 Molina celebrating a goal withElche in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jorge Molina Vidal[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1982-04-22)22 April 1982 (age 43)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Alcoy, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-forward | ||
| 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 | 66 | (24) |
| 2009–2010 | Elche | 38 | (26) |
| 2010–2016 | Betis | 180 | (66) |
| 2016–2020 | Getafe | 147 | (46) |
| 2020–2023 | Granada | 93 | (21) |
| Total | 664 | (241) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Jorge Molina Vidal (born 22 April 1982) is a Spanish formerfootballer who played as acentre-forward.
A late bloomer, he began to play professional football at 25 withPoli Ejido. He represented mainlyBetis during his career, achieving two promotions toLa Liga and scoring 77 goals in 213 matches in all competitions in the process.[2] In the Spanish top division, he also representedGetafe andGranada, totalling 289 games and 73 goals over nine seasons.[3]
Molina was born inAlcoy,Province of Alicante. Until the age of 23, he only played in theTercera División, representingCD Alcoyano,Benidorm CF andCF Gandía. In 2005 he re-joined Benidorm, now in theSegunda División B.[4]
Molina made his professional debut in2007–08, playing in theSegunda División withPolideportivo Ejido. It would be a short-lived experience, as his five goals – squad-best, tied with three other players – in 30 matches, were not enough to prevent relegation. On 29 October 2008, he scored ahat-trick in a 5–0 home win againstVillarreal CF in theround of 32 of theCopa del Rey (6–1 on aggregate).[5]
In the summer of 2009, both Molina and teammateJuli signed with another side in the second division,Elche CF.[6] Hisdebut season was nothing short of spectacular, as he led the scoring charts with 26; on 19 June 2010, even though none of the teams left had anything to play for, he scored four times in the 4–1 home victory over championsReal Sociedad.[7]
On 29 June 2010, Molina moved toAndalusia'sReal Betis (also in the second tier) for €1.6 million, with the player signing a four-year contract;[8] if his new club managed to promote at the end ofthe season, Elche were entitled to a €500,000 bonus.[9] He scored 18 league goals in his first year (22 in all competitions), in spite of being sidelined for nearly three months with a knee injury.[10] On 19 January 2011, in the domestic cup, he scored twice againstFC Barcelona in a 3–1 home win (6–3 aggregate loss in the quarter-finals), thus ending theCatalans' unbeaten run of 28 games.[11]
The attacking trio of Molina,Rubén Castro andmidfielderAchille Emaná totalled more than 50 league goals in 2010–11, as Betis returned toLa Liga after two years of absence.[12] He made his debut in the competition at the age of 29, playing 30 minutes in a 1–0 away defeat ofGranada CF.[13] He scored his first goal on 15 October 2011, in a 4–1 loss toReal Madrid.[14]
Molina and his team achieved another promotion at the end of the2014–15 campaign, with him contributing 19 goals.[15]
On 24 June 2016, the 34-year-old Molina signed a two-year contract withGetafe CF on afree transfer.[16] He scored 20 goals in hisfirst year, ranking fourth in the individual charts to help his team return to the top flight.[17]
On 31 August 2019, Molina scored in a 1–1 draw againstDeportivo Alavés at the age of 37 years and 131 days, becoming the club's oldest player to achieve the feat in theSpanish top tier.[18]
Molina agreed to a two-year deal with Granada on 25 August 2020.[19] The following 29 April, he scored aheader after coming on as asubstitute against Barcelona, putting his team 2–1 ahead for their first ever win at theCamp Nou.[20]
On 28 October 2021, Molina scored alast-minute equaliser to salvage a 1–1 draw against Getafe.[21] On 13 December, he scored in the same fashion for the same result, this time againstCádiz CF.[22] In the next match, he scored his first hat-trick in La Liga to help to a 4–1 victory overRCD Mallorca and, in doing so at the age of 39 years and 241 days, he not only became theoldest player to do so,[23][24] breaking the previous record held byJoaquín (38 years and 140 days), but also became the oldest to net three times in Europe's top five leagues, surpassing the previous mark byRodrigo Palacio inSerie A (39 years and 86 days).[25] Three days later, Molina scored in his third game in a row, thus becoming the oldest to do so in the main five leagues in the continent, completing the 2–1 comeback defeat ofAtlético Madrid; this was also his eighth goal contribution in the last five fixtures, with onlyBayer 04 Leverkusen'sPatrik Schick having more in the same timeframe.[26]
On 7 May 2022, Molina scored twice against relegation rivals Mallorca in a 6–2 away win, becoming at 40 years and 15 days the oldest player to score a brace in the main division as well as only the second to achieve this after his 40th birthday afterDonato.[27] Granada entered the last matchday needing only a win to secure survival amidst a three-way battle with that opposition and Cádiz, but he missed a 72nd-minutepenalty in an eventual 0–0 draw at home withRCD Espanyol, allowing Cádiz to stay up while his teamwas relegated.[28]
On 13 November 2022, Molina closed a 3–2 win overYeclano Deportivo in thefirst round of the domestic cup and, at the age of 40 years and 205 days, became the oldest scorer in the history of the tournament, breaking the previous record held by Elche'sNino in 2021 (40 years and 189 days).[29] After never suffering a muscle injury in his two-decade career, he was four games away from renewing when he ruptured hiscruciate ligament on 12 March againstSD Ponferradina;[30] he still helped his side toachieve promotion in July, and announced his retirement shortly after.[31]
Molina retired with nearly 800 appearances and more than 300 goals to his credit.[30]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Alcoyano | 2001–02 | Tercera División | 28 | 12 | — | — | — | 28 | 12 | |||
| Benidorm | 2002–03 | 30 | 4 | — | — | — | 30 | 4 | ||||
| 2003–04 | 40 | 9 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 42 | 10 | ||||
| Gandía | 2004–05 | 22 | 5 | — | — | — | 22 | 5 | ||||
| Benidorm | 2005–06 | Segunda División B | 35 | 12 | — | — | — | 35 | 12 | |||
| 2006–07 | 37 | 22 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 39 | 22 | ||||
| Total | 72 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 34 | ||
| Poli Ejido | 2007–08 | Segunda División | 30 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 5 | ||
| 2008–09 | Segunda División B | 36 | 19 | 6 | 7 | — | 2[a] | 0 | 44 | 26 | ||
| Total | 66 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 75 | 31 | ||
| Elche | 2009–10 | Segunda División | 38 | 26 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 39 | 27 | ||
| Betis | 2010–11 | 34 | 18 | 7 | 4 | — | — | 41 | 22 | |||
| 2011–12 | La Liga | 26 | 6 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 28 | 8 | |||
| 2012–13 | 32 | 13 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 38 | 14 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 32 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 7[b] | 2 | — | 43 | 12 | |||
| 2014–15 | Segunda División | 33 | 19 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 37 | 20 | |||
| 2015–16 | La Liga | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Total | 180 | 66 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 213 | 77 | ||
| Getafe | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 39 | 20 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[c] | 2 | 44 | 22 | |
| 2017–18 | La Liga | 36 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 7 | |||
| 2018–19 | 38 | 14 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 41 | 16 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 34 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | — | 42 | 7 | |||
| Total | 147 | 46 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 163 | 52 | ||
| Granada | 2020–21 | La Liga | 33 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 14[b] | 3 | — | 51 | 15 | |
| 2021–22 | 35 | 10 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 12 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Segunda División | 25 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 27 | 4 | |||
| Total | 93 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 115 | 31 | ||
| Career total | 716 | 247 | 52 | 28 | 27 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 801 | 283 | ||
Betis
Granada
Individual