Gaizka Toquero

Gaizka Toquero Pinedo (born 9 August 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a right winger.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Toquero and the second or maternal family name is Pinedo.
Gaizka Toquero
Toquero before a game with Euskadi in 2011
Personal information
Full name Gaizka Toquero Pinedo
Date of birth (1984-08-09) 9 August 1984
Place of birth Vitoria, Spain
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s) Winger / Forward
Youth career
Alavés
2001–2002 Ariznabarra
2002–2003 Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 Alavés C 16 (3)
2005–2006 Alavés B 29 (2)
2006–2007 Lemona 33 (0)
2007–2008 Sestao 37 (5)
2008–2015 Athletic Bilbao 156 (20)
2008 → Eibar (loan) 16 (4)
2015–2017 Alavés 62 (10)
2017–2019 Zaragoza 27 (4)
Total 376 (48)
National team
2010–2016 Basque Country 7 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 207 competitive matches during seven La Liga seasons and scoring 24[1] goals, and becoming a fan favourite for his endeavour.[2]

Club career

Early years

Toquero was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava. After a brief youth spell at Real Sociedad, and some years with both reserve teams of Deportivo Alavés where he had also featured in his formative years,[3][4] he started playing professionally for SD Lemona in the 2006–07 season, later joining Basque neighbours Sestao River Club (both clubs were in the third division).

While playing for Sestao, Athletic Bilbao showed interest in acquiring Toquero, who eventually signed him in 2008.[5] After not being part of Joaquín Caparrós' plans in pre-season, he was loaned to neighbouring SD Eibar greatly due to new manager Carlos Pouso, who had coached the player before.[6][7]

Athletic Bilbao
Toquero in action for Athletic Bilbao in 2011.

After 15 matches in 2008–09's second level, Toquero was recalled by Athletic on 4 January 2009, making his La Liga debut six days later by appearing as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 home draw against RCD Espanyol.[8] He scored his first goal for the team on 4 March in a 3–0 home win in the Copa del Rey over Sevilla FC (4–2 on aggregate)[9] which qualified Athletic for the final: there, he opened the scoring, albeit in a 1–4 loss to FC Barcelona.[10][2]

Blessed with few technical skills but a tremendous hard-worker – which earned him the affectionate nickname of Lehendakari[11][12]– in 2009–10 Toquero blossomed into a first division player.[13] He started most of the campaign as an attacking complement to Fernando Llorente, and also found the net on several occasions, notably a double against Real Valladolid on 7 March 2010 in a 2–0 home success.[14]

Toquero once again was a regular starter for Athletic during 2010–11, opening his official goal account on 30 January 2011 by netting twice in a 2–0 win at Atlético Madrid.[15] At the end of the following season, he came off the bench in both the UEFA Europa League and the Spanish Cup finals, both of which ended in 0–3 defeats;[16][17] in October 2012 he renewed his contract, due to expire in June 2013, for three more years.[18]

Toquero made one substitute appearance in the 2014–15 edition of the UEFA Champions League, in a 1–2 group stage away loss against FC BATE Borisov.[19] His last game for the club (less than 50 minutes of action during the campaign) was in the dying moments of a 1–0 league win over Real Madrid, on 7 May 2015.[20]

Alavés

On 10 July 2015, Toquero cut ties with Athletic[21] and returned to Alavés four days later after agreeing to a two-year deal.[22] He was an ever-present figure in his first season, scoring nine goals in 39 starts as the team returned to the top tier after a ten-year wait;[23][2] he added 23 with one goal[24] during the second, and played a part in their run to the domestic cup final, although he was an unused substitute in the showpiece match.[25]

As his contract at Mendizorrotza Stadium was finally not renewed, Toquero decided to train with hometown minnows CD Aurrerá de Vitoria in the close season while considering his options for the future.[26]

Zaragoza

On 4 August 2017, Toquero signed a one-year deal with second division club Real Zaragoza.[27] On 29 May 2019, after nearly a year without playing an official match due to complications from a knee injury, the 34-year-old announced his retirement.[28]

International career

Toquero did not represent Spain at any level. He played seven matches for the Basque Country representative side, and scored twice in a 6–1 win over Bolivia at the Anoeta Stadium on 29 December 2012.[29]

Career statistics

[30]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Alavés B 2005–06 Segunda División B 2940000294
Lemona 2006–07 Segunda División B 3300000330
Sestao 2007–08 Segunda División B 3751000385
Athletic Bilbao 2008–09 La Liga 2016200263
2009–10 La Liga 3182011[lower-alpha 1]0448
2010–11 La Liga 3073000337
2011–12 La Liga 3547114[lower-alpha 2]0565
2012–13 La Liga 160105[lower-alpha 2]1[1]221
2013–14 La Liga 2001000210
2014–15 La Liga 40001[lower-alpha 3]050
Total 1562020331120724[1]
Eibar (loan) 2008–09 Segunda División 1641000174
Alavés 2015–16 Segunda División 3992000419
2016–17 La Liga 2315200283
Total 621072006912
Zaragoza 2017–18 Segunda División 274102[lower-alpha 4]0304
Career totals 3604730533142353
  1. Nine Appearances in UEFA Europa League, Two Appearances in Supercopa de España
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance in UEFA Champions League
  4. Appearances in 2018 Segunda División play-offs

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

Alavés

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References
  1. Athletic's second goal in their 3–3 draw away to HJK Helsinki in August 2012 is a matter of dispute. Some sources, including his profile on the club's website (Athletic Bilbao), contemporary match reports (SportsMole, RTVE) and later career summaries in the media (El Desmarque El Mundo, Deia Archived 2018-02-12 at the Wayback Machine) give the goal to Toquero, which would be his 25th in total, but other statistical resources, including the UEFA match report, (UEFA, BDFutbol, Soccerway) count it as an own goal by HJK's Rami Hakanpää. Footage of the incident from a single angle (12:20) is inconclusive (additionally, the screen display shows 'own goal', but the stadium tannoy announcer can be heard crediting it to Toquero).
  2. Bate, Adam (8 January 2017). "Gaizka Toquero returns to Athletic Bilbao where he is a cult hero". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  3. "Algunos enlaces sobre Toquero" [Some links about Toquero] (in Spanish). El Glorioso. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  4. Garrido, Jesús (28 October 2016). ""Lo único que he hecho desde que nací hasta ahora ha sido jugar al fútbol"" ["The only thing I've done since I was born until now has been playing football"]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  5. "El Athletic ficha al delantero Gaizka Toquero" [Athletic sign forward Gaizka Toquero]. El Correo (in Spanish). 21 May 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  6. "Gaizka Toquero jugará cedido en el Eibar la próxima temporada" [Gaizka Toquero will play on loan at Eibar next season]. Marca (in Spanish). 12 August 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  7. "Toquero: "No había pensado ni en debutar en Primera"" [Toquero: "I had never even thought about making debut in Primera"]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). 5 February 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  8. Rincón, Jaime (4 January 2009). "Iraola adelanta los Reyes" [Iraola brings Wise Men sooner]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  9. Ollero, Jesús (5 March 2009). "Athletic-Sevilla: Desmelene vasco hacia la final (3–0)" [Athletic-Sevilla: Basque go crazy en route to final (3–0)]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  10. "Athletic Bilbao 1–4 Barcelona". Star Sports Network. 14 May 2009. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  11. Gómez, Verónica (4 November 2015). "Toquero: "Lo de 'ari, ari, ari, Toquero lehendakari' es solo de Bilbao"" [Toquero: "The 'ari, ari, ari, Toquero lehendakari' bit is only from Bilbao"] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  12. "¡Dan un voto a Gaizka Toquero para Lehendakari!" [Gaizka Toquero gets one vote for Lehendakari!]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 26 September 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  13. "Sacrificio, entrega y valía, el secreto del éxito de Toquero" [Sacrifice, hard work and value, Toquero's secret for success] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  14. "Toquero double sinks Valladolid". ESPN Soccernet. 7 March 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  15. "Toquero at the double for Athletic". ESPN Soccernet. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  16. "Falcao at double as Atlético march to title". UEFA. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  17. Pizarro, Ramón (25 May 2012). "Un soberbio Barcelona despide a Guardiola con el título de Copa ante el Athletic (0–3)" [Superb Barcelona say goodbye to Guardiola with Cup title against Athletic (0–3)] (in Spanish). RTVE. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  18. "Gaizka Toquero renueva su contrato con el Athletic hasta 2016" [Gaizka Toquero renews his contract with Athletic until 2016]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 11 October 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  19. "First-half strikes help BATE best Athletic". UEFA. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  20. "Athletic Bilbao 1–0 Real Madrid". BBC Sport. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  21. "Gaizka Toquero's contract terminated". Athletic Bilbao. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  22. "Gaizka Toquero firma por dos temporadas con el Deportivo Alavés" [Gaizka Toquero signs for two seasons with Deportivo Alavés] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  23. Aroca, Jon (1 June 2016). "¿Quién dijo gol?" [Who said goal?] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  24. "El Valencia consigue su primera victoria frente al Alavés" [Valencia get their first win against Alavés]. ABC (in Spanish). 23 September 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  25. "Barcelona 3–1 Alavés". BBC Sport. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  26. Pancorbo, R. O. (1 August 2017). "Toquero entrena con un equipo de Tercera a falta de definir su futuro" [Toquero trains with a fourth-tier team having failed to resolve his future]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  27. "El Real Zaragoza se refuerza con Gaizka Toquero" [Real Zaragoza bolster with Gaizka Toquero] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  28. Beltrán, Javier R. (29 May 2019). "Gaizka Toquero, el eterno escudero de Llorente" [Gaizka Toquero, Llorente's eternal sidekick]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  29. "Euskadi se divierte con Bolivia" [Euskadi have fun with Bolivia]. Marca (in Spanish). 29 December 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  30. "Toquero". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
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