Álvaro Cervera

Álvaro Cervera Díaz (born 20 September 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a winger. He is the current manager of Cádiz CF.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cervera and the second or maternal family name is Díaz.
Álvaro Cervera
Personal information
Full name Álvaro Cervera Díaz[1]
Date of birth (1965-09-20) 20 September 1965[1]
Place of birth Santa Isabel, Guinea[1]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Cádiz (manager)
Youth career
Alegría
Tenerife
Perines
Racing Santander
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1987 Racing Santander 33 (5)
1987–1992 Mallorca 139 (10)
1992–1995 Valencia 82 (5)
1995–1997 Racing Santander 42 (3)
1997–1998 Hércules 2 (0)
1998–1999 Águilas 11 (1)
1999 Almería 19 (5)
1999–2000 San Fernando 25 (3)
2000–2001 Ontinyent
Total 353 (32)
National team
1987 Spain U21 4 (1)
1991–1992 Spain 4 (0)
Teams managed
2001–2002 Catarroja (assistant)
2002–2003 Catarroja
2003–2004 Villarreal (youth)
2004–2005 Catarroja
2005 Castellón
2006 Almansa
2006–2007 Alicante
2008–2009 Cultural Leonesa
2009–2010 Jaén
2010–2011 Real Unión
2011–2012 Recreativo
2012 Racing Santander
2012–2015 Tenerife
2016– Cádiz
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He amassed La Liga totals of 261 matches and 17 goals over 12 seasons, representing in the competition Racing de Santander (two spells), Mallorca and Valencia.

Cervera became a manager in 2002, going on to work with a host of clubs.

Playing career

Club

Born in Santa Isabel, Spanish Guinea when both his parents worked in that country,[2] Cervera was raised in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and played youth football for four clubs, finishing his development at Racing de Santander. He made his La Liga debut on 9 September 1984 by playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–1 away loss against Real Valladolid,[3] but only totalled seven games in his first two senior seasons, featuring much more regularly in 1986–87 but suffering relegation.[4]

In the summer of 1987, Álvaro – known by his first name during his playing days – signed for RCD Mallorca, remaining five years with them and being relegated twice from the top flight. In the 1988–89 campaign he scored a career-best six goals in 35 matches, helping the Balearic Islands team to promote from Segunda División.[5][4]

Álvaro moved to Valencia CF in June 1992, following Mallorca's relegation. He made 32 appearances and netted three times in his first year (notably once in a 4–1 away victory over Athletic Bilbao),[6] but was more often than not a reserve from there onwards,[5] for that and his following club Racing, which he left to play with Hércules CF in the second level; he retired in 2001 at the age of nearly 36, following a spell in the lower leagues.[4]

International

Álvaro earned four caps for Spain, in slightly more than one year. He made his debut on 4 September 1991, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Andoni Goikoetxea in a 2–1 friendly win against Uruguay in Oviedo.[7]

Coaching career

Cervera took up coaching in 2001, working with amateurs Catarroja CF in several capacities.[8] From 2004 to 2011 he managed almost exclusively in Segunda División B, and his first job at the professional level arrived in 2011–12 when he was appointed at Recreativo de Huelva in division two;[9] however, in March 2012, he arranged to have his contract terminated when he received an offer from former side Racing Santander in the top tier,[10] but he only collected three draws in his 13 games in charge to become the competition's worst ever debutant,[11] and was not renewed.[12]

On 3 July 2012, Cervera signed with Tenerife where he had already played youth football more than 30 years ago.[13] Shortly before achieving promotion to the second division in his debut season, he renewed his link until 2015,[14][15] being however relieved of his duties on 2 February 2015[16] even though he had a contract running until 2018.[17]

On 18 April 2016, Cervera replaced Claudio Barragán at the helm of Cádiz CF,[18] and managed to achieve promotion to the second level at the end of the campaign.[19] After coming fifth the following season, the team qualified for the play-offs for top-flight promotion, losing on regulations after a 1–1 semi-final draw to CD Tenerife in June 2017;[20] promotion was finally gained in July 2020, ending a 14-year exile.[21]

A quote from Cervera, "La lucha no se negocia" ("The fight is non-negotiable" in Spanish), was adopted by Cádiz as a club catchphrase shortly after his arrival.[22]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 31 January 2021
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Catarroja 1 August 2002 1 July 2003 34 20 9 5 64 23 +41 058.82 [23]
Catarroja 30 June 2004 25 April 2005 33 12 12 9 46 34 +12 036.36 [24]
Castellón 25 April 2005 30 June 2005 9 5 2 2 11 7 +4 055.56 [25]
Almansa 9 January 2006 30 June 2006 20 5 8 7 22 22 +0 025.00 [26]
Alicante 1 July 2006 16 April 2007 33 15 5 13 42 34 +8 045.45 [27]
Cultural Leonesa 1 July 2008 30 June 2009 40 20 11 9 46 25 +21 050.00 [28]
Jaén 31 August 2009 30 June 2010 41 21 11 9 61 36 +25 051.22 [29]
Real Unión 13 July 2010 2 January 2011 24 12 4 8 27 27 +0 050.00 [30]
Recreativo 28 June 2011 9 March 2012 28 10 6 12 34 32 +2 035.71 [31]
Racing Santander 9 March 2012 14 May 2012 13 0 3 10 7 28 −21 000.00 [32]
Tenerife 3 July 2012 2 February 2015 110 43 29 38 132 112 +20 039.09 [33]
Cádiz 18 April 2016 Present 218 88 71 59 247 198 +49 040.37 [34]
Total 603 251 171 181 739 578 +161 041.63 —

See also

References
  1. "Álvaro Cervera". Worldfootball. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  2. Corcuera, José Ignacio (1 December 2013). "De espaldas a Guinea" [Turning one's back on Guinea] (in Spanish). Cuadernos de Fútbol. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  3. González, Javier (10 September 1984). "1–0: Valladolid y Racing, más voluntad que acierto" [1–0: Valladolid and Racing, more will than success]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  4. Valimaña, Antonio (24 January 2017). "Cervera, de brillante extremo a codiciado entrenador" [Cervera, from brilliant winger to coveted coach] (in Spanish). La Voz Digital. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  5. Leal, Tolo (15 September 2011). "Jugadores de ayer y de hoy: Álvaro Cervera Díaz" [Players from yesterday and today: Álvaro Cervera Díaz] (in Spanish). RCDM. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  6. Castañeda, Eduardo (21 December 1992). "Varapalo del Valencia al Athletic en San Mamés" [Valencia thrashed Athletic in San Mamés]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  7. Ortiz, Fabián (5 September 1991). "Tiempo de llorar, tiempo de soñar" [A time to cry, a time to dream]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  8. Lizarraga, José Luis (26 April 2005). "El exinternacional Álvaro Cervera puede ser el ´nuevo Oltra´ de Fernando" [Former international Álvaro Cervera may be Fernando's ´new Oltra´]. El Periódico Mediterráneo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  9. "Álvaro Cervera será el entrenador del Recre" [Álvaro Cervera to be Recre manager]. Marca (in Spanish). 28 June 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  10. "Álvaro Cervera, nuevo entrenador del Racing" [Álvaro Cervera, new Racing manager] (in Spanish). Racing Santander. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  11. Poo, Rafa Torre (30 December 2012). "Un año para olvidar" [A year to forget]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  12. Carbonell, Alfonso (18 April 2016). "¿Qué ha conseguido Álvaro Cervera en los banquillos?" [What has Álvaro Cervera achieved on the benches?] (in Spanish). La Voz Digital. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  13. "Álvaro Cervera nuevo entrenador del CD Tenerife" [Álvaro Cervera new CD Tenerife manager] (in Spanish). CD Tenerife. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  14. "Álvaro Cervera renueva por dos años" [Álvaro Cervera renews for two years]. El Comercio (in Spanish). 5 March 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  15. Bernad Suelves, Marc (2 June 2013). "El Tenerife vuelve a ser equipo de Segunda División A" [Tenerife are again a Segunda División A team]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  16. Castañeda, Jorge (2 February 2015). "Álvaro Cervera, destituido como técnico del Tenerife" [Álvaro Cervera, dismissed as Tenerife manager]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  17. "Álvaro Cervera renueva hasta 2018 y asume más funciones" [Álvaro Cervera renews until 2018 with additional powers]. Marca (in Spanish). 11 June 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  18. "Álvaro Cervera, nuevo entrenador del Cádiz" [Álvaro Cervera, new manager of Cádiz] (in Spanish). Cádiz CF. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  19. Martínez, Daniel (1 July 2016). "Cervera seguirá al frente del 'submarino amarillo'" [Cervera to remain in charge of the 'yellow submarine']. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  20. "Tenerife progress to playoff final after extra-time triumph". La Liga. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  21. Corrigan, Dermot (13 July 2020). "Cadiz, the club and city where the rules are different, finally return to La Liga". The Athletic. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  22. Balagué, Guillem (23 December 2020). "Cadiz: The conquerors of Real Madrid and Barcelona who do things differently". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  23. "Regional Preferente Valenciana (Grupo 3) 2002–03" [Regional Preferente Valenciana (Group 3) 2002–03] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  24. "Tercera División (Grupo 6) 2004–05" [Tercera División (Group 6) 2004–05] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  25. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  26. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  27. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  28. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  29. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  30. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  31. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  32. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  33. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
    "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
    "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  34. "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
    "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
    "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
    "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
    "Álvaro: Álvaro Cervera Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
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