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

Eloy
Personal information
Full name Eloy José Olaya Prendes
Date of birth (1964-07-10) 10 July 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth Gijón, Spain
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Colegio Inmaculada
Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1988 Sporting Gijón 191 (37)
1981–1983 Sporting Gijón B 56 (13)
1988–1995 Valencia 203 (37)
1995–1996 Sporting Gijón 36 (3)
1996–1998 Badajoz 28 (4)
Total 514 (94)
International career
1980 Spain U16 2 (0)
1981–1982 Spain U18 13 (5)
1983–1986 Spain U21 10 (4)
1985–1990 Spain 15 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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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

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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

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

Honours

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Valencia

Spain U21

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Casado, Edu (15 February 2011). "Qué fue de… Eloy Olaya" [What happened to… Eloy Olaya]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b Batalla, Pablo (28 December 2022). "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"] (in Spanish). Jot Down. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Eloy jugó en la Copa con 15 años" [Eloy played in Cup at the age of 15]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). 9 October 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Eloy" (in Spanish). El Sitio de Mis Cromos. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  5. ^ Rosety, Manuel (10 November 2011). "El Sporting se plantea recuperar a Eloy Olaya" [Sporting thinking about bringing Eloy Olaya back]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  6. ^ Pascual, Alfredo (21 May 2016). "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 (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  7. ^ "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 (in Spanish). 13 June 1986. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  8. ^ Astruells, Andrés (23 June 1986). "1–1: Buenas noches, España" [1–1: Good night, Spain]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  9. ^ G. Calatayud, Antonio (21 November 1985). "0–0: Nos congelamos todos" [0–0: We all froze] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Eloy Olaya". European Football. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  11. ^ Carbajosa, Carlos E. (28 June 1995). "Supertítulo" [Supertitle]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  12. ^ Perearnau, Francesc (30 October 1986). "¡¡¡Campeones!!!" [Champions!!!]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2014.
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