The Legendary Paulino "The Net Breaker" Alcántara

Football or soccer may not be as popular as basketball in the Philippines, but it has a long and rich history in the islands, dating back to the 1890s, when the British introduced the sport to the Spanish and European settlers.

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) was established in 1907 and it would soon feature several Hispanic Filipino sportsmen that included FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atlético Madrid and Real Zaragoza legends. Players like Manuel Amechazurra, Paulino Alcántara, Juan Torena, Eduardo Teus, Marcelino Gálatas and Gregorio Querejeta would eventually become the first Filipinos and Asian footballers to play for a professional European club in Spain.

Among these renowned soccer legends, Paulino Alcántara Riestrá (7 October 1896 – 13 February 1964) became a familiar and popular name. He went on to become the youngest Filipino footballer to play in Spain, where he made his professional debut as a striker at the age of 15 for Barcelona, which made him the club's youngest and second highest goal scorer behind Argentinian footballer, Lionel Messi.

Alcántara was born and raised in Concepcion, Iloilo, in the Spanish colony of the Philippines in 1896. He was the son of Eduardo Alcántara Garchitorena from Manila, and Victoriana Riestrá from Iloilo.

He was raised there until he was three years old when his family moved to Barcelona fleeing from the conflicts of the Philippine Revolution's war of independence from Spain, the same year that FC Barcelona was formed by Joan Gamper.

Alcántara was married to Blanca López Alcántara, a Spanish woman from Barcelona, with whom they had two children and raising two sons, the eldest being Eduardo López Alcántara.

In Spain, Alcántara started playing for FC Galeno, a Barcelona-based club that was founded by and largely made up of medical students and young doctors with their games played in the courtyard of a local hospital. He immediately impressed the coaches and in February 1912 he was scouted by Barcelona's president Joan Gamper who attended a Galeno match.

Alcántara then joined Barcelona's youth team and within the same week, he made his first-team debut at the age of 15 years, 4 months and 18 days on 25 February 1912 against Catalá SC (founded only weeks before FC Barcelona) in the Campionat de Catalunya (Catalan football championship) at the Camp de la Indústria, in front of about 100 fans. Barcelona won that game 9–0, with Alcántara scoring the first three goals of the game, setting the still unbroken record for being the youngest player to ever play and score for FC Barcelona in an official match.

He was also the youngest hat-trick scorer in the world at the time, a record that stood for 84 years. Among his teammates during his time at the club were Francisco Bru Sanz, Jack Greenwell, Romà Forns and club captain, also fellow countryman, Manuel Amechazurra.

He went on to help the club win two Campionat de Catalunya in 1913 and 1916 and the 1913 Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup), in which he missed the final that ended in a 2–2 draw with Real Sociedad, but then played in the replay as Barcelona came-out as 2-1 winners.

In 1917 he was selected by the U.S. Philippines national team and represented the country at the Far Eastern Championship Games in Tokyo, helping them defeat Japan 15–2, which became the Philippines' biggest win in international football.

In 1920 Alcántara, along with Zamora, Samitier and Sesúmaga, was selected to represent Spain at the 1920 Summer Olympics. However, Alcántara chose to stay at home to take his final medical exams. Without him, Spain was eliminated in the quarter-finals by the eventual champions Belgium, the same team against which he eventually made his debut on 7 October 1921, aged 25, scoring both goals in a 2–0 win.

In 1922, he was nicknamed "El Rompe Redes" or "Trencaxarxes" (the net breaker) after he broke the goal's net with a shot during a match against France. In total, he made five appearances and scored a then-national record of six goals for Spain between 1921 and 1927.

He also held citizenships from Spain, the Philippines, and the United States.

Alcántara retired on 3 July 1927 in order to become a doctor at age 31, the same day that FC Barcelona played against Spain in a testimonial match in his honour. He later served as a club director between 1931 and 1934.

Alcántara was one of the first footballers to write memoirs of his playing days. In 1951, Alcántara was one of three selectors, along with Félix Quesada and Luís Iceta, that coached Spain for three games against Switzerland, Belgium and Sweden. He won one game and tied the other two.

Alcántara fell ill of a rare condition of aplastic anemia and died in 1964 at the age of 67 in Barcelona, and is laid to rest in Cementiri de les Corts in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.