Esteban (footballer)

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

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Andrés and the second or maternal family name is Suárez.

Esteban
Esteban in action for Almería (2011)
Personal information
Full name Esteban Andrés Suárez
Date of birth (1975-06-27) 27 June 1975
Place of birth Avilés, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) 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)
National team
1998 Spain U21 1 (0)
2000–2002 Asturias 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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

Early years

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. During five seasons with the first team – four of those spent in La Liga – he only missed 12 league games combined, and moved to Atlético Madrid in the summer of 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.

Esteban joined fellow league club Sevilla FC in August 2003.[4] After two solid seasons with the Andalusians (two sixth league places, as first-choice) he signed for RC Celta de Vigo,[5] backing up José Manuel Pinto in the second division side until the latter moved to FC Barcelona in January 2008.[6]

Almería

In the 2008 off-season, Esteban joined UD Almería in the top level,[7] where he initially 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.

In the 2009–10 campaign, Esteban's league output consisted of 30 minutes – the last round notwithstanding[8]– after Alves was sent off in a 0–3 home defeat against Valencia CF.[9] At the season's end, however, the 35-year-old renewed his contract for another year.[10]

Esteban continued as Alves' backup in 2010–11. He was first-choice, however, in Almería's Copa del Rey run, which saw the club reach the competition's semi-finals for the first time ever.[11] 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 1–8 loss at Real Madrid.[12][13][14][15]

Subsequently, at 36, Esteban became Almería's first-choice.[16] He played all 42 league games during the second division season, conceding 43 goals as the team finished seventh.[17]

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.[18]

Return to Oviedo

On 13 May 2014, Esteban announced he was returning to Oviedo twelve years after leaving.[19] An undisputed starter in his first two seasons, he was overtaken by new signing Juan Carlos in 2016–17.

On 29 June 2017, despite Esteban's willingness to play a further season,[20] he retired and was immediately included in the club's backroom staff.[21]

Honours

Club

Oviedo

International

Spain U21

References
  1. "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: "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)
  5. 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)
  6. Pinto, el eterno suplente, un profesional del fútbol (Pinto, the eternal backup, a professional of football); Público, 18 January 2008 (in Spanish)
  7. El Almería ficha al portero Esteban Andrés Suárez (Almería sign goalkeeper Esteban Andrés Suárez); Diario de Almería, 4 July 2008 (in Spanish)
  8. "Rodri fires Seviila [sic] into raptures". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  9. Pablo inspires Los Che win; ESPN Soccernet, 25 October 2009
  10. El Almería renueva a Esteban y Kalu Uche (Almería renew Esteban and Kalu Uche); Marca, 10 May 2010 (in Spanish)
  11. El Almería se niega a despertar del sueño (Almería refuse to awake from dream); Marca, 19 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  12. Almeria suffer relegation; ESPN Soccernet, 7 May 2011
  13. Third place dream dying for Villarreal; ESPN Soccernet, 11 May 2011
  14. Rare win for Almeria; ESPN Soccernet, 15 May 2011
  15. Ronaldo breaks record in rout; ESPN Soccernet, 21 May 2011
  16. La hora de Esteban (Esteban's time); El País, 30 September 2011 (in Spanish)
  17. 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); Almería 360, 13 February 2013 (in Spanish)
  18. Esteban, el adiós más dulce (Esteban, the sweetest goodbye); Vavel, 19 May 2014 (in Spanish)
  19. "Me quiero despedir dejando al Almería en Primera División" ("I want to say goodbye leaving Almería in Primera División") Archived 14 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine; UD Almería, 13 May 2014 (in Spanish)
  20. 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)
  21. 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)
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