Corona (footballer)

Not to be confused with Coronas (footballer).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is García and the second or maternal family name is Pérez-Roldán.

Corona
Corona playing for Almería in 2013
Personal information
Full name Miguel Ángel García Pérez-Roldán[1]
Date of birth (1981-02-12) 12 February 1981 (age 43)[1]
Place of birth Talavera de la Reina, Spain
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2000 Real Madrid C
2000–2001 Real Madrid B 30 (12)
2001–2007 Zaragoza 62 (2)
2004–2005 → Poli Ejido (loan) 31 (1)
2006 → Albacete (loan) 13 (2)
2006–2007 → Almería (loan) 40 (7)
2007–2015 Almería 245 (13)
2015–2016 Brisbane Roar 29 (2)
2016–2017 Almería 20 (0)
Total 470 (39)
International career
1997–1998 Spain U16 17 (4)
1997–1998 Spain U17 10 (1)
1998–2000 Spain U18 12 (2)
2001 Spain U20 1 (0)
2000–2003 Spain U21 15 (1)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
UEFA European Under-16 Championship
Winner 1997 Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Miguel Ángel García Pérez-Roldán (born 12 February 1981), known as Corona, is a Spanish former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is the current director of football of La Liga club Valencia.

After starting out at Real Madrid, he spent most of his career at Almería, appearing in 333 official matches and scoring 23 goals.[2] He also played professionally in Australia.

Club career

Real Madrid and Zaragoza

Corona was born in Talavera de la Reina, Province of Toledo.[3] A product of La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid, he played for their C and B teams, the latter competing in the Segunda División B.[4]

Corona was signed by Real Zaragoza in January 2001, but only appeared in 33 top-division games for the Aragonese over four seasons, with loans in the Segunda División in between (one season with Polideportivo Ejido, six months with Albacete Balompié).[5]

Almería

Corona was loaned again in 2006–07, now to UD Almería, being instrumental in the Andalusia side's first-ever promotion to the top flight and reuniting with his former Zaragoza teammate Fernando Soriano. The move was made permanent for the following campaign,[6] and both players were instrumental as the team went on to finish eighth in their maiden season in that league.[7][8]

Corona scored his first goal in the top division with a header, in a 2–1 away defeat against CA Osasuna on 9 March 2008, his only in the season.[9] He continued to be a regular in the subsequent years, often starting but rarely finishing a match.

On 19 January 2011, Corona scored one of Almería's most important goals, in a 3–2 win at Deportivo de La Coruña (4–2 on aggregate), with the club reaching the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey for the first time ever.[10] On 9 April, through a counter-attack, he opened the score for the last-placed team at FC Barcelona – his second goal of the season – but the hosts eventually won 3–1,[11] and the visitors eventually suffered relegation after a four-year stay.[12]

In the following two seasons in division two, Corona was an undisputed starter for the Rojiblancos, totalling seven goals. However, he was sparingly used during the first half of 2013–14's top flight,[13] regaining his starting position in mid-March 2014 and thus becoming the third player with most appearances in the competition for the club.[14]

Brisbane Roar

Corona terminated his contract with Almería on 23 September 2015,[15] and signed for Australian A-League side Brisbane Roar FC the following week.[16] He left the former with competitive totals of 312 games and 23 goals, only behind José Ortiz.[17]

On 12 May 2016, Corona won the 'Gary Wilkins Medal' as the Roar's Player of the Year.[18]

Return to Almería

After cutting ties with Brisbane, Corona returned to Almería on 15 July 2016 after agreeing to a one-year deal.[19][20] He was used mainly as a substitute during the second-tier campaign,[21] contributing 580 minutes as his team avoided relegation in the last matchday.

On 15 June 2017, the 36-year-old Corona announced his retirement and was immediately appointed Almería's director of football.[22] In January 2020, he joined Valencia CF in the same capacity.[23]

Career statistics

[24][25]

Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Real Madrid B 1999–2000 Segunda División B 10 3 — — 10 3
2000–01 20 9 — — 20 9
Total 30 12 — — 30 12
Zaragoza 2000–01 La Liga 2 0 0 0 — 2 0
2001–02 11 0 1 0 2[a] 0 14 0
2002–03 Segunda División 29 2 1 0 — 30 2
2003–04 La Liga 17 0 3 0 — 20 0
2005–06 3 0 1 0 — 4 0
Total 62 2 6 0 2 0 70 2
Poli Ejido (loan) 2004–05 Segunda División 31 1 1 0 — 32 1
Albacete (loan) 2005–06 Segunda División 13 2 0 0 — 13 2
Almería (loan) 2006–07 Segunda División 40 7 1 0 — 41 7
Almería 2007–08 La Liga 32 1 2 0 — 34 1
2008–09 30 1 1 1 — 31 2
2009–10 22 1 2 0 — 24 1
2010–11 30 2 7 1 — 37 3
2011–12 Segunda División 41 3 4 0 — 45 3
2012–13 33 4 1 0 4[b] 0 38 4
2013–14 La Liga 23 1 3 1 — 26 2
2014–15 31 0 2 0 — 33 0
2015–16 Segunda División 3 0 0 0 — 3 0
Total 285 20 23 3 4 0 312 23
Brisbane Roar 2015–16 A-League 29 2 0 0 — 29 2
Almería 2016–17 Segunda División 20 0 1 0 — 21 0
Career total 470 39 31 3 6 0 507 42
  1. ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Segunda División play-offs

Honours

Spain

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c Corona at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ Gregorio, Paco (8 December 2022). "Los 38 jugadores 'centenarios' de la UD Almería" [UD Almería's 38 'centurion' players]. Diario de Almería (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Corona: "La salvación está en casa"" [Corona: "Survival lies at home"]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 March 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Corona, el capitán del Almería que no pudo debutar con el Real Madrid" [Corona, the captain of Almería who could not make debut with Real Madrid] (in Spanish). Liga BBVA. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  5. ^ Valero, S. (15 February 2016). "Miguel Ángel García 'Corona': "Me fui con dolor, podía jugar en el Zaragoza, mi nivel daba para eso"" [Miguel Ángel García 'Corona': "I left hurting, I could play in Zaragoza, I was good enough for that"]. El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Corona staying at Almería". UEFA. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  7. ^ Ferrero, Txabi (19 June 2013). "Soriano busca su cuarto ascenso y Corona, el tercero" [Soriano in search of a fourth promotion and Corona, a third]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Corona y Fernando Soriano, dos capitanes para buscar el ascenso" [Corona and Fernando Soriano, two captains in search of promotion]. Ideal (in Spanish). 17 June 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Osasuna 2–1 Almeria". ESPN Soccernet. 9 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  10. ^ Rincón, Jaime (19 January 2011). "El Almería se niega a despertar del sueño" [Almería refuse to awake from dream]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  11. ^ "Barca come back to avoid upset". ESPN Soccernet. 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  12. ^ Gutiérrez, José Gabriel (30 May 2011). "El Almería, el menos canterano de Primera" [Almería, least youth system-friendly in Primera]. Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  13. ^ Ferrero, Txabi (5 February 2014). "Corona no quiso marcharse en enero" [Corona did not want to leave in January]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  14. ^ Ferrero, Txabi (17 February 2014). "Corona entra en el podio de la historia del Almería" [Corona steps into Almería's historical podium]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  15. ^ "El Almería y Corona llegan a un acuerdo para rescindir el contrato a petición del jugador" [Almería and Corona reach agreement to terminate the contract at the request of the player] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Brisbane Roar bring Spanish midfielder Corona to the A-League". ABC. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  17. ^ Ferrero, Txabi (23 September 2015). "Se marcha 'El Mago'" ['The Wizard' leaves]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Corona takes top honour at Roar Awards Night". Brisbane Roar. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  19. ^ Monteverde, Marco (15 July 2016). "Corona quits Brisbane Roar with a year to run on his contract". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  20. ^ "Corona regresa a la UD Almería para reforzar el centro del campo" [Corona returns to UD Almería to bolster midfield] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  21. ^ Giménez, Paco (6 April 2017). "Corona y Diamanka, cuñas de la misma madera" [Corona and Diamanka, cut from same cloth]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  22. ^ "Corona es el nuevo director deportivo del Almería, e Ibán Andrés el secretario técnico" [Corona is the new sporting director of Almería, and Ibán Andrés is the technical secretary] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  23. ^ Jarque, Rafa (12 June 2023). "Corona afronta su cuarto verano en el Valencia CF" [Corona looking at his fourth summer at Valencia CF]. Super Deporte (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  24. ^ Corona at BDFutbol
  25. ^ Corona at Soccerway
  26. ^ "España repite gesta" [Spain do it again] (in Spanish). UEFA. Retrieved 5 November 2019.