Jacinto Elá Eyene (born 2 May 1982) is an Equatoguinean retired professional footballer who played predominantly as a right winger.
Club career Born in Añisoc, Elá moved to Barcelona at the age of ten with his parents."Iba para estrella de fútbol, pero he acabado siendo Rey Mago, que es mejor" ("I was a future football star, i ended up a Magi, i'm better off"); 20 minutos, 7 January 2010 (in Spanish) He played most of his youth football with Espanyol (five years), being selected to Spain's youth teams whilst with the club and also helping the reserves promote to Segunda División B in 2000; the following year, he won the Copa del Rey Juvenil with the juniors.
On 24 July 1999, Elá made his competitive debut with Espanyol's first team, appearing in a UEFA Intertoto Cup game against Montpellier in France, as a 70th-minute substitute (1–2 loss).Con la cabeza bien alta (Head held high); Mundo Deportivo, 25 July 1999 (in Spanish) It was his only appearance for the Catalans.
In the 2001 off-season, Elá signed for Southampton in England, penning a three-year contract after turning down Coventry City. During his spell he never appeared officially with the Premier League side, being limited to reserve team football; additionally, in the 2001–02 season, he suffered a serious knee injury.Jacinto Ela confía tener continuidad en el Hércules ("Jacinto Ela hopes to have continuity in Hércules"); Diario Crítico, 13 February 2003 (in Spanish)
In 2002, Elá was loaned to Hércules in the Spanish third level, under former Sporting Gijón and Tenerife player Felipe Miñambres. In March 2003, in a friendly match with Elche, he suffered another severe injury to his knee, after a hard tackle by Raúl Pérez;Jacinto resta importancia a la dura entrada de Raúl Pérez que le lesionó ("Jacinto downplays hard tackle by Raúl Pérez who injured him"); Diario Crítico, 5 March 2003 (in Spanish) upon his return to the Saints, he continued to appear exclusively for the second team.
In August 2005, Elá signed for Dundee of the Scottish Football League First Division.Wednesday's gossip column; BBC Sport, 3 August 2005 His output consisted of two league matches, plus two appearances in the Challenge Cup and one in the League Cup, going scoreless in the process; he left the club in late November.Madaschi and Jacinto leave Dundee; BBC Sport, 25 November 2005
From 2005 until his retirement in 2010 at the age of only 28, Elá played exclusively in amateur football, the sole exception being eight third level games for Gramenet in the 2006–07 campaign.
Post-retirement / Personal life After retiring, Elá returned to Barcelona and started his own clothing line, Malabona (a combination of "Malabo" and "Barcelona"), working alongside his wife Esther in the design of T-shirts and all kinds of fashion clothes, which were then sold via the internet.Ara, no canvia el disseny pel futbol (Right now, he does not trade design for football); Mundo Deportivo, 24 March 2009 (in Catalan)
His younger brother, Ruslan, was also a footballer. A defender, he represented the Equatoguinean national team.
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