Toni Prats

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Prats and the second or maternal family name is Cervera.
Toni Prats
Personal information
Full name Antonio Prats Cervera
Date of birth (1971-09-09) 9 September 1971
Place of birth Capdepera, Spain
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Mallorca
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1992 Mallorca B 12 (0)
1991–1995 Mallorca 85 (0)
1995–1996 Celta 41 (0)
1996–2005 Betis 282 (2)
2005–2007 Mallorca 52 (0)
2007–2008 Hércules 7 (0)
Total 479 (2)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
1994 France
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Antonio 'Toni' Prats Cervera (born 9 September 1971) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

In a career spent mainly with Betis, he appeared in 338 La Liga matches over 12 seasons (467 across both major levels), winning one Copa del Rey with the club.[1]

Club career

Prats was born in Capdepera, Majorca. After emerging through his hometown RCD Mallorca's youth system (appearing in one La Liga match in the 1991–92 season, a 1–2 home loss against Athletic Bilbao)[2] and playing one year with RC Celta de Vigo, he finally settled at Seville's Real Betis, where he remained nine years.[3][4] Ironically, in 1999–2000, as the Andalusians were relegated from the top flight, he scored against Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid through free kicks, in respectively a 2–1 win and 2–1 loss.[5][6]

In 2005–06, alleging personal reasons, Prats returned to Mallorca for a further two campaigns,[7] before the emergence of Miguel Ángel Moyá[8] forced a move to Segunda División club Hércules CF[9] where he was scarcely used, retiring in March 2008 following recurrent back problems.[10]

International career

Prats was called once by the Spain national team. He remained on the bench in an infamous 3–2 away loss against Cyprus for the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifiers on 5 September 1998, with manager Javier Clemente being dismissed in the aftermath.[11][12]

Personal life

Prats' nephew Abdón was also a footballer. A forward, he also was a product of Mallorca's youth system.[13]

Honours

Betis

Spain U21

References

  1. ^ Martí se apunta 300 (Martí bags 300); Fútbol Balear, 24 March 2012 (in Spanish)
  2. ^ El adiós forzado de Prats (Prats' forced goodbye); Diario de Mallorca, 8 March 2008 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Mallorquines de celeste (Mallorca natives in sky-blue); Última Hora, 2 February 2002 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ ¿Qué fue de Prats? El mítico meta del Betis que le marcó al Madrid (What happened to Prats? The legendary Betis goalie who scored to Madrid); Diario AS, 2 August 2018 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ ¿Sabías que Toni Prats fue el primer portero de Primera en marcar de tiro libre? (Did you know Toni Prats was the first Primera goalkeeper to score from a free kick?); RCDM, 17 February 2010 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Toni Prats, el portero que marcó más goles que el delantero centro (Toni Prats, the goalkeeper who scored more goals than the centre-forward); Diario de Sevilla, 22 January 2021 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Prats: «Vuelvo a la isla por motivos personales; lo deportivo no ha influido» (Prats: "I return to the island for personal reasons; the sporting part had nothing to do with this"); ABC, 5 July 2005 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ El Moyà más "optimista" (The most "optimistic" Moyà); Diario de Mallorca, 26 August 2007 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ Javi González firma por dos temporadas con el Hércules (Javi González signs for two seasons with Hércules); El Correo, 23 July 2007 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Prats espera seguir vinculado al Hércules (Prats hopes to continue linked to Hércules); Marca, 7 March 2008 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ España cae ante Chipre, un equipo repleto de aficionados (Spain fall against Cyprus, team filled with amateurs); El Mundo, 5 September 1998 (in Spanish)
  12. ^ "Yo fui a la selección, pero no debuté" ("I went to the national team, but I did not make my debut); Marca, 7 September 2011 (in Spanish)
  13. ^ El sobrino supera al tío (The nephew overcomes the uncle); Diario AS, 17 October 2021 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Dani delivers for Betis; UEFA, 11 June 2005
  15. ^ España pierde la inocencia (Spain lose innocence); Mundo Deportivo, 16 April 1994 (in Spanish)
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