Francisco "Patxi" Puñal Martínez (born 6 September 1975) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
The vast bulk of his career was connected with Osasuna, where he was often charged with penalty-taking and for which he appeared in 513 competitive matches.Patxi Puñal alcanza el récord de partidos con Osasuna (Patxi Puñal reaches record of games with Osasuna); Diario de Navarra, 7 October 2012 (in Spanish)Más que un capitán (More than a captain) ; Revista de Navarra, 4 April 2014 (in Spanish)741 días después (741 days later) ; Noticias de Navarra, 27 August 2016 (in Spanish)
Club career Born in Huarte, Navarre,Puñal, el eterno capitán (Puñal, the eternal captain); Vavel, 21 April 2020 (in Spanish) Puñal played his entire professional career with CA Osasuna save for two on-loan seasons at Madrid's CD Leganés, in the Segunda División.Sólo siguen diez (Only ten continue); Mundo Deportivo, 9 June 2000 (in Spanish) His first official game for the first team came on 15 June 1997 in a 1–1 away draw against SD Eibar, in the same tier.Eibar pierde 150 millones (Eibar lose 150 million); Mundo Deportivo, 16 June 1997 (in Spanish)
Puñal returned to the El Sadar Stadium as an undisputed first choice, scoring his first La Liga goal on 27 October 2001 in a 4–0 home win over RCD Mallorca.Osasuna pasa por encima de un Mallorca a la deriva (Osasuna steamroll drifting Mallorca); Mundo Deportivo, 28 October 2001 (in Spanish) In Osasuna's 2005–06 historical league campaign, which brought a best ever fourth-place finish, he netted four times in 34 matches.
On 29 November 2006, as the side went on to reach the last-four in the UEFA Cup,Osasuna, a las puertas de la final de la UEFA (Osasuna, near the UEFA final); Diario de Navarra, 2 May 2017 (in Spanish) Puñal scored three goals (one in his net) in a 3–1 home defeat of Odense Boldklub in the group stage.Puñal puts Osasuna on brink; UEFA, 29 November 2006 He made 47 official appearances that season.Los 388 partidos de Puñal (Puñal's 388 matches); Navarra Sport, 10 May 2010 (in Spanish)
From 2007 to 2010, veteran Puñal continued to figure prominently for Osasuna, featuring in exactly 100 league games – scoring twice through penalties, in a 2–0 win at Getafe CF; ESPN Soccernet, 30 March 2008 and a 2–1 home loss to Real Madrid,; ESPN Soccernet, 4 May 2008 both goals coming during 2007–08 – and also being the captain after the retirement of César Cruchaga.Puñal: "Vamos a intentar tener un año sin problemas" Puñal: "Vamos a intentar tener un año sin problemas" (Puñal: "We will try to have a problem-free year"); Diario AS, 19 July 2009 (in Spanish) During that timeframe, he was booked a total of 37 times.
Puñal finished 2012 on a high note, being a father for the first time and having appeared in a total of 470 competitive matches for his main club, a best-ever. He obtained the record after his 464th overall appearance on 21 October, against Real Betis,Patxi Puñal nunca podrá olvidar un año como 2012 (Patxi Puñal will never be able to forget a year like 2012); Marca, 27 December 2012 (in Spanish) and on 26 May 2013 he again entered the team's history books, netting from 30 meters and contributing to a 2–1 home victory over Sevilla FC which certified permanence in the top division for another year, with one game remaining.Cejudo earns the points; ESPN FC, 26 May 2013
In 2014, Puñal was awarded the Gold Medal for Sporting Merit, the highest accolade of the kind granted by the Government of Navarre.Patxi Puñal recibe la Medalla de Oro al Mérito Deportivo (Patxi Puñal receives the Gold Medal for Sporting Merit); Diario de Navarra, 2 December 2014 (in Spanish)
International career Puñal earned caps for both the Basque Country and Navarre autonomous teams.Navarra se mide hoy a China en el estreno de El Sadar como Reyno de Navarra (Navarre take on China today in El Sadar debut as Reyno de Navarra); Diario de León, 26 December 2005 (in Spanish)Xabi Prieto, el jugador con más partidos desde 1979 (Xabi Prieto, the player with the most matches since 1979); EITB, 13 November 2020 (in Spanish)
See also List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)
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