Sergio Gontán Gallardo (born 27 December 1991), known as Keko, 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

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

club

Sacramento Republic Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, th ...

as a

right 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 ...

. Formed at

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 ...

, he made 112

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 ...

appearance for that club,

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

Eibar Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat ...

and

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 ...

. He also played in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

for

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

Club career

Atlético Madrid

Keko was born in

Brunete Brunete () is a town located on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain with a population of 10,730 people. History There was no military garrison in Brunete and there was no rebel attempt to seize the city during the coup of July 1936. Brunete remain ...

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...

. A product of local

's youth ranks, he made his first-team – and

– debut on 12 September 2009, taking the field as a 63rd-minute substitute for

Florent Sinama Pongolle Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons i ...

in a 1–1 home draw against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

, aged just 17. Speaking to ''

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns '' El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The paper particularly covers news of the Community of M ...

'' after the match, he said: "The truth is that I have always dreamed of playing in this stadium, despite the draw, it was a dream come true. I did not think about the protests outside the ground, and I only wanted to score. I hope to have more chances, but I have to be calm and see what the coach decides." Late in January 2010, Keko was loaned to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

in the same league until the end of the season. He made his debut for his new team against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

, appearing as a late replacement in an eventual 2–0 away loss on 6 February. Keko split the 2010–11 campaign with two

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 ...

sides,

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

and

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 ...

, totalling 25 matches (nine starts, 952 minutes) as both managed to retain their league status.

Catania

On 19 July 2011, after he failed to renew his contract with Atlético Madrid, Keko completed a transfer to

Calcio Catania Catania S.S.D., commonly known as Catania, is an Italian football club based in the city of Catania, Sicily, that plays in . Originally founded in 1908 as ''Associazione Sportiva pro Educazione Fisica'', the club boasts 17 appearances in the ...

in Italy, signing a three-year deal and being awarded the No. 15 jersey at the Sicilian club. On 7 January 2012, however, along with teammate

Fabio Sciacca Francesco Fabio Sciacca (born 16 May 1989 in Catania), known as Fabio Sciacca, is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for ASD Sancataldese. Club career Paternò Calcio Sciacca started his career in the youth ranks of Paternò Calc ...

, he joined

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

U.S. Grosseto F.C. Unione Sportiva Grosseto 1912 is an Italian association football club, based in the city of Grosseto, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1912 as ''Unione Ginnico Sportiva Grossetana''. The team's most associated nickname is ''grifone'', after it ...

on loan. Keko scored on his

debut on 24 February 2013, starting and contributing to a 2–1 away win over

Parma FC Parma Calcio 1913 (), commonly known as Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, which competes in the Serie B, the second tier of Italian football. ''Parma Football Club'' was originally founded in Decembe ...

. In May 2014, he was released; valued at €10 million by Catania, he remained unemployed for nearly four months and hired a personal trainer while contemplating leaving football.

Albacete

On 28 August 2014, Keko signed a 1+1 contract with

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 ...

, recently promoted to the second tier. He totalled more than 2,500 minutes of action during his only season, notably scoring a brace in a 3–2 victory at

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Badalona, Province of Barcelona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays ...

on 21 May 2015 that confirmed the side's survival.

Eibar

On 9 July 2015, Keko moved to

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

in the top division after agreeing to a two-year contract. He scored his first goal in the competition on 30 December, opening the 2–0 home win against

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

Málaga

Real Valladolid - FC Barcelona, 2018-08-25 (102)

On 21 June 2016, Keko joined

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, ...

on a four-year deal. He appeared in 22 scoreless matches in his first season, helping his team to finish in 11th position. After suffering relegation, Keko agreed to a one-year loan back at former club Valladolid on 29 July 2018, now in the top flight. On 31 January 2020, he terminated his contract with the

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 ...

ns.

Deportivo

On 31 January 2020, just hours after leaving Málaga, Keko signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

, still in division two. After

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

, he extended it until 2024. Keko left the

Estadio Riazor Estadio Municipal de Riazor (), also known as Estadio ABANCA-RIAZOR for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Spain. The stadium is the home of Deportivo de La Coruña, and accommodates a total of 32,660 spectators, making ...

in August 2021.

Sacramento Republic

On 11 January 2022, Keko joined

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the ...

of the

for the upcoming season. He made his debut for the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

ns on 12 March as a late substitute in a 3–1 home defeat of

El Paso Locomotive FC El Paso Locomotive FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. Club crest and colors The Locomotive brand was unveiled on Oc ...

, concluding the scoring. Keko played in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

on 7 September, which his team lost 3–0 to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

, as the third lower-league team to contest the fixture since MLS began in 1996.

International career

Keko participated in the

2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 26th UEFA European Under-17 Championship, UEFA's premier football tournament for players under the age of 17. The tournament was held in Turkey from 4 to 16 May 2008. Pla ...

with

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 ...

, helping his country to eventual victory in the tournament and scoring in the final, a 4–0 win over

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Spain *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keko 1991 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from the Community of Madrid Association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers Real Valladolid players FC Cartagena footballers Girona FC players Albacete Balompié players SD Eibar footballers Málaga CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players Serie A players Serie B players Catania S.S.D. players U.S. Grosseto 1912 players USL Championship players Sacramento Republic FC players Spain youth international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate soccer players in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States