Jose Manuel Pinto

Jose Manuel Pinto Colorado (born 8 November 1975) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

After making a name for himself at Celta, with which he made his La Liga debut, he signed for Barcelona in 2008, going on to act as backup for Victor Valdes the vast majority of his spell and being part of the squads that won 16 major titles, including four national championships and two Champions Leagues.

Pinto appeared in 160 top-flight games over 16 seasons, also representing Real Betis.

Club Career

Betis and Celta

Born in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz, Andalucia, Pinto, a product of Real Betis' youth system, moved up to the first team and made his La Liga debut for the club during the 1997–98 campaign (one game as a second-half substitute against Racing de Santander).

Unable to dislodge Toni Prats at Betis, Pinto switched to RC Celta de Vigo a year later. He went on to win the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for the 2005–06 season after allowing just 29 goals in 37 matches, a goals per match ratio of 0.78. He was also eventually awarded the captain's armband, appearing in 125 games in the first division and 56 in the second as well as competing in the UEFA Champions League (in 2003–04, although backing up Pablo Cavallero in the domestic league, he would appear in five group stage matches, as Celta progressed to the round-of-16 game) and in the UEFA Cup.

Barcelona

Pinto signed on loan for FC Barcelona on 18 January 2008, with the player arriving as cover for the injured Albert Jorquera after the latter damaged knee ligaments during the festive break. He made his debut on 26 April against Deportivo de La Coruna in a 0–2 away loss; his second match also ended in defeat, as RCD Mallorca came up from behind 0–2 to win it 3–2 at the Camp Nou.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Хосе Мануэль Пинто (russian)