeframe, he was booked a total of 37 times.

Puñal finished 2012 on a high note, being a father for the first time and having appeared in a total of 470 competitive matches for his main club, a best-ever. He obtained the record after his 464th overall appearance on 21 October, against Real Betis,^[15] and on 26 May 2013 he again entered the team's history books, netting from 30 meters and contributing to a 2–1 home victory over Sevilla FC which certified permanence in the top division for another year, with one game remaining.^[16]

In 2014, Puñal was awarded the Gold Medal for Sporting Merit, the highest accolade of the kind granted by the Government of Navarre.^[17]

International career

Puñal earned caps for both the Basque Country and Navarre autonomous teams.^[18][19]

See also

• List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)

References

1. Historia (History); at Club Natación Pamplona (in Spanish)
2. Patxi Puñal alcanza el récord de partidos con Osasuna (Patxi Puñal reaches record of games with Osasuna); Diario de Navarra, 7 October 2012 (in Spanish)
3. Más que un capitán (More than a captain) Archived 8 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Revista de Navarra, 4 April 2014 (in Spanish)
4. 741 días después (741 days later) Archived 3 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine; Noticias de Navarra, 27 August 2016 (in Spanish)
5. Puñal, el eterno capitán (Puñal, the eternal captain); Vavel, 21 April 2020 (in Spanish)
6. Sólo siguen diez (Only ten continue); Mundo Deportivo, 9 June 2000 (in Spanish)
7. Eibar pierde 150 millones (Eibar lose 150 million); Mundo Deportivo, 16 June 1997 (in Spanish)
8. Osasuna pasa por encima de un Mallorca a la deriva (Osasuna steamroll drifting Mallorca); Mundo Deportivo, 28 October 2001 (in Spanish)
9. Osasuna, a las puertas de la final de la UEFA (Osasuna, near the UEFA final); Diario de Navarra, 2 May 2017 (in Spanish)
10. Puñal puts Osasuna on brink; UEFA, 29 November 2006
11. Los 388 partidos de Puñal (Puñal's 388 matches); Navarra Sport, 10 May 2010 (in Spanish)
12. Getafe 0–2 Osasuna; ESPN Soccernet, 30 March 2008
13. Osasuna 1–2 Real Madrid; ESPN Soccernet, 4 May 2008
14. Puñal: "Vamos a intentar tener un año sin problemas" Puñal: "Vamos a intentar tener un año sin problemas" (Puñal: "We will try to have a problem-free year"); Diario AS, 19 July 2009 (in Spanish)
15. Patxi Puñal nunca podrá olvidar un año como 2012 (Patxi Puñal will never be able to forget a year like 2012); Marca, 27 December 2012 (in Spanish)
16. Cejudo earns the points; ESPN FC, 26 May 2013
17. Patxi Puñal recibe la Medalla de Oro al Mérito Deportivo (Patxi Puñal receives the Gold Medal for Sporting Merit); Diario de Navarra, 2 December 2014 (in Spanish)
18. Navarra se mide hoy a China en el estreno de El Sadar como Reyno de Navarra (Navarre take on China today in El Sadar debut as Reyno de Navarra); Diario de León, 26 December 2005 (in Spanish)
19. Xabi Prieto, el jugador con más partidos desde 1979 (Xabi Prieto, the player with the most matches since 1979); EITB, 13 November 2020 (in Spanish)

External links

• Francisco Puñal at BDFutbol
• Francisco Puñal at Soccerway