Pedro Munitis Álvarez (born 19 June 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a forward, currently a manager.
His professional career was mainly associated with Racing de Santander – he also represented Real Madrid for two years – and he played 447 La Liga matches over 17 seasons, scoring 43 goals.[3][4]
Munitis spent the 2002–03 season on loan at Racing Santander, notably netting (and celebrating) against Real Madrid in a 2–0 home win on 19 October 2002.[6][7] In the following off-season, he was purchased up by Deportivo de La Coruña on a free transfer;[8] after a poor first year he would be one of the Galicia side's most important attacking players, also being used as a left winger in order to provide rest for veteran captainFran and being his replacement when he retired at the end of 2004–05.[9]
In 2009–10, the 34-year-old Munitis was again an undisputed starter, but did not manage to find the net in 29 appearances, and his season was over during a 3–1 home victory over Espanyol due to a knee injury, on 14 April 2010;[15] at that time he ranked second in assists, only trailing Barcelona's Lionel Messi.[16][17]
On 17 October 2010, after more than one year without scoring, Munitis netted from 30 metres for the only goal of the home fixture against Almería.[18] During the season, he again featured prominently in the starting XI under both Miguel Ángel Portugal and his successor Marcelino García Toral, the latter returned to the Campos de Sport de El Sardinero after nearly three years. In the following campaign he failed to score in 32 matches, and Racing returned to the second tier after one decade, with the player announcing shortly after his decision to leave his main club.[19]
International
Munitis earned 21 caps for Spain, scoring two goals. He represented the nation at UEFA Euro 2000, appearing as a substitute and netting in a 4–3 group stage win over Yugoslavia[20] and starting in the quarter-final loss to France (2–1).[5]
Described as a "poacher" in the media, Munitis was capable of playing either as a forward or midfielder but was usually deployed as a left winger, and was one of the shortest players in the Spanish top flight throughout his career. He was best known for his speed, dribbling skills, creative ability, direct movement and fighting spirit, which made him an effective offensive threat inside the penalty box and difficult for opposing defenders to mark, with Frenchman Lilian Thuram labelling him as one of his most difficult opponents.[23][24][25][26][27][28][8]
Coaching career
Still not having announced his retirement, Munitis began his managerial career, with women's football club Reocín.[29] In 2014 he was appointed at Bansander, taking charge of the youth squads.[30]
On 17 October 2016, Munitis succeeded Manolo Herrero as manager of newly relegated Ponferradina, with Colsa as his assistant.[33] He resigned five months later with the team lying in sixth in division three, having won exactly a third of his games.[34]
Munitis returned to third-tier management on 26 March 2018, when he was hired by UCAM Murcia until the end of the season.[35] Despite missing his objective of a play-off place, he was given another year in the job.[36] He was dismissed on 29 April 2019 with the team still in contention for the play-offs with three rounds to go, and replaced by Juan Merino.[37]
Munitis was appointed at Sabadell of the Primera División RFEF on 23 November 2021, until the end of the season and with the option of another year.[41] He took the team out of the relegation zone and challenged for the play-offs until the penultimate round of fixtures; in June, he left after turning down a contract renewal.[42]
^Fernández-Cueto, Francisco (30 October 2006). "Munitis y Zigic, pareja letal" [Munitis and Zigic, lethal duo]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 February 2022.
