Salvador Ardil Navarro (born 17 April 1988), better known as Chiky Ardil, is a Spanish beach soccer player who plays as a forward. He has appeared at two editions of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (2015 and 2021) representing the Spanish national team; at the European qualifying tournament for the latter, he won the MVP award. His younger brother, David, also plays for Spain.
![]() Chiky at the 2019 Intercontinental Cup. | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Salvador Ardil Navarro | ||
Date of birth | (1988-04-17) 17 April 1988 (age 34) | ||
Place of birth | Mazarrón, Spain | ||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Number | 11 | ||
National team | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2013– | Spain |
Salvador believes his nickname "Chiky" originates from when he was a toddler, and considerably smaller than his three other siblings. "Chiky" is a truncating of the Spanish word "chiquitín", meaning tiny.[1]
He began playing futsal aged five before quickly switching to association football under the wing of his older brother, Raúl. Chiky ultimately established himself as a footballer in the third tier of Spanish football, having spells at multiple clubs including Lorca Deportiva, CD Bala Azul, Granada 74, Rayo Majadahonda, Pinatar CF and Águilas CF.[2]
Chiky eventually accepted an invite from friends to partake in a beach soccer tournament in his hometown of Mazarrón. Having enjoyed it, Chiky and his team began taking part regularly in tournaments in Murcia, Alicante and Valencia.[3] In 2013, after a tournament in Andalusia, he was called up to the Murcian regional team. His first tournament with the team was a success, in which he scored 18 goals; Spain coach Joaquín Alonso was impressed and called Chiky up to the national team.[2][4] Chiky debuted for Spain at stage 5 of the 2013 Euro Beach Soccer League in Moscow,[2] however he was ultimately not selected for the 2013 World Cup later that year. In 2014, Chiky was called back to the national team following a runners-up finish with Bala Azul in the Spanish National Beach Soccer League.[5] After qualifying for the 2015 World Cup, Chiky received a special reception by the Mayor of Mazarrón at the town hall.[6]
Since 2017, Chiky has found himself amongst the awards: his overhead kick against Greece during the 2017 Euro Beach Soccer League was nominated for best goal of the year,[7] whilst he claimed his first individual international award in 2018 when he was top scorer at the Nazaré stage of the 2018 Euro Beach Soccer League; he was nominated for best beach soccer goal of the year again in 2019.[3] In 2021 he was deemed MVP of the UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, something he called "a landmark moment" in his career.[1] He was subsequently received by the Mayor of Mazarrón again before leaving to play for Spain at the 2021 World Cup;[8] at said tournament, he was Spain's top scorer with six goals.[9]
He continues to play football in the Spanish third tier, for Mazarrón FC. He claims he has had to make "a lot of sacrifice[s]" in order to be able to play both sports, including performing double training sessions, one for each sport.[4] He claims he will give up football to focus on beach soccer when Mazarrón FC no longer want his service.[4]
The following is a selection, not an exhaustive list, of the major honours Chiky has achieved with Spain: