Pablo Couñago

Celta

Born in Redondela, Province of Pontevedra, Galicia, and a product of local Celta de Vigo's youth academy, Couñago made his professional debut in the Segunda División, loaned to Numancia. He returned in January 1999 to his first club, failing to appear in La Liga in his first spell. He scored on his competitive debut on 26 November 1996 when he was just 17, equalising a 1–1 home draw against neighbours Racing de Ferrol in the second round of the Copa del Rey. In the 1999–2000 season, Couñago returned to the second tier yet on loan, now with Recreativo de Huelva, after which he returned to Celta still with no impact. He made 18 official appearances for the latter, 12 from the bench and two being in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup where he totalled 63 minutes.

Ipswich Town

After impressing in a Spain under-21 4–0 win over England at Birmingham City's ground, Couñago was signed by Ipswich Town in May 2001, as manager George Burley had been in the stands watching his performance; the player, who was out of contract, agreed to a four-year deal. He failed to find the net in his debut campaign while totalling 19 games, being relegated from the Premier League. Couñago scored a career-best 21 times in all competitions in 2002–03. Highlights included braces in victories against Leicester City (6–1 at home), Sheffield Wednesday (2–1, home), Walsall (3–2, home), Gillingham (3–1 away) and Coventry City (4–2, away); he added a hat-trick in the 8–1 home thrashing of Avenir…

Couñago was joint-top scorer at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship with five goals, as the Spain under-20 team won the tournament in Nigeria. In the following two years, he appeared and scored regularly for the under-21 side. In December 2006, Couñago played for the Galicia unofficial team in a friendly against Ecuador.

Couñago's son, Iago, was born in April 2008.

Celta

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000 Copa del Rey runner-up: 2000–01 Đồng Tâm Long An

V.League 2: 2012 Kitchee

Hong Kong FA Cup: 2012–13 Spain U20

FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1999 Individual

FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Shoe: 1999 Ipswich Town top scorer: 2002–03 (21 goals) Ipswich Town Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03 Ipswich Town Goal of the Season: 2007–08