Antony de Ávila

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Ántony de Ávila
Personal information
Full name	Ántony Wílliam de Ávila Charris
Date of birth	December 21, 1962 (1962-12-21) (age 46)
Place of birth	Santa Marta, Colombia
Height	1.57m (5ft 3in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1983/1987-1988/1995 1987-88 1995-1997 1997-1999	América de Cali Unión de Santa Fe MetroStars Barcelona SC	470 (169) 037 0(17) 031 0(15) 052 0(18)
National team
1983-1998	Colombia	053 0(13)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Ántony Wílliam de Ávila Charris (born December 21, 1962 in Santa Marta, Colombia) is a former Colombian soccer striker. Nicknamed El Pitufo ("The Smurf") or El Pipa, he was known as much for his short height of 1.57m (5 ft 3 in) as for his goal-scoring prowess.

De Ávila spent his career with four clubs: América de Cali in his native Colombia, the MetroStars of Major League Soccer, Unión de Santa Fe of Argentina ^[1] and Barcelona SC of Ecuador. His 25 goals for América in 1990 led Colombia. He is the top scorer in the history of América de Cali, with 201 goals, making him one of the fans' idols. De Ávila scored 29 goals during his career in Copa Libertadores making him the 6th highest scoring player in the history of the tournament. De Ávila also scored 13 in 54 appearances for the Colombia national team between 1983 and 1998.^[2] He played for his country in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups.

De Ávila's MLS career spanned a season and a half, as he joined the Metros midway through the 1996 season as a replacement for colossal disappointment Rubén Darío Hernández. With the club playing on AstroTurf for parts of the season, El Pitufo was surprisingly adept at what was called "ping-pong soccer".^[3] He scored 15 goals and added 11 assists in his time in the league, plus another two goals and an assist in the playoffs.

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[edit] External links

• Career statistics at National Football Teams

v • d • e Colombia squad – 1991 Copa América 1 Higuita • 2 Escobar • 3 Martínez • 4 Pimentel • 5 Herrera • 6 Pareja • 7 de Ávila • 8 García • 9 Valenciano • 10 Valderrama • 11 Redín • 12 Calero • 13 Cabrera • 14 Álvarez • 15 Perea • 16 Estrada • 17 Osorio • 18 Iguarán • 19 Usuriaga • 20 Rincón • 21 Vargas Cortés • 22 Niño • Coach: García

v • d • e Colombia squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Córdoba • 2 Escobar • 3 Mendoza • 4 Herrera • 5 Gaviria • 6 Gómez • 7 de Ávila • 8 Lozano • 9 Valenciano • 10 Valderrama • 11 Valencia • 12 Mondragón • 13 Ortiz • 14 Álvarez • 15 Perea • 16 Aristizábal • 17 Serna • 18 Cortés • 19 Rincón • 20 Pérez • 21 Asprilla • 22 Pazo • Coach: Maturana

v • d • e Colombia squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 O. Córdoba • 2 I. Córdoba • 3 Palacios • 4 Santa • 5 Bermúdez • 6 Serna • 7 de Ávila • 8 Lozano • 9 Valencia • 10 Valderrama • 11 Asprilla • 12 Calero • 13 Cabrera • 14 Bolaño • 15 Aristizábal • 16 Moreno • 17 Estrada • 18 Pérez • 19 Rincón • 20 Ricard • 21 Preciado • 22 Mondragón • Coach: Gómez