Saúl Coco

Saúl Basilio Coco-Bassey Oubiña (born 9 February 1999), better known as Saúl Coco, is a Spanish-born Equatoguinean professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Spanish Tercera División club UD Las Palmas C and the Equatorial Guinea national team.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Coco-Bassey and the second or maternal family name is Oubiña.
Saúl Coco
Personal information
Full name Saúl Basilio Coco-Bassey Oubiña[1]
Date of birth (1999-02-09) 9 February 1999
Place of birth Lanzarote, Spain
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Centre back / Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Las Palmas C
Youth career
Orientación Marítima
2013–2016 Las Palmas
2015–2016 → Orientación Marítima (loan)
2016–2018 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Espanyol – (–)
2018–2019 → Horta (loan) 22 (0)
2019– Las Palmas C 0 (0)
National team‡
2018 Equatorial Guinea U-23 1 (0)
2017– Equatorial Guinea 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 March 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 May 2019

Early life

Coco was born in Spain to Basilio Coco-Bassey Eyanga and a Spanish mother. His father is an Equatoguinean[3] former footballer and current coach[4] who played for Canarian club CDU Puerto del Carmen in the 1987–88 season, alongside with his brother Luis (Coco's uncle).[5] Coco is also of Nigerian descent through his paternal grandfather.

Professional career

Coco signed to the RCD Espanyol academy in the summer of 2016, after a successful stint with the academy of his hometown team, CD Orientación Marítima,[6] where he was trained by his own father.[7]

International career

Due to his background, Coco is eligible to play internationally for Spain, Equatorial Guinea or Nigeria. He was called up to the senior Equatorial Guinea national football team on August 2017.[8] He made his debut for Equatorial Guinea in a 2-1 friendly loss to Benin on 3 September 2017.[9][10] The match was eliminated from FIFA records,[11] as the referee and his assistants referees were from Equatorial Guinea.[12][13] Coco became the first person from Lanzarote to get called up internationally in 67 years.[14] He became cap-tied to Equatorial Guinea on 17 November 2018, when he appeared in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match against Senegal.[15]

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References
  1. "Federació Catalana de Futbol". fcf.cat.
  2. "Saúl Coco regresa para reforzar Las Palmas C" (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  3. "Saul Coco se suma a las novedades del equipo nacional" (in Spanish). LOL Radio GE.
  4. "Comité de Competición. Sesión 20 de febrero de 2013".
  5. "Temporada 87-88".
  6. "El centrocampista Saúl Coco ficha por el equipo juvenil del RCD Espanyol".
  7. "El joven lanzaroteño Saúl Coco ficha por el RCD Espanyol" (in Spanish). Lancelot Digital. 18 July 2016.
  8. Betancort, Rubén. "Saúl Coco convocado con la selección absoluta de Guinea Ecuatorial".
  9. "La Guinea Ecuatorial de Pablo Ganet pierde en casa con Benin (1-2) - Deportes al Minuto.es". 3 September 2017.
  10. "Malawi stun Togo, Benin edge past Equatorial Guinea".
  11. "Live Scores - Equatorial Guinea - Matches". FIFA.com.
  12. "Mismo error, la misma posición y el mismo árbitro" [Same mistake, the same position and the same referee] (in Spanish). P.Sports. 6 September 2017.
  13. "Joaquín ELA, el árbitro de los partidos eliminados por la FIFA" [Joaquín Elá, the referee of the matches eliminated by FIFA] (in Spanish). P.Sports. 6 September 2017.
  14. domingo. "Saúl Coco puso fin a 67 años sin un futbolista internacional absoluto de Lanzarote".
  15. "Saúl Coco". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
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