Jonás Ramalho

Jonás Ramalho Chimeno (born 10 June 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Girona FC.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Ramalho and the second or maternal family name is Chimeno.
Jonás Ramalho
Ramalho playing for Spain U19 in 2012
Personal information
Full name Jonás Ramalho Chimeno
Date of birth (1993-06-10) 10 June 1993
Place of birth Barakaldo, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Girona
Number 4
Youth career
2001–2003 Leioa
2003–2010 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2016 Bilbao Athletic 67 (2)
2010 Basconia 8 (0)
2011–2013 Athletic Bilbao 8 (0)
2013–2015 → Girona (loan) 61 (2)
2016–2019 Girona 79 (3)
2019– Girona 10 (0)
National team
2009 Spain U16 3 (0)
2009–2010 Spain U17 13 (0)
2011 Spain U18 2 (0)
2011–2012 Spain U19 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 December 2019

He was the first mixed-race player to play for Athletic Bilbao – who only field Basque players – in an official competition.[1]

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Ramalho was born in Barakaldo, Biscay, to a Basque mother and an Angolan father.[2] A product of Athletic Bilbao's famed youth system at Lezama, he first appeared with the main squad at only 14, featuring as a substitute in a friendly match against SD Amorebieta to become its youngest player of all time.[3] As a senior, he had only played once for the reserves when he received his first call-up for the first team, being named in the 18-man list for a UEFA Europa League match at home to SV Werder Bremen, filling in for regular Andoni Iraola as the side was already qualified;[2] however, he did not leave the bench in the 0–3 group stage home loss, on 16 December 2009.[4]

Ramalho made his La Liga debut on 20 November 2011 at the age of 18 years and five months, sent on by coach Marcelo Bielsa to play the last five minutes in place of Fernando Llorente a 2–1 away win against Sevilla FC.[5] On 2 August of the following year he made his first appearance in European competition, starting in a 3–1 home win over NK Slaven Belupo in that season's UEFA Europa League.[6]

Girona

In 2013, Ramalho was loaned to Girona FC, playing regularly in two Segunda División seasons for the Catalan club. In May 2015, shortly after suffering a serious knee injury away to Deportivo Alavés, he signed a new contract to keep him at Athletic for the upcoming campaign.[7]

On 7 June 2016, after suffering relegation with the B-side, Ramalho was released.[8] Late in the month he returned to Girona, now in a permanent deal.[9]

Ramalho left the Catalans after their relegation in 2019, but returned to the club on 20 August of that year after agreeing to a three-year contract.[10]

International career

Ramalho was part of the Spanish under-19 squads which won the European Championship in 2011 and 2012. With the team already qualified for the knockout stages as group winners, he was fielded by coach Ginés Meléndez for the final group game in the former competition in Chiajna, scoring an own goal which opened a 3–0 victory for Turkey.[11]

Ramalho was called up by Angola manager Srđan Vasiljević in a preliminary squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations,[12] but was one of three players cut before the final tournament in Egypt.[13]

Honours

Spain U19

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References
  1. Lowe, Sid (23 November 2011). "Jonas Ramalho helping to dispel longstanding Athletic Bilbao myth". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  2. Minshull, Phil (16 December 2009). "Colour barrier finally broken at Athletic Bilbao". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  3. Nathanson, Patrick (29 February 2008). "Athletic Bilbao field first black player". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  4. "Athletic stumble against slick Bremen". UEFA. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  5. Beato, Rafa (20 November 2011). "Ramalho es el primer jugador de raza negra del Athletic" [Ramalho is Athletic's first black player]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  6. "Athletic encarrilló la eliminatoria ante el Slaven Koprivnica" [Athletic all but wrapped up tie against Slaven Koprivnica] (in Spanish). ESPN FC. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  7. "Ramalho renueva con el Athletic después de su grave lesión de rodilla" [Ramalho renews with Athletic after his serious knee injury]. El Correo (in Spanish). 23 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  8. "Leaving Bilbao Athletic". Athletic Bilbao. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  9. "Ramalho torna al Girona" [Ramalho returns to Girona] (in Catalan). Girona FC. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  10. "Tercera etapa de Ramalho al Girona FC" [Third spell of Ramalho at Girona] (in Catalan). Girona FC. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  11. "Fútbol/Sub-19.- Crónica del Turquía-España, 3–0" [Football/Under-19 – Turkey 3–0 Spain, match report]. El Economista (in Spanish). 26 July 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  12. "CAN2019: Três novidades entre os 26 jogadores convocados" [ACN2019: Three new faces among the 26 chosen players] (in Portuguese). Angola Press News Agency. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  13. Samuel, Babatunde (13 June 2019). "Afcon: Lazio defender Bastos Quissanga tops Angola's 23-man squad". Goal. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  14. "Crónica del República Checa-España, 2–3" [Czech Republic-Spain match report, 2–3] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 1 August 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  15. "La sub´19, campeona de Europa" [The under-19s, European champions]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). 15 July 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
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