Óscar Engonga Maté (born 12 September 1968) is a Spanish former

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Football career

Engonga was born in

Torrelavega Torrelavega ( Asturian: ''Torlavega'') is a municipality and important industrial and commercial hub in the single province Autonomous Community of Cantabria, northern Spain. It is situated roughly 8 kilometres from the Cantabrian Coast and 27.5 ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

. During his career, spent mainly in Spain's lower leagues, he appeared in three

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

matches,La saga de los Engonga (The Engonga saga)

Marca Marca may refer to: Places * Marca, Sălaj, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Marca, a tributary of the Barcău in Sălaj County, Romania * an alternative name for Merca, Somalia * Marca District, in the province Recuay, Peru * Marçà, a vil ...

, 20 October 2018 (in Spanish) one for

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

and two for

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

. He retired in 1999, aged only 30. Shortly after, Engonga took up coaching, managing for a brief period

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, which featured former fellow professionals in Spain

Rodolfo Bodipo Rodolfo Bodipo Díaz (born 25 October 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker, and is a current manager and politician. Born in Spain, he played for the Equatorial Guinea national team. He appeared in 158 La Liga ma ...

and

Benjamín Zarandona Benjamín Zarandona Esono (born 2 March 1976), known simply as Benjamín, is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his professional career in Spain, notably with Betis where he remained nine years, winn ...

. Subsequently, he served as technical assistant to his brother Vicente when the latter was in charge of the national team.Biografía (Biography)
at CD Mensajero (in Spanish)

Personal life

Engonga came from a football family. His father Vicente was also a footballer who left

in 1958 and settled in Torrelavega, playing for

Gimnástica de Torrelavega Real Sociedad Gimnástica de Torrelavega is a Spanish football team based in Torrelavega, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded on 28 September 1907 it is the oldest football club in the region, and currently plays in , holding home ...

and other teams in the region. Óscar was the youngest of four brothers (all former players), the most prominent being older Vicente, who represented

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

; Óscar and Vicente coincided at Gimnástica – with siblings Julio and Rafael – and Valladolid in the 1991–92 season. Engonga's son, Igor, who was born in Santa Cruz de La Palma while he played in that city for

CD Mensajero Club Deportivo Mensajero is a Spanish football team based in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 6 January 1922, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Silvestre Carrillo'', with a capa ...

, represented Equatorial Guinea at both under-16 and senior level.Del cole a jugar contra La Roja (From school to playing against ''La Roja'')
El País, 14 November 2013 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engonga, Oscar 1968 births Living people Footballers from Torrelavega Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Spanish men's footballers Equatoguinean men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players FC Barcelona C players CD Mirandés footballers Gimnástica de Torrelavega footballers UP Langreo footballers CF Sporting Mahonés players Real Valladolid players CD Tudelano footballers CD Toledo players Racing de Santander players UE Figueres footballers CD Mensajero players Racing de Ferrol footballers Burgos CF footballers CD Castellón footballers Spanish football managers Equatoguinean football managers Equatorial Guinea national football team managers 21st-century Spanish people 21st-century Equatoguinean people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen