Cristian Rivero Sabater (born 21 March 1998) 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 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 ...

for Albacete Balompié, on loan from Valencia CF.

Club career

Born in Gandia,

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

, Rivero joined Valencia CF's youth setup in 2007 at the age of nine, from UD Portuarios Disarp. He made his senior debut with the reserves on 20 August 2017, starting in a 2–0

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 ...

away win against Deportivo Aragón. Rivero immediately became an undisputed starter for the B-team, and renewed his contract until 2022 on 20 December 2019. For the 2020–21 season, he was definitely promoted to the main squad after the injury of

Jasper Cillessen Jacobus Antonius Peter Johannes "Jasper" Cillessen (born 22 April 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club NEC and the Netherlands national team. Cillessen joined NEC's youth team in 2001, making hi ...

. Rivero made his first team debut on 16 December 2020, starting in a 4–2 away win against Terrassa FC in the first round of the season's

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 ...

. His professional debut occurred the following 17 January, as he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away defeat of AD Alcorcón, in the last 16 of the national cup. On 2 June 2021, Rivero renewed his contract with the ''Che'' until 2024. Despite renewing, he became a fourth-choice option behind

Jaume Doménech Jaume Doménech Sánchez (; born 5 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Valencia CF as a goalkeeper. He made over 100 appearances for Valencia, where he was mainly used as back-up. Club career Born in Almenara, Cas ...

and new signing Giorgi Mamardashvili. On 28 January 2022, after a failed loan move to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

, Rivero joined

side Alcorcón on loan for the remainder of the campaign. He played only three games, with

Dani Jiménez Daniel 'Dani' Jiménez López (born 5 March 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for SD Huesca. Club career Born in Lebrija, Andalusia, Jiménez finished his youth career with Sevilla FC, making his senior debut ...

preferred. While Cillessen left that summer, the addition of Iago Herrerín kept Rivero at fourth choice. Rivero made his

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 ...

debut on 5 May 2024, replacing

in a 1–0 home loss to

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

. On 5 July, he renewed his contract until 2026 and was loaned to second division side Albacete Balompié for the 2024–25 season.

References

External links

Profile
at the Valencia CF website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivero, Cristian 1998 births Living people People from Gandia Footballers from the Province of Valencia Spanish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players AD Alcorcón footballers Albacete Balompié players