Diego Castro
Castro playing with Getafe in 2013
Personal information
Full name Diego Castro Giménez
Date of birth (1982-07-02) 2 July 1982[1]
Place of birth Pontevedra, Spain[1]
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
AJ Lérez
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Pontevedra 54 (11)
2003–2006 Málaga B 90 (2)
2005 Málaga 2 (0)
2006–2011 Sporting Gijón 170 (39)
2011–2015 Getafe 129 (18)
2015–2021 Perth Glory 136 (49)
Total 581 (119)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Diego Castro Giménez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo ˈkastɾo]; born 2 July 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left winger.

He amassed La Liga totals of 226 games and 43 goals over eight seasons, mainly representing Getafe (four years) and Sporting de Gijón (three). In 2015 he transferred to Perth Glory, going on to spend six years with them in the A-League.

Club career

Málaga and Sporting

Castro was born in Pontevedra, Galicia. After starting out professionally with local Pontevedra CF (third division) he moved to Málaga CF, but spent almost three seasons mainly registered with the Andalusians' reserves; in December 2005, he appeared in two consecutive home losses for the main squad, against CA Osasuna (2–1)[2] and Real Madrid (2–0).[3]

After both Málaga teams dropped down a level in 2006, Castro moved to Sporting de Gijón in division two, being an essential first-team element from the start (20 league goals in his first three seasons combined – with the Asturians achieving La Liga promotion in his third – six of them in 2008–09, as the club narrowly avoided relegation).

In the following campaign, Castro was arguably Sporting's most important player as he topped their scoring charts at ten, four of those coming through penalties.[4] Sporting again managed to stay in the top division.

Castro again led Sporting de Gijón in goals scored in 2010–11, netting one goal less. On 13 March 2011, after Nacho Novo won a penalty kick in the last-minute of an away fixture against Villarreal CF, he converted it in Panenka-style for a final 1–1 draw – the visiting team was then reduced to only nine players.[5]

Getafe

Shortly after the season ended, Castro confirmed his departure from Sporting as a free agent,[6] signing shortly after for Getafe CF.[7] On 3 June 2015, after four years as first choice, he left the latter after his contract expired.[8]

Perth Glory

On 6 August 2015, aged 33, Castro moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining A-League club Perth Glory FC as their foreign marquee player.[9] He scored his first goal for his new team on 25 October, contributing to a 3–1 home win against Adelaide United FC.[10] He enjoyed a successful debut season, earning selection for the PFA Team of the Year[11] and winning the Alex Tobin award as well as the Johnny Warren Medal.[12]

On 7 June 2016, Castro extended his stay with Perth Glory, agreeing to a deal believed to be worth approximately $500,000.[13] Before the start of the 2018–19 season, he was named team captain.[14]

Castro agreed to a two-year extension on 23 April 2019.[15] On 14 October 2021, it was confirmed that the 39-year-old would be leaving due to restrictions on visa players and the incoming signing of Daniel Sturridge.[16][17] A statement from CEO Tony Pignata on the club's official website spoke fondly of the former player, saying:

"Diego has been one of the best players Australian football has ever seen, and undoubtedly Glory’s greatest overseas recruit of all time.

"His place in the pantheon of Glory greats is well and truly assured and on behalf of our Members and fans, I would like to sincerely thank him for the massive contribution he has made over the past six years.

"We have been fortunate to have had the pleasure of watching a player of his quality and he will always remain a cherished and much-loved member of the Glory family.

"We would like to take this opportunity to wish Diego and his family all the very best for the future."

Personal life

Castro's father, Fernando Castro Santos, also had a career intimately connected with football. He coached several teams in the first and second divisions from 1992 (notably SD Compostela), also working in Portugal.[18]

Besides his native language, Castro is also able to speak English, describing it as that he had fully learned the language while in Australia as part of the challenge of playing abroad.[19]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pontevedra 2001–02[20] Segunda División B 212003[lower-alpha 1]0242
2002–03[20] Segunda División B 339205[lower-alpha 1]34012
Total 541120836414
Málaga B 2003–04[20] Segunda División B 240——240
2004–05[20] Segunda División B 331——331
2005–06[20] Segunda División B 331——331
Total 902——902
Málaga 2005–06[20] La Liga 2000—20
Sporting Gijón 2006–07[20] Segunda División 38700—387
2007–08[20] Segunda División 37710—387
2008–09[20] La Liga 32620—346
2009–10[20] La Liga 351000—3510
2010–11[20] La Liga 28910—299
Total 1703940—17439
Getafe 2011–12[20] La Liga 31700—317
2012–13[20] La Liga 34730—377
2013–14[20] La Liga 32130—351
2014–15[20] La Liga 32341—364
Total 12918101—13919
Perth Glory 2015–16[21] A-League 261330—2913
2016–17[21] A-League 271300—2713
2017–18[21] A-League 22700—227
2018–19[21] A-League 22910—239
2019–20[21] A-League 1841020214
2020–21[21] A-League 2130030243
Total 13649505014949
Career total 581119211133615123
  1. 1 2 Appearances in Promotion Play-offs

Honours

Perth Glory

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Diego Castro". Eurosport. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Ballesteros, Jesús (5 December 2005). "Osasuna mantiene el ritmo del Barça" [Osasuna keep up the pace with Barça]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  3. ↑ González, Ángel (11 December 2005). "Sergio Ramos hace creer en López Caro" [Sergio Ramos has people believing in López Caro]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Diego Castro 14 de 14 en penaltis... y a lo Panenka" [Diego Castro 14 for 14 in penaltis... and in Panenka-style]. Marca (in Spanish). 23 February 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Nine men snatch point". ESPN Soccernet. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "Diego Castro confirma su marcha al Getafe y se despide del Sporting" [Diego Castro confirms Getafe signing and bids farewell to Sporting]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). 23 May 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  7. ↑ "Getafe complete Castro signing". FIFA. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "Os deseamos lo mejor" [We wish you the best] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Castro Perth Glory's new marquee player". Special Broadcasting Service. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "Match report: Perth Glory 3–1 Adelaide United". Goal. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Reds' players snubbed as PFA names team of the season". Special Broadcasting Service. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Glory star Castro wins Johnny Warren Medal". Football Australia. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  13. ↑ Smithies, Tom (7 June 2016). "Perth Glory re-signs Johnny Warren Medallist Diego Castro for 2016/17 season". Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Morgan, Gareth (17 October 2018). "Castro confirmed as Glory skipper". Perth Glory. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  15. ↑ Barnett, Tim (23 April 2019). "Glory days: Diego Castro signs on for another two years". A-League. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  16. ↑ Morgan, Gareth (14 October 2021). "Farewell Diego! Castro departure confirmed". Perth Glory. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  17. ↑ Jackson, Ed (14 October 2021). "Castro keen to play on after Glory exit". The West Australian. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "Diego Castro y Fernando Castro Santos, duelo entre padre e hijo en Segunda" [Diego Castro and Fernando Castro Santos, father-son duel in Segunda] (in Spanish). Hoy Sport. 23 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  19. ↑ "Castro speaks for the first time as captain". YouTube. 23 October 2018. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Diego Castro: Diego Castro Jiménez". BDFutbol. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Diego Castro". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  22. ↑ "Perth Glory win the 2018–19 A-League Premiers Plate with win over Newcastle Jets". Goal. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  23. ↑ "Diego Castro wins A-League top honour – the Johnny Warren Medal". Stuff. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
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