Gerda,
I am not sure anybody really knows where he comes from. It's available in different colors and it's my understanding that the colors are of the Spanish soccer teams.
I remember when we first saw him in this article and nobody knew what it was or had even seen one and a week later, a smurf like this showed up on ebay and sold for over 100 euros. Since then the market value has become a bit more affordable
I spoke with two very knowledge collectors about this smurf and both agree that there seem to be two versions of it..one with shiny colors (maybe the older version) one with matte colors. As to when the first of this kind was released, I am not sure anybody knows...but it's another lovely example of what appears to be a very imaginative blossoming Spanish smurf industry back in the 80s (or earlier?) when Spain not only gave us the CNTs, PNTs, bullfighters but also this soccer player.
As to how rare this particular one is...I dunno
I was told that they appear quite regularly on fairs end ebay now..and even I have been able to find two different ones now (I paid 20 euros for my last one, but this was a special deal from a Spanish seller, I think. I believe most of them now go for between 40-50 euros.
)
If anybody has more or other information on this smurf...feel free to correct me..I would love to learn more about this one
