Jorge Molina Vidal

Jorge Molina Vidal (born 22 April 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for and captains Getafe CF as a centre forward.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Molina and the second or maternal family name is Vidal.

Jorge Molina
Molina celebrating a goal with Elche
Personal information
Full name Jorge Molina Vidal
Date of birth (1982-04-22) 22 April 1982
Place of birth Alcoy, Spain
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Centre forward
Club information
Current team
 Getafe
Number 19
Youth career
Alcoyano
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (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 68 (24)
2009–2010 Elche 38 (26)
2010–2016 Betis 180 (66)
2016– Getafe 147 (46)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 July 2020

A late bloomer, he only 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 across all competitions in the process.[2]

Club career

Early years

Molina was born in Alcoy, Province of Alicante. Until the age of 23, he only played in the fourth division, representing CD Alcoyano, Benidorm CF and CF Gandía. In 2005 he re-joined the second, now one level above in the third.

Molina made his professional debuts in 2007–08, playing in division two with Polideportivo Ejido. It would be a short-lived experience, as his five goals – team-best, tied with three other players – in 30 matches were not enough to prevent relegation, as last. On 29 October 2008, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 home win against Villarreal CF for the season's Copa del Rey (6–1 on aggregate).[3]

In the summer of 2009, both Molina and teammate Juli signed with another club in the second division, Elche CF.[4] His debut season was nothing short of spectacular, as he led the scoring charts at 26; on 19 June 2010, even though none of the clubs played for anything in the last round, he netted all of the Valencians' goals in a 4–1 home win against champions Real Sociedad.[5]

Betis

On 29 June 2010, Molina moved to Andalusia's Real Betis (also in the second level) for €1.6 million, with the player signing a four-year contract.[6] If his new club had been promoted at the end of the season, a €500,000 bonus would have been paid to Elche.[7]

In his first year with Betis, Molina again scored in double digits, in spite of losing nearly three months of action with a knee injury.[8] On 19 January 2011, for the domestic cup, he netted twice against FC Barcelona in a 3–1 home win (3–6 aggregate loss in the quarter-finals), thus ending the Catalans' unbeaten streak at 28 games.[9]

The attacking trio of Molina, Rubén Castro and midfielder Achille Emaná combined for more than 50 league goals in 2010–11, as Betis returned to La Liga after two years of absence.[10] He made his debut in the competition at the age of 29 years, four months and five days, playing 30 minutes in a 1–0 away win against Granada CF;[11] his first goal arrived on 15 October 2011, but in a 1–4 loss at Real Madrid.[12]

Molina and his team achieved another promotion at the end of the 2014–15 campaign, with the player contributing to the feat with 19 goals.[13]

Getafe

On 24 June 2016, 34-year-old Molina signed a two-year contract with Getafe CF as a free agent.[14] He scored 20 goals in his first year, ranking fourth in the charts to help to a top flight return after one year.[15]

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 La Liga.[16]

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References
  1. "Jorge Molina" (in Spanish). Getafe CF. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. Cejas, Antonio (12 May 2016). "Jorge Molina: "Para mi hija, ver el escudo del Betis es ver a papá directamente"" [Jorge Molina: "To my daughter, seeing Betis' badge is just like seeing daddy"]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  3. "El Poli Ejido da el sorpresón al hacer una 'manita' al Villarreal" [Poli Ejido shock football world after handing Villarreal a 'fiver']. Marca (in Spanish). 29 October 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  4. "El Elche ficha a Jorge Molina y Julián Cerdá del Poli Ejido" [Elche sign Jorge Molina and Julián Cerdá from Poli Ejido]. Diario Información (in Spanish). 11 June 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. Romero, J. C. (20 June 2010). "Jorge Molina marca los cuatro goles y acaba 'pichichi' de la división de plata" [Jorge Molina scores all four goals to end silver division 'pichichi']. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  6. "Mercado: Es oficial, el Betis cierra los fichajes de Momo y Jorge Molina" [Market: it's official, Betis close deals for Momo and Jorge Molina] (in Spanish). Goal. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  7. "El Betis hace oficial el fichaje de Jorge Molina" [Betis make Jorge Molina's signing official] (in Spanish). esFutbol. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  8. "Pepe Mel estará sin Jorge Molina tres meses" [Pepe Mel will be without Jorge Molina for three months] (in Spanish). Fútbol de Segunda. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  9. "Betis ends Barcelona's unbeaten streak". ESPN. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  10. Espina, José A. (4 September 2011). "Molina y Rubén prometen goles también en Primera" [Molina and Rubén also promise goals in Primera]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  11. Pineda, Rafael (27 August 2011). "Rubén Castro hace justicia" [Rubén Castro does justice]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  12. "Higuain bags hat-trick". ESPN Soccernet. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  13. Pineda, Rafael (25 May 2015). "Las siete claves del ascenso del Betis" [The seven keys of Betis' promotion]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  14. "Jorge Molina ficha por el Getafe" [Jorge Molina signs for Getafe]. ABC (in Spanish). 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  15. "Jorge Molina (Getafe): 20 goles, 5 asistencias, 53 tiros y 43 regates" [Jorge Molina (Getafe): 20 goals, 5 assists, 53 shots and 43 dribbles]. Marca (in Spanish). 27 June 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  16. Munday, Billy (31 August 2019). "Alaves maintain unbeaten start with draw at Getafe". Marca. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
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