Sergio Asenjo

Sergio Asenjo
Personal information
Full name Sergio Asenjo Andrés
Date of birth (1989-06-28) 28 June 1989
Place of birth Palencia, Spain
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Villarreal
Number 1
Youth career
San Juanillo
2005–2006 Valladolid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Valladolid B 39 (0)
2007–2009 Valladolid 47 (0)
2009–2014 Atlético Madrid 18 (0)
2011 → Málaga (loan) 5 (0)
2013–2014 → Villarreal (loan) 35 (0)
2014– Villarreal 38 (0)
National team‡
2006 Spain U17 10 (0)
2007 Spain U19 8 (0)
2009 Spain U20 4 (0)
2008–2010 Spain U21 15 (0)
2016– Spain 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 May 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 May 2016
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Asenjo and the second or maternal family name is Andrés.

Sergio Asenjo Andrés (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈserxjo aˈseŋxo]; born 28 June 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Villarreal CF as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Valladolid

Born in Palencia, Castile and León, Asenjo began playing in Real Valladolid's junior teams, and soon emerged as one of the most talented players in the club. He started the 2007–08 season with the reserves in the third division, with the side having just barely avoided relegation the previous campaign; however, poor performances by both first-team goalkeepers, Ludovic Butelle and veteran Alberto, gave him a chance to make a debut in La Liga, and his first appearance was a successful one as he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win over Villarreal CF on 2 December 2007.[1]

Following solid displays where he conceded just one goal in his first five matches, Asenjo retained his starting job, becoming the youngest league goalkeeper that season. In January 2008, he signed his first professional contract, agreeing to extend his former youth link with Valladolid for another three years while also increasing his wage.

Asenjo eventually played in the remaining league games, retaining his position throughout the 2008–09 campaign. However, he also missed three months of action due to a knee injury.[2]

Atlético Madrid

On 8 July 2009, Asenjo transferred to Atlético Madrid for a fee of €5 million, signing a four-year deal.[3] He started the season as first-choice but, after some costly mistakes – and a change of coach in November 2009 – lost his position to younger David de Gea.

On 8 May 2010, in one of his few appearances after being relegated to the bench, Asenjo suffered a serious knee injury which sidelined him until November. Late in the following month, after having found himself as third-choice with the Colchoneros, he was loaned to Málaga CF until the end of the campaign, with teammate Ignacio Camacho also making the move in a permanent deal.[4]

On 6 February 2011, in the early minutes of a 0–0 draw at Sevilla FC, without being challenged, Asenjo suffered another injury in the same knee, being lost for the rest of the campaign.[5][6] He returned to Atlético for 2011–12 and 2012–13, acting as backup to Thibaut Courtois.

Villarreal

In July 2013, Asenjo agreed to a one-year loan deal with Villarreal with a buyout option at the end of the season.[7] He only missed three league games in his first year, helping his team qualify to the UEFA Europa League while keeping nine clean sheets.

On 27 June 2014, Asenjo signed a five-year contract with the Yellow Submarine for an undisclosed fee.[8] On 29 April of the following year, in the dying minutes of a 0–1 home loss to former club Atlético, he suffered his third anterior cruciate ailment.[9][10]

After an excruciating rehabilitation process,[11] Asenjo was again called by Marcelino García Toral on 23 February 2016, for a Europa League game against S.S.C. Napoli, but remained an unused substitute.[12] On 17 March, in the same competition, he played his first game in nearly 11 months, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw at Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2–0 aggregate win).[13]

International career

In 2006, Asenjo was selected to the Spanish under-17 side as it took home the bronze medal in the UEFA European Championship. He started in all of the matches, except the third-place play-off.[14]

Asenjo was again called up for the 2007 Under-19 European Championship: in the qualification rounds, his role in the team was quite insignificant, but his status changed in the semifinal against France, replacing the injured starter and saving two penalties in the shootout as the country progressed to the final,[15] where he appeared against Greece with another excellent display for a 1–0 win.

Asenjo made his under-21 debut in August 2008, and was first-choice at the 2009 European Championships. He also played at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.

In March 2015, Asenjo received his first ever callup to the senior national team, being named in Vicente del Bosque's squad for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine and a friendly with the Netherlands.[16] He did not make his debut until 29 May the following year, in a 3–1 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at the AFG Arena in St. Gallen, Switzerland; he was the first footballer from Palencia to win a cap since Jesús Landáburu 36 years prior.[17]

Club statistics

As of 30 June 2014[18]
Club Season League1 Cup2 UEFA3 Total
Apps Goals C.S. Apps Goals C.S. Apps Goals C.S. Apps Goals C.S.
Valladolid 2007–08 2409000–2409
2008–09 23070002307
Total for Valladolid 47016000–47016
Atlético Madrid 2009–10 15032029022607
Málaga 2010–11 501100–601
Atlético Madrid 2011–12 200200100500
2012–13 1001018041005
Total for Atlético Madrid 1803503180641012
Villarreal 2013–14 3509000–3509
2014–15 000000000000
Career Total 1050296031806129038
1Including La Liga.
2Including Copa del Rey.
3Including UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

C.S. – Clean sheets.

Honours

Club

Atlético Madrid

Country

Spain U17
Spain U19

References

  1. ↑ Valladolid 2–0 Villarreal; ESPN Soccernet, 2 December 2007
  2. ↑ Sergio Asenjo; at UEFA.com
  3. ↑ "Atletico sign Asenjo". FIFA.com. 9 July 2009.
  4. ↑ Atlético y Málaga llegan a un principio de acuerdo por Camacho y Asenjo (Atlético and Málaga agree for Camacho and Asenjo); Atlético Madrid, 28 December 2010 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Sevilla draw a blank; ESPN Soccernet, 6 February 2011
  6. ↑ Malaga's Sergio Asenjo ruled out for eight months with knee injury; Goal.com, 7 February 2011
  7. ↑ Villarreal loan Asenjo from Atletico; ESPN FC, 24 July 2013
  8. ↑ Asenjo makes permanent move to Villarreal; FIFA.com, 27 June 2014
  9. ↑ Asenjo se vuelve a romper (Asenjo shatters himself again); Marca, 30 April 2015 (Spanish)
  10. ↑ El tercer infierno de Asenjo (The third hell of Asenjo); Marca, 1 May 2015 (Spanish)
  11. ↑ "Asenjo afronta recta final de su recuperación "motivado"" [Asenjo reaches final stretch of his recovery "motivated"] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Sergio Asenjo vuelve a una convocatoria" [Sergio Asenjo returns to a list] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Villarreal keep Leverkusen at bay to advance". UEFA.com. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Coca spot-on for Spain; UEFA.com, 14 May 2006
  15. ↑ Sergio shines in shoot-out success; UEFA.com, 25 July 2007
  16. ↑ "Official: 24-man squad to face Ukraine and Netherlands". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Sergio Asenjo debutó con España" [Sergio Asenjo made Spain debut] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "Sergio Asenjo". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.