Alberto Cifuentes Martínez (born 29 May 1979) is a Spanish former 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, currently the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Cádiz CF B Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

Playing career

Born in

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

, Castile-La Mancha, Cifuentes started playing as a senior with local

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 ...

's reserves. On 15 November 1998, after starter

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...

was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

early into a home game against

CP Mérida Club Polideportivo Mérida was a Spanish football team based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Having played twice in La Liga ( 1995–96 and 1997–98), the club was dissolved in 2000, due to serious economic debts. Its ...

, he made his debut 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 the first team, going on to concede twice in a 0–2 home loss. Cifuentes spent several years of his career in Segunda División B, representing in the second tier, other than Albacete,

Ciudad de Murcia Club de Fútbol Ciudad de Murcia, usually abbreviated to Ciudad de Murcia, was a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the namesake autonomous community. They played at the 16,000-seater ''Estadio de La Condomina''. Ciudad Murcia was reloca ...

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

and Cádiz CF for a total of 293 appearances. In the 2004–05 season he was part of RCD Mallorca's

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 ...

roster, being only third choice behind

Miguel Ángel Moyá Miguel Ángel Moyá Rumbo (; born 2 April 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He played 274 La Liga games over 15 seasons, representing in the competition Mallorca, Valencia, Getafe, Atlético Madrid and Rea ...

and

Sander Westerveld Sander Westerveld (born 23 October 1974) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He was the goalkeeping coach of South African Premier Soccer League club Ajax Cape Town. The highlight of his playing ...

. Cifuentes moved abroad for the first time in summer 2014 at the age of 35, joining a host of compatriots – including manager

Ángel Pérez García Ángel Pérez García (16 October 1957 – 16 October 2019) was a Spanish football defender and manager. Playing career Born in Madrid, García joined Real Madrid's youth setup in 1973 at the age of 16, after impressing in a trial. He played ...

– at Polish club

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish association football, football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 Ekstraklasa, 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, ...

. He made his debut in top-flight football on 20 July of that year, starting in a 4–0

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

defeat at Lech Poznań. In July 2015, Cifuentes returned to Spain after signing a contract with Cádiz CF. He played 42 matches in his debut campaign, which ended in promotion from division three. Cifuentes rarely missed a game for the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost 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 "historical nationality". The t ...

ns the following seasons, notably winning the

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ic ...

for the category in 2017–18. He was again instrumental as they returned to the top flight in 2020 after 14 years, still under coach

Álvaro Cervera Álvaro Cervera Díaz (born 20 September 1965) is a Spanish football manager who manages Real Oviedo. He is a former player who played as a winger. He amassed La Liga totals of 261 matches and 17 goals over 12 seasons, and represented Racing ...

. On 20 September 2020, aged 41, Cifuentes made his Spanish top-tier debut by starting in a 2–0 away win against

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded on 29 March 1960, SD Huesca plays in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in ...

, becoming the oldest player to do so in the process. On 5 October, after 209 competitive games for Cádiz, he retired.

Coaching career

On 14 February 2021, after a spell as Cádiz

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

, Cifuentes replaced Juan Manuel Pavón at the helm of their reserves.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cifuentes, Alberto 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Albacete Spanish footballers Footballers from Castilla–La Mancha Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Atlético Albacete players Albacete Balompié players Atlético Dos Hermanas CF players RCD Mallorca B players RCD Mallorca players Ciudad de Murcia footballers Rayo Vallecano players UD Salamanca players Real Murcia players Lorca FC players Cádiz CF players Ekstraklasa players Piast Gliwice players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers Segunda Federación managers Cádiz CF B managers