Joseba Llorente

Joseba Llorente Etxarri (born 24 November 1979) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a centre forward.

Joseba Llorente
Llorente as a Villarreal player (2009)
Personal information
Full name Joseba Llorente Etxarri
Date of birth (1979-11-24) 24 November 1979
Place of birth Hondarribia, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 12 in)
Position(s) Centre forward
Youth career
Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Real Sociedad B 64 (26)
1999–2004 Real Sociedad 23 (4)
2000Eibar (loan) 8 (4)
2003–2004Eibar (loan) 33 (4)
2004–2005 Eibar 38 (18)
2005–2008 Valladolid 99 (45)
2008–2010 Villarreal 61 (24)
2010–2013 Real Sociedad 35 (5)
2012–2013Osasuna (loan) 24 (1)
Total 385 (131)
National team
2004–2010 Basque Country 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He amassed La Liga totals of 179 games and 50 goals over the course of ten seasons, representing in the competition Real Sociedad, Valladolid, Villarreal and Osasuna. He added 142 matches and 55 goals in the Segunda División, mainly in the service of Eibar.[1]

Club career

Born in Hondarribia, Basque Country, Llorente came through the ranks of Real Sociedad, making his debut for the first team on 3 October 1999 against Real Zaragoza (0–2 away loss). He would however, only amass 23 appearances in four seasons, and left in 2003 for another side in his native region, SD Eibar in the second division,[2] where he already had served a loan stint early into the 2000–01 campaign.[3]

For 2005–06, Llorente joined Real Valladolid also in that tier, and scored 12 league goals in his debut campaign. He added 17 to help the side achieve promotion the following year.[4]

On 20 January 2008, in a match against RCD Espanyol, Llorente broke the Spanish league record for the fastest goal ever scored (7.82 seconds),[5] beating Dario Silva's previous record at 8. He broke through that season aged almost 29, netting 16 goals to help the team retain top flight status, including a hat-trick against Recreativo de Huelva on the 13th.[6]

On 26 May 2008, Llorente agreed a four-year deal with Villarreal CF,[7] leaving Valladolid for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win at CD Numancia on 21 September; exactly one month later, he put three past AaB Football in a UEFA Champions League 6–3 home win.[8]

On 10 March 2009, after just minutes on the pitch, Llorente scored the winner against Panathinaikos FC in an eventual 2–1 away win in the Champions League quarter-finals' second leg (3–2 aggregate).[9] His first season at Villarreal was highly productive as he netted a squad-best 15 league goals,[10] including two at FC Barcelona in a 3–3 draw on 10 May, postponing the Catalans' title-winning celebrations for a further week.[11]

On 16 June 2010, after another good year with the Valencians, Llorente moved again to Real Sociedad – freshly returned to the first division – penning a four-year contract worth 2.5 million.[12] In his official debut, on 29 August, he assisted Xabi Prieto with a backheel for the game's only goal, at home against former side Villarreal;[13] in mid-January 2011, however, after suffering a back injury, he was sidelined for the remainder of the season.[14]

Club statistics

[15]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total
1998–99Real Sociedad BTercera División3815----3815
1999–00Real SociedadLa Liga8110--91
2000–019200--92
2000–01EibarSegunda División8400--84
2001–02Real SociedadLa Liga4000--40
2001–02Real Sociedad BSegunda División B93----93
2002–03Real SociedadLa Liga21----21
2003–04EibarSegunda División33410--344
2004–05381810--3918
2005–06ValladolidSegunda División361210--3712
2006–07271751--3218
2007–08La Liga361631--3917
2008–09Villarreal321510744019
2009–1029930814010
2010–11Real Sociedad18520--205
2011–1217030--200
2012–13Osasuna24111--252
Total Spain 356123223155393131
Career total 356123223155393131

References

  1. "Joseba Llorente: "La Real me lo ha dado todo"" [Joseba Llorente: "Real has given me everything"] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  2. Lorenzo, José Luis (3 September 2003). ""Necesitaba minutos y poder disputar algo todos los domingos"" ["I needed to have minutes and play for something every Sunday"] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  3. Imedio, Óscar (24 January 2001). "Piensan encadenar la tercera victoria" [Thinking of third win in a row] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  4. Gómez, Letizia (14 March 2019). "El Valladolid añora a Joseba Llorente, 'El castas'" [Valladolid yearning Joseba Llorente, 'The spunk'] (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  5. Rivera, Almudena (20 January 2008). "Llorente marca el gol más rápido de la historia de la Liga" [Llorente scores fastest goal in League history] (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  6. Valladolid 3–1 Recreativo Huelva; ESPN Soccernet, 13 January 2008
  7. Villarreal lure Llorente from Valladolid; UEFA, 26 May 2008
  8. Llorente treble caps Villarreal goalfest; UEFA, 21 October 2008
  9. "Clinical Villarreal put paid to Panathinaikos". UEFA. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  10. "Llorente se despide del Valladolid a la espera de firmar por el Villarreal" [Llorente says goodbye to Valladolid waiting to sign for Villarreal] (in Spanish). 20 minutos. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  11. Steinberg, Jacob (10 May 2009). "Villarreal cancel Barcelona's title celebrations with last gasp equaliser". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  12. Joseba Llorente y Paco Sutil son los primeros fichajes para Primera (Joseba Llorente and Paco Sutil are the first signings for Primera); Marca, 16 June 2010 (in Spanish)
  13. "Sociedad make winning return". ESPN Soccernet. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  14. Scime, Adam (25 January 2011). "Real Sociedad striker Joseba Llorente out for the rest of the season". Goal. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  15. "Joseba Llorente". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
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