Alberto Aguilar Leiva (born 12 July 1984), known simply as Alberto, is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Antequera CF Antequera Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Antequera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1992, it currently plays in Segunda Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio El Maulí'', with a capacity of 6,000 s ...

as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He totalled 278 games and 18 goals in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, with Málaga B, Granada 74,

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-ea ...

, Córdoba and Ponferradina. In

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

he represented

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

(one appearance) and

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

(32), and also played professionally in Australia and Cyprus.

Club career

Alberto was born in

Benamejí Benamejí is a city located in the province of Córdoba, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadís ...

, Córdoba. A product of

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

's youth system, he made his professional debuts for the first team in the last match of the 2002–03 season, a 0–1

away loss against

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, while also helping the reserves achieve a 2003 promotion to

. For the 2005–06 campaign, Alberto signed with

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

, totalling 30 top-flight appearances in his first two years and also playing an important part in the team's runner-up run in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

. However, the arrival of coach

Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional football coach and former player. He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. He is the older brother of fellow retired footballer Brian Laudrup. During his pl ...

deemed him surplus to requirements in his third, which prompted a release in January 2008 with a move to second level club

Granada 74 CF Granada 74 Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Granada 74, was a Spanish football team based in Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It has not registered in any competition since 2009, it held home matches at ''Estadio La ...

. Alberto stayed in that tier ahead of the following season, joining

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

. In August 2010, as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, he returned to his native

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

after agreeing to a deal at

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

. From

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Alberto continued competing in division two, with

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at the ...

. On 9 August 2015, aged 31, he moved abroad for the first time, signing for

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

. On 5 May 2016, after having helped his team reach the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, Alberto was released. In June, he joined Cypriot club

Anorthosis Famagusta FC Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fo ...

on a one-year deal.

Honours

Getafe *

runner-up: 2006–07

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar, Alberto 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Spanish footballers Footballers from Andalusia Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Getafe CF footballers Granada 74 CF footballers Albacete Balompié players Córdoba CF players SD Ponferradina players FC Cartagena footballers Antequera CF footballers A-League Men players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus