Jorge Molina (footballer, born 1982)

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Jorge Molina
JorgeMolina.JPG
Molina celebrating a goal with Elche in 2010
Personal information
Full name Jorge Molina Vidal [1]
Date of birth (1982-04-22) 22 April 1982 (age 41) [1]
Place of birth Alcoy, Spain
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) [1]
Position(s) Centre-forward
Youth career
Alcoyano
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2001–2002 Alcoyano 28 (12)
2002–2004 Benidorm 18 (7)
2004–2005 Gandía 22 (5)
2005–2007 Benidorm 72 (34)
2007–2009 Poli Ejido 66 (24)
2009–2010 Elche 38 (26)
2010–2016 Betis 180 (66)
2016–2020 Getafe 147 (46)
2020–2023 Granada 93 (21)
Total664(241)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jorge Molina Vidal (born 22 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward.

Contents

A late bloomer, he began to play professional football at 25 with Poli Ejido. He represented mainly Betis during his career, achieving two promotions to La Liga and scoring 77 goals in 213 matches in all competitions in the process. [2] In the Spanish top division, he also represented Getafe and Granada, totalling 289 games and 73 goals over nine seasons. [3]

Club career

Early years

Molina was born in Alcoy, Province of Alicante. Until the age of 23, he only played in the Tercera División, representing CD Alcoyano, Benidorm CF and CF Gandía. In 2005 he re-joined Benidorm, now in the Segunda División B. [4]

Molina made his professional debut in 2007–08, playing in the Segunda División with Polideportivo Ejido. It would be a short-lived experience, as his five goals – squad-best, tied with three other players – in 30 matches, were not enough to prevent relegation. On 29 October 2008, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 home win against Villarreal CF in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey (6–1 on aggregate). [5]

In the summer of 2009, both Molina and teammate Juli signed with another side in the second division, Elche CF. [6] His debut season was nothing short of spectacular, as he led the scoring charts with 26; on 19 June 2010, even though none of the teams left had anything to play for, he scored four times in the 4–1 home victory over champions Real Sociedad. [7]

Betis

On 29 June 2010, Molina moved to Andalusia's Real Betis (also in the second tier) for €1.6 million, with the player signing a four-year contract; [8] if his new club managed to promote at the end of the season, Elche were entitled to a €500,000 bonus. [9] He scored 18 league goals in his first year (22 in all competitions), in spite of being sidelined for nearly three months with a knee injury. [10] On 19 January 2011, in the domestic cup, he scored twice against FC Barcelona in a 3–1 home win (6–3 aggregate loss in the quarter-finals), thus ending the Catalans' unbeaten run of 28 games. [11]

The attacking trio of Molina, Rubén Castro and midfielder Achille Emaná totalled more than 50 league goals in 2010–11, as Betis returned to La Liga after two years of absence. [12] He made his debut in the competition at the age of 29, playing 30 minutes in a 1–0 away defeat of Granada CF. [13] He scored his first goal on 15 October 2011, in a 4–1 loss to Real Madrid. [14]

Molina and his team achieved another promotion at the end of the 2014–15 campaign, with him contributing 19 goals. [15]

Getafe

On 24 June 2016, the 34-year-old Molina signed a two-year contract with Getafe CF on a free transfer. [16] He scored 20 goals in his first year, ranking fourth in the individual charts to help his team return to the top flight. [17]

On 31 August 2019, Molina scored in a 1–1 draw against Deportivo Alavés at the age of 37 years and 131 days, becoming the club's oldest player to achieve the feat in the Spanish top tier. [18]

Granada

Molina agreed to a two-year deal with Granada on 25 August 2020. [19] The following 29 April, he scored a header after coming on as a substitute against Barcelona, putting his team 2–1 ahead for their first ever win at the Camp Nou. [20]

On 28 October 2021, Molina scored a last-minute equaliser to salvage a 1–1 draw against Getafe. [21] On 13 December, he scored in the same fashion for the same result, this time against Cádiz CF. [22] In the next match, he scored his first hat-trick in La Liga to help to a 4–1 victory over RCD Mallorca and, in doing so at the age of 39 years and 241 days, he not only became the oldest player to do so, [23] [24] breaking the previous record held by Joaquín (38 years and 140 days), but also became the oldest to net three times in Europe's top five leagues, surpassing the previous mark by Rodrigo Palacio in Serie A (39 years and 86 days). [25] Three days later, Molina scored in his third game in a row, thus becoming the oldest to do so in the main five leagues in the continent, completing the 2–1 comeback defeat of Atlético Madrid; this was also his eighth goal contribution in the last five fixtures, with only Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Patrik Schick having more in the same timeframe. [26]

On 7 May 2022, Molina scored twice against relegation rivals Mallorca in a 6–2 away win, becoming at 40 years and 15 days the oldest player to score a brace in the main division as well as only the second to achieve this after his 40th birthday after Donato. [27] Granada entered the last matchday needing only a win to secure survival amidst a three-way battle with that opposition and Cádiz, but he missed a 72nd-minute penalty in an eventual 0–0 draw at home with RCD Espanyol, allowing Cádiz to stay up while his team was relegated. [28]

On 13 November 2022, Molina closed a 3–2 win over Yeclano Deportivo in the first round of the domestic cup and, at the age of 40 years and 205 days, became the oldest scorer in the history of the tournament, breaking the previous record held by Elche's Nino in 2021 (40 years and 189 days). [29] After never suffering a muscle injury in his two-decade career, he was four games away from renewing when he ruptured his cruciate ligament on 12 March against SD Ponferradina; [30] he still helped his side to achieve promotion in July, and announced his retirement shortly after. [31]

Molina retired with nearly 800 appearances and more than 300 goals to his credit. [30]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [32] [33]
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Alcoyano 2001–02 Tercera División 28122812
Benidorm 2002–03 304304
2003–04 409214210
Gandía 2004–05 225225
Benidorm 2005–06 Segunda División B 35123512
2006–07 3722203922
Total72342000007434
Poli Ejido 2007–08 Segunda División 30510315
2008–09 Segunda División B3619672 [lower-alpha 1] 04426
Total66247700207531
Elche 2009–10 Segunda División3826113927
Betis 2010–11 3418744122
2011–12 La Liga 26622288
2012–13 3213613814
2013–14 329417 [lower-alpha 2] 24312
2014–15 Segunda División3319413720
2015–16 La Liga23130261
Total18066269720021377
Getafe 2016–17 Segunda División3920104 [lower-alpha 3] 24422
2017–18 La Liga36700367
2018–19 3814324116
2019–20 3452161427
Total1474663614216352
Granada 2020–21 La Liga3384414 [lower-alpha 2] 35115
2021–22 3510223712
2022–23 Segunda División25321274
Total9321871430011531
Career total716247522827662801283
  1. Appearance(s) in Segunda División B play-offs
  2. 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance(s) in La Liga play-offs

Honours

Betis

Granada

Individual

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References

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  32. Jorge Molina at BDFutbol
  33. Jorge Molina at Soccerway
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