Place of birth Ubeda, Spain Name Carlos Cobo Playing position Role Footballer | Years Team Height 1.75 m 1980–1983 Igualada Position Forward | |
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Full name Carlos Antonio Munoz Cobo Date of birth (1961-08-25) 25 August 1961 (age 54) | ||
Carlos Antonio Muñoz Cobo (born 25 August 1961), known simply as Carlos, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.
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He represented five clubs in his professional career in his country, mainly Oviedo, moving to Mexico well into his 30's where he continued to score at an excellent rate. Over the course of 11 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 314 games and 111 goals.
Early years
Carlos was born in Úbeda, Andalusia. At the age of seven, he moved to Catalonia with his family for working purposes, beginning his career with local amateur clubs and making his senior debuts in Tercera División with CF Igualada.
In 1981, Carlos moved to Cádiz for his military service, going on to spend one year out of football as local Cádiz CF tried to acquire him, being denied by Igualada.
Club career
In 1983, Carlos signed for FC Barcelona, going on to appear almost exclusively for its reserves during his spell – he did compete with the main squad in the Copa de la Liga – and also being consecutively loaned to Elche CF, Hércules CF and Real Murcia, all in La Liga. In the 1987–88 season, still owned by the Blaugrana, he joined Real Oviedo in Segunda División, with whom he achieved promotion (finished fourth, but Real Madrid Castilla was ineligible) while becoming the category's top scorer.
Carlos subsequently returned to Barcelona and, despite his wish to remain with Oviedo, was sold to Atlético Madrid where he could never settle, being barred in the capital outfit by the likes of Baltazar and Manolo. He returned to the Asturians for the following campaign, proceeding to amass more than 100 overall goals for the side; in seven top level seasons, he only netted once in single digits and had 20 in 1993–94.
Subsequently, Carlos had an abroad spell with Mexico's Puebla FC, where he continued to display his scoring ability. In a 12 October 1996 match against Tecos UAG, he netted four times in a 5–2 success; he retired from football altogether after a few games with another side in the country and region, Lobos de la BUAP, at the age of 40.
International career
For the Spanish national team, Carlos played six times with as many goals in a one-year span. His first cap came on 12 September 1990 in a friendly match with Brazil in Gijón, and he scored after ten minutes in a 3–0 win.
After his stellar campaign with Oviedo, Carlos was overlooked by national boss Javier Clemente for his 1994 FIFA World Cup squad, even though he was the best national goal scorer in the season. The pair had had a run-in whilst at Atlético Madrid.