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Toché
Personal information
Full name	José Verdú Nicolás
Date of birth	1 January 1983 (age 42)
Place of birth	Santomera, Spain
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years	Team
2002–2004	Atlético Madrid B
2003–2007	Atlético Madrid
2004–2005	→ Numancia (loan)
2005–2006	→ Hércules (loan)
2006–2007	→ Valladolid (loan)
2007–2008	Numancia
2009	Albacete
2009–2011	Cartagena
2011–2013	Panathinaikos
2014–2015	Deportivo La Coruña
2015–2019	Oviedo
2019–2020	Burgos
2020–2021	Orihuela
Total
International career
2000	Spain U16
2002–2003	Spain U20
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

José Verdú Nicolás (born 1 January 1983), known as Toché, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker.

He played 297 matches in Segunda División over 11 seasons, scoring a total of 96 goals for Hércules, Valladolid, Numancia, Albacete, Cartagena, Deportivo and Oviedo. He added 32 appearances in La Liga, and also competed professionally in Greece.

Club career

Born in Santomera, Region of Murcia, Toché came up through the ranks of Atlético Madrid, making his first-team debut during the 2003–04 season in a 0–0 home draw against Deportivo de La Coruña.^[1] The following campaign he was loaned to CD Numancia, where he appeared in only five games as the club from Soria was eventually relegated from La Liga, although he was seriously injured in the process.^[2]

Toché spent the following seasons on loan at Hércules CF and Real Valladolid, both in the second division. He returned to Numancia for 2007–08, and appeared sporadically in the side's promotion.^[3]

On 30 December 2008, after having taken almost no part in the top-flight season, Toché left Numancia for second-tier side Albacete Balompié, signing a contract for the rest of the campaign and the next one.^[4] On 28 August of the following year, however, he moved teams again, joining promoted FC Cartagena.^[5] He had a breakthrough year in 2009–10, as they nearly achieved a second consecutive promotion, only missing two league matches – 3,317 minutes of action – and ranking in the Pichichi Trophy's top three.^[6]^[7]^[8]

On 19 July 2011, after scoring a further 16 league goals with Cartagena, Toché signed a three-year contract with Panathinaikos F.C. in Greece.^[9] He netted on his official debut for the team, making it 2–1 in an eventual 3–4 home loss against Odense Boldklub in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League (5–4 aggregate defeat).^[10]

In November 2013, Toché cut ties with the Athens club after being unpaid for four months.^[11] On 20 January of the following year, he returned to his homeland and signed a short-term deal with Deportivo de La Coruña.^[12]

Toché scored four times for Depor during the season, as the Galicians returned to the top division at the first attempt. He netted his first goal in the competition on 20 September 2014, but in a 2–8 home loss to Real Madrid.^[13]

On 30 July 2015, Toché agreed to a one-year contract with Real Oviedo, newly promoted to the second tier.^[14] On 19 July 2019, having been a starter for the better part of his spell at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere, scoring 17 times in each of his first two seasons,^[15]^[16] the 36-year-old left by mutual consent.^[17]

Honours

Valladolid

Segunda División: 2006–07

Numancia

Segunda División: 2007–08

References

^ Ramírez Orsikowsky, Jorge (21 February 2004). "Depor y Atlético empatan a nada por su miedo a perder" [Depor and Atlético draw to nothing for fear of losing]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 June 2018.
^ "Numancia lose Toché". UEFA. 30 August 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
^ "Breve enciclopedia numantina" [Brief numantina encyclopedia]. Desde Soria (in Spanish). 29 May 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
^ Villaescusa, Francisco (30 December 2008). "Toché es el elegido para reforzar la delantera del Alba" [Toché is chosen to bolster Alba offense]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 January 2014.
^ "El Cartagena ficha al delantero Toché" [Cartagena sign forward Toché]. Marca (in Spanish). 28 August 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
^ "Toché está a un gol de entrar en la historia del Cartagena" [Toché is one goal away from entering Cartagena history]. Marca (in Spanish). 9 November 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
^ "Toché ha anotado 33 de los 100 goles del Cartagena en Segunda" [Toché has scored 33 of Cartagena's 100 goals in Segunda]. La Verdad (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
^ Varela, Álex (30 August 2013). "Toché, el gol que llegó tarde" [Toché, the goal that arrived late] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
^ "Announcement". Panathinaikos F.C. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ Papantonopoulou, Vassiliki (2 August 2011). "Four-goal OB put paid to Panathinaikos". UEFA. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
^ "Toché deja Grecia porque no le pagan y es objetivo del Zaragoza entre otros clubes" [Toché leaves Greece due to unpayment and is the target of Zaragoza amongst other clubs] (in Spanish). Sport Cartagena. 3 November 2013. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
^ "Salomão y Toché, presentados como nuevos jugadores del Deportivo" [Salomão and Toché, presented as Deportivo's new players] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
^ "Cristiano Ronaldo scores hat trick as Real Madrid hammer Deportivo". ESPN FC. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
^ "Toché, nuevo jugador del Real Oviedo" [Toché, new player of Real Oviedo] (in Spanish). Real Oviedo. 30 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
^ Álvarez, Iván (17 May 2017). ""Si consigo tres o cuatro goles el equipo se va a meter en 'play off'"" ["If I get three or four goals the team is going to reach the playoffs"]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
^ Monge, Manuel (12 June 2017). "Toché no levanta el pie del acelerador" [Toché does not stop stepping on it] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
^ "Resolución de contrato de Toché" [Toché's contract dissolution] (in Spanish). Real Oviedo. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.