Saúl Basilio Coco-Bassey Oubiña (born 9 February 1999), better known as Saúl Coco, is a 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
centre-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
for
Serie A club
Torino. Born in Spain, he represents
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
at international level.
Early life
Coco was born in
Lanzarote
Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...
,
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, to Basilio Coco-Bassey Eyanga and a Spanish mother. His father is an Equatoguinean former footballer and current coach who played for Canarian club CDU Puerto del Carmen in the 1987–88 season, alongside his brother Luis (Coco's uncle). Coco is also of Nigerian descent through his paternal grandfather.
Club career
Coco joined
RCD Espanyol's youth setup in July 2016, after representing
CD Orientación Marítima
Club Deportivo Orientación Marítima is a Spanish football team based in Arrecife, Lanzarote, in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Founded in 1954, it plays in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in Canary Islands, holding home games ...
(where he was trained by his father) and
UD Las Palmas. In August 2018, after finishing his formation, he was loaned to
Tercera División side
UA Horta for
the season.
Coco made his senior debut on 18 August 2018, coming on as a second-half
substitute in a 3–1 home win against
UE Figueres
Unió Esportiva Figueres is a Spanish football team based in Figueres, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1919 and refounded in 2007 it plays in the Primera Catalana league, holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal de Vilateni ...
. The following 18 July, he returned to his former club Las Palmas, being assigned to
the C-team also in the fourth division.
Promoted to
the 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 ...
ahead of the
2020–21 campaign, Coco made his first team debut on 17 December 2020, replacing
Álvaro Lemos
Álvaro Lemos Collazo (born 30 March 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Las Palmas as a right winger.
Club career
Born in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Lemos joined Deportivo de La Coruña's youth setup in 2005 at the a ...
in a 4–0 away win against
CD Varea
Club Deportivo Varea is a Spanish football team based in Varea, La Rioja, Logroño in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1967 and refounded in 2009, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 16, holding home games at ''Estadio ...
, for
the season's
Copa del Rey. On 15 June 2022, he renewed his contract until 2025, being definitely promoted to the main squad.
On 15 April 2023, Coco scored his first goal at any level for Las Palmas on his 69th appearance, consolation in a 2–1 loss at
Granada CF. The team ended the season with promotion to
La Liga, where he scored for the first time on 8 October to open a 2–1 victory away to
Villarreal CF; his 30-yard
direct free kick won the
La Liga Goal of the Month
The La Liga Goal of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player who is deemed to have scored the best La Liga goal each month of the season from August to May. The award was introduced for the 2023–24 La Liga, 2023–2 ...
award.
[
On 17 July 2024, Coco signed for Serie A club ]Torino FC
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
on a four-year contract.
International career
Eligible to play internationally for Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
, Nigeria or Spain, Coco was called up to the senior squad of the former in August 2017. He made his full international debut on 3 September, replacing Pablo Ganet
Pablo Ganet Comitre (born 4 November 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primera Federación club CD Alcoyano. Born in Spain, he plays for the Equatorial Guinea national team.
Club career
Born in Málaga, Andalu ...
in a 1–2 friendly
Friendly may refer to:
Places
* Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England
* Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States
* ...
loss to Benin; by doing so, he became the first person from Lanzarote to get called up internationally in 67 years. The match was subsequently eliminated from FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
records, as the referee and his assistants referees were from Equatorial Guinea.
Coco became cap-tied
Cap-tied is an adjective, used primarily in association football, to describe a player who has represented a senior national football team in more than three games (including at least one competitive game) and as a result is unable to represent a ...
to Equatorial Guinea on 17 November 2018, when he appeared in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match against Senegal. He scored his first international goal on his sixth appearance on 7 October 2021, opening a 2–0 home win over Zambia in 2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
qualification. He played all of his team's games in their run to the quarter-finals of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...
in Cameroon, scoring in the penalty shootout win over Mali in the last 16.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Equatorial Guinea's goal tally first.''
Honours
Individual
* La Liga Goal of the Month
The La Liga Goal of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player who is deemed to have scored the best La Liga goal each month of the season from August to May. The award was introduced for the 2023–24 La Liga, 2023–2 ...
: October 2023
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coco, Saúl
1999 births
Living people
People from Lanzarote
Footballers from the Province of Las Palmas
Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent
Spanish people of Nigerian descent
Spanish people of Galician descent
Equatoguinean sportspeople of Spanish descent
People of Canarian descent
People of Galician descent
Equatoguinean people of Nigerian descent
Sportspeople of Nigerian descent">Sportspeople of Nigerian descent
Spanish men's footballers
Equatoguinean men's footballers
Men's association football central defenders
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
Serie A players
RCD Espanyol B footballers
UA Horta players
UD Las Palmas C players
UD Las Palmas Atlético players
UD Las Palmas players
Torino FC players
Equatorial Guinea men's international footballers
International sportspeople born abroad
2021 Africa Cup of Nations players
2023 Africa Cup of Nations players
21st-century Spanish people
21st-century Equatoguinean people
Spanish expatriate men's footballers
Equatoguinean expatriate men's footballers
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate men's footballers in Italy