Daniel Pacheco Lobato (born 5 January 1991) is a Spanish

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

left winger 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 ...

or an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for Polish side

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

. He joined

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in 2007 having previously been in the youth ranks at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Club career

Early career

Pacheco signed for

from

for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2007 and initially played for Liverpool reserves. Before his transfer, Pacheco enjoyed a reputation as a rising star in the ranks of Barcelona's

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

. Such was his ability to score goals from almost any position, teammates nicknamed him ("The Assassin"). Pacheco made his first start for the Liverpool reserves on 5 February 2008, against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. He scored the first goal of the game, a low curling shot past Ian Walker. In April 2008, Pacheco made a 50-yard pass to assist

Krisztián Németh Krisztián Németh (; born 5 January 1989) is a Hungarian professional footballer who currently plays for Hungarian club MTK Budapest. Club career Born in Győr, Németh started his career at hometown club ETO Győr where he played from 2003 ...

in scoring the only goal of the game against Blackburn Rovers Reserves, which secured the Premier Reserve League North title for Liverpool. On 7 May 2008, Pacheco, who came on as a substitute in the second half, threaded a through pass to teammate

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk" * ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities * ''L ...

to score the third and final goal in Liverpool's Reserve League final victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

Liverpool

Pacheco made his first team debut on 9 December 2009 as a second-half substitute for

Alberto Aquilani Alberto Aquilani (; born 7 July 1984) is an Italian football manager and former player. Mainly a central midfielder, he usually operated as a deep-lying playmaker, but was also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder. He is the head coach o ...

in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

match against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

. His league debut came on 26 December when he replaced Aquilani once more in a 2–0 home win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. On 18 February 2010, Pacheco came on as a substitute in the 75th minute for Aquilani again in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

match versus

Unirea Urziceni Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Urziceni, commonly known as FC Urziceni (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County which currently plays in fourth division, Ialomița County. Unirea became national champion ...

; six minutes later, he provided a headed assist for

David N'Gog David Philippe Henri Ngog (born 1 April 1989), known as David N'Gog, is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Greek Gamma Ethniki club Panionios. N'Gog started his career with French Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. He ...

's match-winning goal. On 10 August 2010, Pacheco was handed the number 12 for the 2010–11 season, previously worn by

Fábio Aurélio Fábio Aurélio Rodrigues (born 24 September 1979) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played for Grêmio, São Paulo, Valencia and Liverpool. He played as either a left back or left winger and represented Brazil at under-17 and ...

, who was handed number 6 after he re-signed for the club. On 3 December, Liverpool confirmed that both he and Martin Kelly had signed contract extensions until June 2014. On 23 March 2011, Pacheco joined

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

on emergency loan until the end of the season, being handed the number 37 shirt. He made his debut against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on 2 April, setting up the first goal for

Grant Holt Grant Holt (born 12 April 1981) is an English former professional footballer who is currently a scout at West Ham United. During his football career, Holt played for a number of non-league and professional clubs, making nearly 100 league appeara ...

and playing through the pass which won the penalty for Norwich's second goal in a 6–0 rout at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. N ...

. He scored his first Norwich goal in the 5–1 away victory over

East Anglia derby The East Anglian derby is a sobriquet used to describe football matches held between Norwich City and Ipswich Town, the only fully professional football clubs in the neighbouring East Anglian counties of Norfolk and Suffolk respectively. In r ...

rivals

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on the 21st, concluding the thrashing after coming on as a substitute for

Wes Hoolahan Wesley Patrick Hoolahan (born 20 May 1982) is an Irish professional footballer who most recently played as an attacking midfielder for League One club Cambridge United. Hoolahan began his playing career with Shelbourne and has previously playe ...

. On 24 August 2011,

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

announced on their official website that Pacheco had joined the club on loan from Liverpool for the

2011–12 La Liga The 2011–12 La Liga season (known as the ''Liga BBVA'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 81st season of the top level Spanish association football competition. The campaign began on 27 August 2011, and ended on 13 May 2012. Real Madrid won a re ...

season, and would be immediately loaned to

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

for the year. It was also confirmed that Atlético had an option to buy Pacheco at the end of the season. Pacheco made his debut for Rayo Vallecano as 84th-minute substitute in the 0–1 win against

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 ...

on 18 September. On 31 January 2013, Pacheco was loaned to second-tier

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

until the end of the season. Pacheco scored on his debut for Huesca, the last goal in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

on 3 February. He helped his team with 5 goals in 19 matches.

Later career

On 2 September 2013, Pacheco joined Spanish second division side

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo ...

on permanent basis. Pacheco left Alcorcón at the end of the 2013–14 season and signed for

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

on 11 July 2014. He appeared in 23 matches during the campaign, as his side returned to

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 ...

after a one-year absence. On 28 July 2015, Pacheco was loaned 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 ...

in the second division, for one year. After again achieving top level promotion, he moved to

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 ...

on 23 July of the following year, also in a temporary deal. Pacheco achieved a third consecutive top tier promotion with ''Geta'', and was bought outright on 3 July 2017. On 15 August of the following year, he signed a three-year contract with

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, ...

in the second division. Pacheco was one of the eight first team players released by Málaga on 3 October 2020, due to a

layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...

. The following 1 February, he signed a short-term contract with fellow second division side

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Las Gaunas ...

. Pacheco was released in June 2021 following the expiration of his contract. Pacheco signed for

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the Tsirion Stadiu ...

on 25 August 2021 as a free agent and was released by the club on 31 January 2022. On 10 March 2022, he joined Polish club

until the end of the season.

International career

At the

2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the ninth edition of UEFA's European Under-19 Championship since it was renamed from the original under-18 event, in 2001. France hosted the championship during July. Ukraine were the title holders ...

, Pacheco scored twice in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

's group match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He then went on to score another goal against quarter-final opponents

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

as Spain qualified for the semi-finals. He went on to score early in the semi-final against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, a game in which Spain won 3–1. They then lost the final against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

2–1, with Pacheco making an assist. He won the Golden Boot at the Championships after scoring four goals. Pacheco made his debut for the Spain U21 team – alongside Liverpool teammate

Daniel Ayala Daniel Sánchez Ayala (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Blackburn Rovers. His first club was Premier League club Liverpool, where he spent two seasons as a reserve. He joined Norwich ...

– when he featured in a friendly against

on 24 March. He played 45 minutes and received a yellow card as a second-half substitute in the 3–2 friendly defeat. He was selected as part of the Spain U20 squad to compete at the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FIFA ...

in Colombia.

Career statistics

Honours

Betis *

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 ...

: 2014–15 Alavés *

: 2015–16 Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

runner-up:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

* * *
LFCHistory Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pacheco, Daniel 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Málaga Spanish footballers Association football forwards Premier League players English Football League players Segunda División players La Liga players Ekstraklasa players FC Barcelona players Liverpool F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Atlético Madrid footballers Rayo Vallecano players SD Huesca footballers AD Alcorcón footballers Real Betis players Deportivo Alavés players Getafe CF footballers Málaga CF players UD Logroñés players Górnik Zabrze players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland