Yago Fernández Prieto (born 5 January 1988), known simply as Yago, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

to a Spanish father, Yago played for four clubs during his youth career, starting with S.L. Benfica at the age of 9 then successively representing Sporting CP,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and Valencia CF. As a senior, his first spell was with the latter's reserve team in the Tercera División, in a promotion-ending campaign. Subsequently, Yago continued in Spain, spending two years with RCD Espanyol B, helping the side to promote to

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 ...

and being relegated in his second season. In January 2010, he returned to his country for an unassuming loan spell with Gil Vicente F.C. in the Segunda Liga (no appearances whatsoever).

Malmö FF

In July 2010, after not having his contract renewed by Espanyol, Yago was taken on trial by Swedish club Malmö FF, which had just lost

Jasmin Sudić Jasmin Sudić (born 24 November 1990) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career He played for FC Malmö, BK Olympic, and Heleneholms SK as a youth before he joined Malmö FF. Malmö FF Sudić made his Allsvenskan ...

with a ruptured cruciate ligament. He played against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in a 0–0

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 * ...

draw, and his performance earned him a contract for the rest of the year, with the deal being confirmed by manager Roland Nilsson. On 8 December 2010, shortly after

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * '' Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Foot Pole, 2022 ...

the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

title, Yago signed a new one-year extension. However, they chose not to offer him a new contract after the 2011 season.

AEK Athens

In August 2012, following a five-month spell with

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 ...

in the

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 ...

, during which he scored in a 5–3 home win over Xerez CD, Yago agreed to a three-year contract at AEK Athens FC. He scored his only goal in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

on 16 September, opening an eventual 1–1 home draw with

Aris Thessaloniki FC Aris FC ( el, ΠΑΕ Άρης), commonly known as Aris Thessaloniki FC, AFC or simply Aris, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. Created in 1914 as ''Aris Thessaloniki Football Club'', the ...

Häcken

On 19 August 2013, Yago joined BK Häcken, thus returning to Sweden. In November, after failing to make an appearance, he left the club.

Oriental

Yago moved to Clube Oriental de Lisboa in early August 2014, following a short stint in Kazakhstan with FC Shakhter Karagandy. He played his first game as a professional in his country on 5 October, featuring the full 90 minutes in the 0–0 home draw against G.D. Chaves.

Later career

Yago retired in 2018 aged 30, following unassuming spells with Spanish amateurs La Roda CF and CF Torre Levante and Portuguese third-tier side U.D. Leiria.

International career

Yago represented Portugal at youth level.

Career statistics

Honours

Malmö FF *

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

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yago Fernandez 1988 births Living people Portuguese people of Spanish descent Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football defenders Liga Portugal 2 players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players Gil Vicente F.C. players Clube Oriental de Lisboa players U.D. Leiria players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers RCD Espanyol B footballers Girona FC players La Roda CF players CF Torre Levante players Allsvenskan players Malmö FF players BK Häcken players Super League Greece players AEK Athens F.C. players Kazakhstan Premier League players FC Shakhter Karagandy players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan