Esteban (footballer)

(Redirected from Esteban Andrés Suárez)

Esteban Andrés Suárez (born 27 June 1975), known simply as Esteban, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Esteban
Esteban in action for Almería (2011)
Personal information
Full name Esteban Andrés Suárez[1]
Date of birth (1975-06-27) 27 June 1975 (age 50)[1]
Place of birth Avilés, Spain[1]
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position Goalkeeper
Youth career
Navarro
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 Navarro 46 (0)
1995–1996 Avilés 40 (0)
1996–1997 Oviedo B 40 (0)
1997–2002 Oviedo 182 (0)
2002–2003 Atlético Madrid 23 (0)
2003–2005 Sevilla 58 (0)
2005–2008 Celta 33 (0)
2008–2014 Almería 136 (0)
2014–2017 Oviedo 68 (0)
Total 626 (0)
International career
1998 Spain U21 1 (0)
2000–2002 Asturias 3 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

He started and finished his extensive senior career, which spanned more than two decades, at Real Oviedo. He appeared in 280 matches in La Liga over 13 seasons, also representing in the competition Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, Celta and Almería.[2]

Club career

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Early years

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Born in Avilés, Asturias, Esteban began his career with hometown's SD Navarro CF in 1993, but soon moved to local giants Real Oviedo after a stint at Real Avilés Industrial CF. In five seasons with the first team, four of those spent in La Liga, he only missed a total of 12 league games, and moved to Atlético Madrid in summer 2002 as the Colchoneros had just returned to the top flight after a two-year absence,[3] finishing the campaign as starter after beginning as understudy to Germán Burgos.[4][5]

Esteban joined fellow top-division club Sevilla FC in August 2003.[6] After two solid seasons with the Andalusians (two sixth league places, as first choice) he signed for RC Celta de Vigo,[7] backing up José Manuel Pinto in the Segunda División side until the latter moved to FC Barcelona in January 2008.[8]

Almería

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In the 2008 off-season, Esteban joined UD Almería in the top tier,[9] where he was second choice to Diego Alves in his first year. However, profiting from injury to the starter in late March 2009, he was put between the posts and remained there until the end of the season even when the Brazilian recovered.[10]

In the 2009–10 campaign, Esteban's league output consisted of 30 minutes – the last round notwithstanding[11]– after Alves was sent off in a 0–3 home defeat against Valencia CF.[12] At the season's end, however, the 35-year-old renewed his contract for another year.[13]

Esteban continued as Alves' backup in 2010–11. He was the starter, however, in Almería's Copa del Rey run, which saw the club reach the competition's semi-finals for the first time ever.[14] In the final stretch of the campaign, as they were already relegated and Alves announced his departure to Valencia, he appeared in four matches and conceded 11 goals, including eight in a 8–1 loss at Real Madrid.[15][16][17][18]

Subsequently, at 36, Esteban became Almería's first choice.[19] He played all 42 league games during the second-division season, conceding 43 goals as the team finished seventh.[20]

Esteban did not miss one single match in the 2013–14 campaign, as the Rojiblancos were again in the Spanish top flight and managed to stay afloat.[21]

Return to Oviedo

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On 13 May 2014, Esteban announced he was returning to Oviedo twelve years after leaving.[22] An undisputed starter in his first two seasons, he was overtaken by new signing Juan Carlos in 2016–17.[23]

On 29 June 2017, despite Esteban's willingness to play a further season,[24] he retired and was immediately included in the club's backroom staff.[25]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[26][27][28]
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Avilés 1994–95 Segunda División B 201030
1995–96 Segunda División B 3800060440
Total 4001060470
Oviedo B 1996–97 Segunda División B 370370
1997–98 Segunda División B 3030
Total 400400
Oviedo 1997–98 La Liga 28010290
1998–99 La Liga 37000370
1999–2000 La Liga 38000380
2000–01 La Liga 38000380
2001–02 Segunda División 41010420
Total 1820201840
Atlético Madrid 2002–03 La Liga 23030260
Sevilla 2003–04 La Liga 30080380
2004–05 La Liga 2800090370
Total 5808090750
Celta 2005–06 La Liga 204060
2006–07 La Liga 4020100160
2007–08 Segunda División 27010280
Total 33070100500
Almería 2008–09 La Liga 7040110
2009–10 La Liga 202040
2010–11 La Liga 5080130
2011–12 Segunda División 42000420
2012–13 Segunda División 4200040460
2013–14 La Liga 38000380
Total 1360140401540
Oviedo 2014–15 Segunda División B 3802030430
2015–16 Segunda División 30000300
2016–17 Segunda División 001010
Total 6803030740
Career total 58003801901306500

Honours

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "ESTEBAN Andrés Suárez" (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  2. El portero incombustible (The neverending goalkeeper); El Comercio, 14 January 2015 (in Spanish)
  3. Esteban, nuevo jugador del Atlético (Esteban, new player of Atlético); Diario AS, 15 August 2002 (in Spanish)
  4. Esteban vence al Mono Burgos (Esteban beats Monkey Burgos); Diario AS, 28 September 2002 (in Spanish)
  5. Para debate, el suyo (Speaking about debates, theirs); Marca, 14 September 2013 (in Spanish)
  6. Esteban: "A ver si puedo debutar en la selección jugando aquí" (Esteban: "Let's see if i can make the national team playing here"); Diario AS, 8 August 2003 (in Spanish)
  7. Esteban: "Vengo a ayudar y a ganarme la titularidad" (Esteban "I come to help and to earn myself a starting position"); Diario AS, 7 July 2005 (in Spanish)
  8. Pinto, el eterno suplente, un profesional del fútbol (Pinto, the eternal backup, a professional of football); Público, 18 January 2008 (in Spanish)
  9. El Almería ficha al portero Esteban Andrés Suárez (Almería sign goalkeeper Esteban Andrés Suárez); Diario de Almería, 4 July 2008 (in Spanish)
  10. Se vuelve a encender la alarma por Diego Alves (Alarms go off for Diego Alves again); Diario AS, 1 April 2009 (in Spanish)
  11. "Rodri fires Seviila [sic] into raptures". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  12. Pablo inspires Los Che win Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN Soccernet, 25 October 2009
  13. El Almería renueva a Esteban y Kalu Uche (Almería renew Esteban and Kalu Uche); Marca, 10 May 2010 (in Spanish)
  14. El Almería se niega a despertar del sueño (Almería refuse to awake from dream); Marca, 19 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  15. Almeria suffer relegation Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN Soccernet, 7 May 2011
  16. Third place dream dying for Villarreal Archived 16 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN Soccernet, 11 May 2011
  17. Rare win for Almeria Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN Soccernet, 15 May 2011
  18. Ronaldo breaks record in rout Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN Soccernet, 21 May 2011
  19. La hora de Esteban (Esteban's time); El País, 30 September 2011 (in Spanish)
  20. El Almería ensancha el récord de Esteban y el portero hace una estirada al ascenso (Almería extend Esteban record and the goalkeeper goes one-on-one with promotion) Archived 10 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine; Almería 360, 13 February 2013 (in Spanish)
  21. Esteban, el adiós más dulce (Esteban, the sweetest goodbye); Vavel, 19 May 2014 (in Spanish)
  22. "Me quiero despedir dejando al Almería en Primera División" ("I want to say goodbye leaving Almería in Primera División"); UD Almería, 13 May 2014 (in Spanish)
  23. Juan Carlos se reivindica (Juan Carlos takes a stand); Marca, 20 July 2017 (in Spanish)
  24. Esteban quiere jugar y el club piensa en él como entrenador (Esteban wants to play and the club thinks about him as a manager); La Nueva España, 30 June 2017 (in Spanish)
  25. El Oviedo hace público en su web el futuro de sus 26 jugadores (Oviedo turn public future of their 26 players in their web); Marca, 29 June 2017 (in Spanish)
  26. Esteban at BDFutbol
  27. Esteban at Soccerway
  28. Esteban at WorldFootball.net
  29. ¡Campeones! (Champions!); Real Oviedo, 11 June 2015 (in Spanish)
  30. Príncipes (Princes); Mundo Deportivo, 1 June 1998 (in Spanish)
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