Vicente Engonga Maté (born 20 October 1965) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played mainly as a central midfielder but occasionally as a sweeper.
He played for six clubs in his career, having his longest and most successful spell at Mallorca despite arriving there aged 32. In total, he appeared in 327 La Liga matches and scored eight goals over 11 seasons.
Engonga was bought by league powerhouse Valencia CF in summer 1994, spending three seasons at the Mestalla Stadium. After a shaky start, he made 35 appearances in 1996–97, although the Che finished tenth.
In 2002, Engonga's contract expired and he joined second-tier Real Oviedo where he played for six months before moving abroad in late January 2003, signing a six-month loan deal with English club Coventry City in the Football League Division One.[6] At the end of the season the 37-year-old retired, going on to work with Mallorca in several coaching capacities.[7]
On 23 September 1998, aged nearly 33, Engonga made his debut with the Spain national team, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 friendly win over RussiainGranada.[8] He was the second-oldest player to debut for the country after Ferenc Puskás, who was 34 and had previously represented Hungary.[9]
Engonga scored his only goal on 5 May 1999 in a friendly against Croatia, equalising an eventual 3–1 victory in Seville.[10] He was picked for the UEFA Euro 2000 squad, making a late substitute appearance in a 2–1 group stage defeat of Slovenia at the Amsterdam Arena,[11] which was the last of his 14 caps.
Engonga was the first Spanish-born black player to play for the national team.[12] During his career, he also represented the unofficial Cantabria autonomous team.[2]
Engonga's younger brother, Óscar, was also a professional midfielder. He played most of his career in the lower leagues of Spain, but was at Valladolid at the same time as Vicente.[15]
^Bauzà, Jaime (7 August 2014). "Un cuerpo técnico de leyenda" [A technical staff for the ages]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^Sánchez, Guillermo (20 October 2018). "La saga de los Engonga" [The Engonga saga]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^Rodrigálvarez, Eduardo (14 November 2013). "Del cole a jugar contra La Roja" [From school to playing against La Roja]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2019.
Croatia
