Eloy Olaya Explained

Eloy
Fullname:Eloy José Olaya Prendes
Birth Date:10 July 1964
Birth Place:Gijón, Spain
Height:1.67 m
Position:Forward
Youthclubs1:Colegio Inmaculada
Youthclubs2:Sporting Gijón
Years1:1979–1988
Caps1:191
Goals1:37
Years2:1981–1983
Caps2:56
Goals2:13
Years3:1988–1995
Caps3:203
Goals3:37
Years4:1995–1996
Caps4:36
Goals4:3
Years5:1996–1998
Caps5:28
Goals5:4
Totalcaps:514
Totalgoals:94
Nationalyears1:1980
Nationalcaps1:2
Nationalgoals1:0
Nationalyears2:1981–1982
Nationalcaps2:13
Nationalgoals2:5
Nationalyears3:1983–1986
Nationalcaps3:10
Nationalgoals3:4
Nationalyears4:1985–1990
Nationalcaps4:15
Nationalgoals4:4

Eloy José Olaya Prendes (born 10 July 1964), known simply as Eloy, is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

Eloy was born in Gijón, Asturias. During his career, he played for Sporting de Gijón (being part of a strong 80's team that achieved two fourth places in La Liga, in 1985 and 1987, with the player scoring 11 goals from 43 appearances in the latter season), Valencia CF (with roughly the same individual records, helping the Che to a runner-up spot in the 1989–90 campaign) and CD Badajoz (retiring after an unassuming Segunda División spell).[1] [2] On 28 November 1979, aged only 15, he made his professional debut, appearing for the side in a Copa del Rey match against CD Turón as the Royal Spanish Football Federation did not allow clubs to field players from the reserves, which were able to also compete in the tournament in that period.[3]

After retiring in 1998 at the age of 34, with top-tier totals of 430 games and 77 goals,[4] Eloy served as director of football for his main club Sporting, from 2001 to 2006.[5]

International career

Eloy earned 15 caps and scored four goals for the Spain national team in five years.[1] He was a participant in the 1986 FIFA World Cup[6] where he netted against Algeria in a 3–0 win,[7] also missing in a penalty shootout quarter-final loss to Belgium,[8] and UEFA Euro 1988 (no appearances).[2]

Eloy's debut came on 20 November 1985 in a 0–0 friendly with Austria, played in Zaragoza.[9]

International goals

! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition[10]
1. 22 January 1986 Insular, Las Palmas, Spain 2–0 2–0 Friendly
2. 12 June 1986 0–3 0–3 1986 FIFA World Cup
3. 1 April 1987 0–1 2–3 Euro 1988 qualifying
4. 1 April 1987 Prater, Vienna, Austria 1–2 2–3 Euro 1988 qualifying

Honours

Valencia

Spain U21

1986[12]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Qué fue de… Eloy Olaya. What happened to… Eloy Olaya. 20 minutos. Edu. Casado. es. 15 February 2011. 28 July 2023.
  2. Web site: Eloy Olaya: «Vi hace poco el penalti del 86 con los chavales del Sporting, y les dije: mirad, no se acaba el mundo». Eloy Olaya: "I recently saw that 86 penalty with Sporting's kids, and I told them: see, it's not the end of the world". Jot Down. Pablo. Batalla. es. 28 December 2022. 28 July 2023.
  3. News: Eloy jugó en la Copa con 15 años. Eloy played in Cup at the age of 15. La Nueva España. es. 9 October 2009. 18 November 2010.
  4. Web site: Eloy. El Sitio de Mis Cromos. es. 10 July 2023. 3 August 2023.
  5. News: El Sporting se plantea recuperar a Eloy Olaya. Sporting thinking about bringing Eloy Olaya back. El Comercio. Manuel. Rosety. es. 10 November 2011. 22 April 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160509141643/http://sporting.elcomercio.es/noticias/2011-11-10/sporting-plantea-recuperar-eloy-20111110.html. 9 May 2016.
  6. News: Del utillero falangista al positivo de Calderé: nuestro Mundial 86 en diez episodios. From the falangista kit man to Calderé's positive: our 86 World Cup in ten episodes. El Confidencial. Alfredo. Pascual. es. 21 May 2016. 28 September 2017.
  7. News: 3–0: A lomos de Calderé, España cruzó el desierto buscando el "grupo de la muerte". 3–0: On the back of Calderé, Spain crossed the desert in search of the "group of death". ABC. es. 13 June 1986. 28 September 2017.
  8. News: 1–1: Buenas noches, España. 1–1: Good night, Spain. Mundo Deportivo. Andrés. Astruells. es. 23 June 1986. 2 June 2014.
  9. News: 0–0: Nos congelamos todos. 0–0: We all froze. Mundo Deportivo. Antonio. G. Calatayud. es. 21 November 1985. 21 April 2016.
  10. Web site: Eloy Olaya. European Football. 2 April 2017.
  11. News: Supertítulo. Supertitle. Mundo Deportivo. Carlos E.. Carbajosa. es. 28 June 1995. 19 May 2015.
  12. News: ¡¡¡Campeones!!!. Champions!!!. Mundo Deportivo. Francesc. Perearnau. es. 30 October 1986. 5 June 2014.