Jonathan Soriano Casas (; born 24 September 1985) 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 le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He spent his early career with

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

and

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 ...

, mostly with the respective reserve teams. In January 2012 he moved to Red Bull Salzburg, where he won four league and cup doubles, also finishing as the

Austrian Football Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

's top scorer three times; he totalled 172 goals in 202 matches for the latter club. Soriano earned 25

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for Spain at youth level, scoring 27 times. He also played for

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Club career

Espanyol

Born in

El Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort El Pont de Vilomara i Rocafort is a municipality in the province of Barcelona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The municipality covers an area of and the population in 2014 was 3,780. The municipality comprises the settlements of El ...

, Soriano emerged through

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

's youth ranks. He made his debut with the first team during the 2002–03 season, playing one minute in a 3–1

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 ...

home win against

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 ...

while still registered with the B side. He was not admitted as a full-time member of the main squad until 2005–06. Soriano spent the second halves of that and the following campaigns serving

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 ...

loan stints, after which he returned to the

Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (, formerly known as the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc and Estadio de Montjuic) is a stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Originally built in 1927 for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, 1929 Internation ...

, scoring twice in 24 appearances during the season, incidentally in both 1–0 victories over

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 ...

. In late January 2009, Soriano moved again on loan (and in the second tier), 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 ...

until the end of the campaign and being released by Espanyol after this spell, his contract not having been renewed.

Barcelona

On 30 July 2009, Soriano joined

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

's reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. He made his official first-team debut on 28 October 2009, playing the dying minutes of the 2–0 win at

Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in Primera División RFE ...

in the

round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of 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 ...

(7–0 on aggregate). In the league, he ranked amongst the season's top scorers as the team returned to the second division after an 11-year absence. Soriano fared even better in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, netting 32 times as Barcelona B finished in the promotion play-offs zone, being however ineligible for contention. This tally gave him the division's

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish football, the Trofeo Pichichi is awarded by the sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael "Pichichi" Moreno, the trophy has been awarded annually since the ...

, and in the process he eclipsed the club's previous record for most goals by a player in a single season, which was 15 by

Martín Domínguez José Antonio Martín Domínguez (born 4 April 1964) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a left midfielder. Club career Born in Sant Joan Despí, Barcelona, Catalonia, Domínguez was a product of FC Barcelona's youth system, but only ap ...

in 1987–88. His performances caught the eyes of

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 ...

, and his failure to get a contract with Barcelona was compared to the success of

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

top scorer

Nils Petersen Nils Petersen (; born 6 December 1988) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg and the Germany national football team, Germany national team. ...

in signing for

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

Red Bull Salzburg

On 19 January 2012, Soriano moved to the

with

FC Red Bull Salzburg FC Red Bull Salzburg is an Austrian professional football club based in Wals-Siezenheim, that competes in the Austrian Bundesliga, the top flight of Austrian Football. Their home ground is the Red Bull Arena. Due to sponsorship restrictions, ...

. In his first year he helped his team win the double, but needing time to adapt, he contributed only five goals in 15 games. Soriano 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 ...

on 17 July 2012 in a 1–0 loss at

F91 Dudelange F91 Dudelange (; lb, F91 Diddeleng, italic=no, ) is a Luxembourger professional football club based in Dudelange which plays in the Luxembourg National Division. It was formed in 1991 as a merger between three teams in the town: Alliance Dudel ...

, having played only 37 minutes as a substitute for Gonzalo Zárate in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the

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 ...

. He struck 26 goals in 32 games over the league season, including a hat-trick on 20 April 2013 in a 6–2 win against

Wolfsberger AC Wolfsberger AC, commonly referred to as Wolfsberg or simply WAC, is an Austrian association football club from Wolfsberg, Carinthia, who currently play in the Austrian Bundesliga. Between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 seasons, Wolfsberger AC enter ...

; that morning, he witnessed his wife Cristina Sabater giving birth to their daughter. FC Red Bull Salzburg gegen Bayer Leverkusen 18

In the summer of 2013, Soriano was appointed Red Bull's new

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in their

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 ...

play-off first leg against VMFD Žalgiris Vilnius, a 5–0 victory on 22 August. In his team's first match in the group stage, on 19 September, he added another three to help to a 4–0 home defeat of

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

. In the

, he grabbed a brace in a 2–0 win at

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

, and despite the team exiting in the next stage, he was the tournament's top scorer with eight goals, only the second Spaniard to do so after

Bolo Bolo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Bolo, a fictional tribe in ''bolo'bolo'' by P.M. * Bolo, a character in the ''Shantae'' series * ''Bolo'' universe, a science fiction universe created by Keith Laumer * Prin ...

in 2000–01. Soriano was the league's top scorer with 31 goals in 28 games – including four hat-tricks – as Salzburg regained the title. The

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...

also returned to the team, and he netted another treble in a 9–0 first-round rout of lowly Union St. Florian. In the final on 18 May, he scored twice in a 4–2 win over

SKN St. Pölten Sportklub Niederösterreich St. Pölten is an Austrian football club from Sankt Pölten, capital of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. St. Pölten currently play in the Austrian Football Second League, the second tier of the Austrian footbal ...

at the

Wörthersee Stadion Wörthersee Stadion (), known as 28 Black Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Klagenfurt, Austria. It is the home ground of Austria Klagenfurt. The stadium is situated within the Sportpark Klagenfurt campus of seve ...

. On 10 August 2014, Soriano scored five goals in an 8–0 home league demolition of

SV Grödig Sportverein Grödig is an Austrian association football club from Grödig. The team currently competes in the Regionalliga Salzburg, the third tier of Austrian football. Grödig were relegated from the Austrian Bundesliga at the end of the 2 ...

. On 6 November, he netted a hat-trick as Salzburg won 5–1 at

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

in the Europa League group stage. He extended his contract in January of the following year until June 2018 or 2019, and at the end of the campaign was voted the league's Player of the Year. In the

cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

, he scored an

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

goal in a 2–0 win over

FK Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mo ...

. On 26 September 2015, Soriano scored four goals in a 4–2 home win against

SV Mattersburg SV Mattersburg was an Austrian association football club from Mattersburg, Burgenland. History The club was formed in 1922 and played its home games at the 17,100 capacity Pappelstadion. The club played in the Bundesliga since the 2003–04 ...

. On 24 October, he netted his 100th league goal whilst helping to a 2–1 victory over

SV Ried SV Ried is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club from Ried im Innkreis, Upper Austria. The team plays its home matches at Josko Arena, a stadium with a capacity of 7,680. After being relegated from Austrian Football Bundesli ...

also at the Red Bull Arena. He arrived at the century mark in 113 games, quicker than national icons

Hans Krankl Johann "Hans" Krankl (; born 14 February 1953) is a retired Austrian footballer. A prolific striker, Krankl is regarded by many as one of Austria's greatest players. Club career Krankl started his professional career at Rapid Wien and stayed ...

and

Toni Polster Anton "Toni" Polster (born 10 March 1964) is an Austrian professional football coach and former player. He is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Austria national team with 44 goals. Polster's top flight coaching debut at Admira Wacker la ...

, and by the following March he had achieved 150 goals in 170 matches across all competitions; manager Óscar García stated: "He is the best footballer I have ever worked with. I hope he never leaves". For the third successive year, Soriano was the top scorer as his team won the league, and he scored three times in a 5–0 win over

FC Admira Wacker Mödling Fußballklub Flyeralarm Admira Wacker Mödling, also known as Flyeralarm Admira for sponsorship reasons or simply Admira, is a football club from Mödling, Austria. The club was originally formed in 1905 as ''SK Admira Wien'' in the Austrian cap ...

in the

to seal another double. In March 2017, the club retired his number 26 jersey.

Beijing Guoan

On 26 February 2017, Soriano signed for

Beijing Sinobo Guoan F.C. Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...

after recommendation from former club player

Frédéric Kanouté Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Foot ...

. He scored regularly over his first season in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

, although his team finished ninth. On 23 July, his brace gave them a 2–1 win at Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC.

Later years

On 14 December 2018,

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 ...

Soriano moved to

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

club

Al Hilal SFC Al Hilal Saudi Football Club ( ar, نادي الهلال السعودي), simply known as Al Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their Association football, football team competes in the Saudi Professional L ...

on a one-and-a-half year contract. He returned to his home country on 31 August 2019, after agreeing to a one-year deal at second-tier

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

. On 7 March 2021, after nearly eight months without a club, Soriano signed a short-term contract with

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''No ...

, also in the second division. On 24 September, his 36th birthday, he officially announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Soriano was the top scorer at the

2002 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the first edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship after changing the name of the competition. Denmark hosted the championship, during 27 April – 10 May. 16 teams entered the competit ...

with seven goals, as

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 ...

came fourth in Denmark. All of his goals came in group stage victories, a hat-trick against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

between braces against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

. On 8 February 2005, as a half-time replacement for

Alberto Zapater Alberto Zapater Arjol (born 13 June 1985) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for and captains Real Zaragoza mainly as a defensive midfielder. He spent most of his career with Zaragoza, appearing in 392 official games and scoring 11 ...

, Soriano scored four times for the under-21 team in a 14–0 thrashing of

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

El Ejido El Ejido () is a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is located 32 km from Almería with a surface area of 227 km2, and as reported in 2014 had 84,144 inhabitants. El Ejido is the centre of prod ...

. He also took part on the Catalan representative side, scoring their goal in a draw with

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

on 28 December 2005.

Career statistics

Honours

Espanyol *

: 2005–06 Red Bull Salzburg *

: 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

: 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 Beijing Guoan *

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh titl ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual *

Zarra Trophy The Zarra Trophy is a trophy awarded annually by the Spanish sports daily ''Marca'' to the Spanish domestic player with the highest goal total in La Liga. It is named after the former Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra. It was awarded for the f ...

(

*Austrian Football Bundesliga top scorer: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

top scorer: 2013–14 *UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2013–14

References

External links

FC Barcelona official profile
*
Bundesliga profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soriano, Jonathan 1985 births Living people People from Bages Sportspeople from the Province of Barcelona Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Polideportivo Ejido footballers UD Almería players Albacete Balompié players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Girona FC players CD Castellón footballers Austrian Football Bundesliga players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Chinese Super League players Beijing Guoan F.C. players Saudi Professional League players Al Hilal SFC players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Catalonia international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia