Vicente Engonga

Vicente Engonga Maté (born 20 October 1965) is a retired Spanish footballer of Equatorial Guinean descent.

A central midfielder who on occasion filled in at sweeper, he played for six different professional clubs in his career (five in his country) – namely Mallorca, with which he had his best years in spite of arriving at the club at already 32 – appearing in a total of 327 La Liga games (eight goals).

Engonga represented Spain at the 2000 European Championship, being an international for two years.

Football career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Engonga spent his childhood in the Cantabria region, where his father was a footballer. He started his senior career with local lower league club Gimnástica de Torrelavega, and then played for CF Sporting Mahonés.

In 1991, Engonga moved to Real Valladolid in La Liga. In his first year, the club was relegated to the second division, and Engonga left to Celta de Vigo, with whom he was finalist of the 1994 Spanish Cup.

In the 1994 summer, Engonga was bought by league powerhouse Valencia CF, where he played three seasons. After a shaky start, he appeared in 35 contests in 1996–97, although the Che finished 10th. Subsequently, he moved to RCD Mallorca under Héctor Cúper's supervision, alongside other five former teammates – namely Iván Campo.

At the Balearic Islands side, Engonga displayed his best...
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