Antony William de Ávila Charris (born December 21, 1962) is a Colombian former soccer striker nicknamed El Pitufo ("The Smurf"), who last played for América de Cali.
Club career De Ávila began his career with América de Cali in his native Colombia in 1982. He spent the majority of his career with the club, winning seven league titles with América, including five in a row from 1982 to 1986. His 25 goals for América in the 1990 season led all scorers in the Colombian top flight. His time with América also led him to be runner-up in the Copa Libertadores on three occasions in 1985, 1986, and 1996.
De Ávila also spent time abroad, playing for Unión de Santa Fe of Argentina in between spells with América,BDFA profile the MetroStars of Major League Soccer, and Barcelona SC of Ecuador.
De Ávila's MLS career spanned a season and a half, as he joined the Metros midway through the 1996 season as a replacement for colossal disappointment Rubén Darío Hernández. With the club playing on AstroTurf for parts of the season, El Pitufo was surprisingly adept at what was called "ping-pong soccer".Ping-pong soccer He scored 15 goals and added 11 assists in his time in the league, plus another two goals and an assist in the playoffs.
In 1997, De Ávila left the MLS and moved to Ecuador to play for Barcelona de Ecuador. With the club, he reached another Copa Libertadores final but again failed to win, becoming the only player to have lost five Libertadores finals.
De Ávila retired in 1999, but returned to competitive football at the age of 46 with América de Cali, eventually finishing his career with a club record 208 goals.
His 29 goals in the Copa Libertadores ranked him sixth highest scorer in the history of the tournament.
International career De Ávila made his senior debut on July 26, 1983. He went on to score 13 goals in 54 appearances for the Colombia national team between 1983 and 1998.rsssf: Colombia record international footballers He represented his country at two World Cups, in 1994 and 1998 respectively.
Personal life Nicknamed El Pitufo ("The Smurf") or El Pipa, he was known as much for his short height of 1.57m (5 ft 3 in) as for his goal-scoring prowess. After retiring, de Ávila bought a farm and he was still living there as of 2020.
Career statistics Scores and results list goal tally first."Ántony de Ávila International Matches"., 11v11.com Retrieved on August 8, 2014
Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each de Ávila goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Antony de ÁvilaNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 June 27, 1989 Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States 4–0 4–0 Friendly2 July 3, 1989 Estádio Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil 3–0 4–2 1989 Copa América3 February 3, 1991 Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States 2–0 2–3 1991 Miami Cup4 June 25, 1991 Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica 1–0 1–0 Friendly5 July 7, 1991 Estadio Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile 1–0 1–0 1991 Copa América6 July 13, 1991 Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile 1–0 2–0 1991 Copa América7 July 21, 1991 Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile 1–2 1–2 1991 Copa América8 March 31, 1993 Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín, Colombia 2–0 4–1 Friendly9 April 17, 1994 Estadio Centenario, Armenia, Colombia 1–0 1–0 Friendly10 May 5, 1994 Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States 2–0 3–0 1994 Miami Cup11 July 7, 1996 Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia 3–1 3–1 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification12 July 20, 1997 Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia 1–0 1–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification13 August 20, 1997 Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia 1–0 3–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
Honours América de Cali Categoría Primera A: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992 Copa Libertadores runner-up: 1985, 1986, 1996
Barcelona de Ecuador Ecuadorian Serie A: 1997 Copa Libertadores runner-up: 1998
Individual Categoría Primera A top scorer: 1990 Copa Libertadores top scorer: 1996
References
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