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Did you know that the first ever Asian footballer to play for a European club was a Filipino? Paulino Alcántara y Riestrá (7 October 1896—13 February 1964) was a Spanish-Filipino football player and manager who spent most of his life playing for Barcelona. He also played for Catalonia, the Philippines, and Spain.

Born in the Philippines to a Spanish military officer and an Ilongga mother, Alcántara moved to Spain to play for FC Galeno before he was discovered by Joan Gamper and signed up for Barcelona. At the tender age of 15, he made his debut against Catalá SC in the Campionat de Catalunya (Catalan Football Championship), in which Barcelona won 9–0, with Alcántara scoring the first three goals of the game. He remains the youngest player to play or score for the club and the club's highest goalscorer, with 357 goals in 357 matches.



His nickname was ‘El Romperedes’, which can be translated as “The Netbreaker.” Paulino Alcántara is the all-time leading scorer of FC Barcelona, but he is perhaps best known for a legendary moment he created with his right foot while playing for the Spanish national team. It was April 30, 1922. The opponent was France. Alcántara struck the ball from 30 yards away from goal. For a man who scored 357 goals in 357 appearances for Barca, the fact that the ball made it past the French keeper should come as no shock. What made the moment so transcendent was that Alcántara struck the ball so hard it broke through the back of the net. It was a display of power that children in Spain would attempt for years to replicate while playing with their friends.

Maybe even more remarkable than that made-for-cinema moment against France is where Alcántara came from. The Philippines is a country that today has a sporting landscape dominated by the NBA and boxing, owing to Filipino living legend Manny Pacquiao. The national team is ranked 169th in the world by FIFA and football has simply never been on the radar of most Filipinos. But this is the country that gave the world Paulino Alcántara, the first player to ever come from Asia and find a place on a European football club’s roster. Despite being largely unknown in his home country, he is well remembered by the football-loving minority there, as he is in Spain. A statue of him stands outside the Philippine Football Federation offices. Having a Spanish father stationed in the Philippines allowed him to come to Catalunya in 1910 to further his education. Soon after, he was discovered by Barca’s founder, Joan Gamper, while playing for FC Galeno. Making his debut for Barca in 1912, he scored the first three goals in a 9-0 win. Amazingly, he was just 15 years old at the time. Regardless of the difference in eras, that is an absolutely astounding feat. A year after his debut, the club won the Chapionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey, which was considered the Spanish championship at that time.



After hanging up his boots in 1927 at the age of 31, Alcántara became a doctor. And on 5 July 1927, Barcelona played against Spain in a testimonial match in his honour. Although already retired from playing, Alcántara later returned to the stadium as a club director between 1931 and 1934. In 1951, Alcántara became a selector and managed Spain for three games. Alcántara died in Barcelona in 1964 at age 67.