Marco Asensio Willemsen (; born 21 January 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger and

attacking midfielder 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 ...

for

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' ...

club Real Madrid and the Spain national team. After starting out at Mallorca, Asensio signed with Real Madrid in November 2014, being consecutively loaned to his former club as well as Espanyol. Upon his return, he has gone on to win several honours, including three Champions League and three

trophies. Asensio made his senior debut for Spain in 2016, representing them at the

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 Unit ...

and 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Early life

Born in

Palma, Majorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...

, Balearic Islands to a Dutch mother and a Spanish father, Asensio joined RCD Mallorca in 2006 from CF Platges de Calvià. His mother, Maria Willemsen, died of cancer when he was 15. Asensio struggled with growth deficiencies in his knees during his youth, which only subsided when he was a teenager.

Club career

Mallorca

After being scouted by Real Madrid and

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. Found ...

, Asensio made his senior debut with Mallorca's reserves in the 2013–14 season in the

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

, despite still being a junior; he made his first competitive appearance for the first team on 27 October 2013, playing the last six minutes in a 1–3 away loss against

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

in the Segunda División. Again from the bench, Asensio played the last six minutes in a 0–0 home draw against CD Lugo. After impressing in his first games, he was promoted to the first team by manager José Luis Oltra. Asensio scored his first professional goal on 16 March 2014, netting the first in a 2–0 home win over

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

. He was made a starter under new coach Valeri Karpin, scoring against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

and UE Llagostera within a month.

Real Madrid

On 24 November 2014, Real Madrid reached an agreement in principle to sign Asensio. On 5 December the deal was officially announced, with the player (who had been a supporter of the club as a child) signing a six-year deal for a €3.9 million fee and remaining with the ''Bermellones'' on loan until the end of the campaign. According to Real Madrid president

Florentino Pérez Florentino Pérez Rodríguez (; born 8 March 1947) is a Spanish businessman, civil engineer, former politician, and the current president of Real Madrid as well as Chairman and CEO of Grupo ACS, a civil engineering company. He was also the first ...

, Spanish tennis player

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...

played a crucial role in the transfer of Marco Asensio to Real Madrid.

2015–16: Loan to Espanyol

On 20 August 2015, after making the whole pre-season with Real Madrid, Asensio was loaned to

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 s ...

. He played his first game in the competition on 19 September, featuring 86 minutes in a 3–2 success at Real Sociedad, and he ended his spell at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with 12 overall assists.

2016–17 season: Return to Real Madrid

Returning to the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...

for 2016–17, Asensio's first competitive appearance took place on 9 August, as he played the full 120 minutes and scored a 25-meter effort in a 3–2 win against fellow Spaniards

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...

in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

. He made his first league start 12 days later, netting the second goal in a 3–0 success at Real Sociedad. Asensio featured 23 times over his first season, scoring three times as the club won the national championship for the first time since 2012. He added as many goals in that year's

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 competi ...

, including one in the final against Juventus (4–1) to give the Spaniards their 12th title in the latter competition.

2017–18 season

Asensio scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season with a 25-yard finish in a 3–1 win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou, for the Supercopa de España, He repeated the feat with a similarly spectacular effort in the second leg, in a 5–1 aggregate triumph. On 28 September 2017, Asensio extended his contract until 2023. On 18 February 2018, in a match where he contributed with a brace to a 5–3 away win over

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 ...

, he scored Real Madrid's 6,000th goal in the Spanish top division. Asensio made 11 appearances while scoring one goal during the 2017–18 Champions League, and the club won its third consecutive and 13th overall title in the competition.

2019–present: Injury and redemption

On 24 July 2019, during a preseason match against Arsenal, he tore his ACL. On 19 June 2020, in a 3–0 win over

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, he came on for Federico Valverde in 74th minute, scored the second goal with his first touch, and provided the assist to

Karim Benzema Karim Mostafa Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains La Liga club Real Madrid. A creative and prolific forward, Benzema is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time. ...

for the third goal. He returned for the final stretch of the season, scoring three goals in nine games, as Real Madrid won the

2019–20 La Liga The 2019–20 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 89th since its establishment. The season began on 16 August 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude on 24 May 2020. Barcelona were the two-time ...

. On 22 September 2021, he scored his first senior hat-trick against his former club Mallorca, which ended in a 6–1 victory.

International career

Being of both Dutch and Spanish descent, he chose to represent Spain although he received invitation from the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...

. After being a regular for Spain at youth level, Asensio made his debut for the under-21 team on 26 March 2015, coming on as a late substitute for goalscorer Gerard Deulofeu in a 2–0 friendly win over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

in Cartagena. In July, he was part of the victorious under-19 side at the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

in Greece, where he scored both goals in a semi-final victory over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Katerini Katerini ( el, Κατερίνη, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Pieria regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, ...

, in the 88th minute and in added time. On 17 May 2016, Asensio and Espanyol teammate Pau López were called up to the full side for a friendly against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He made his debut on the 29th, starting in the 3–1 win in Switzerland. Selected in the squad for the 2017 European Under-21 Championship by manager Albert Celades, Asensio 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 his debut in the competition, helping to a 5–0 group stage routing of Macedonia. He reached with his teammates 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 con ...

of the tournament, losing 1–0 against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Back with the seniors, he was included in Julen Lopetegui's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, making his debut in the competition on 20 June by replacing Real Madrid teammate Lucas Vázquez for the final ten minutes of the 1–0 group stage win against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Asensio scored his first goal for Spain on 11 September 2018, playing the entire 6–0 home rout of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

for the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

and also being directly involved in the play that led to Lovre Kalinić's

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

. In July 2021, he was included as overage player in the 22-player squad of the under-23 team for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. In the semi-finals of the tournament, Asensio scored the winning goal against hosts Japan in extra time on the 115th minute to send Spain to the

, which they lost 2–1 to defending champions

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Personal life

Asensio's father, Gilberto (a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

who spent his childhood in Essen, Germany), was also a footballer. Also an attacking midfielder, he represented

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Lasesarre'', with a capacity ...

as a youth; Marco's elder brother Igor played for Platges de Calvià, as a defender. Asensio's

goal celebration In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst r ...

in the 2017 Champions League final was dedicated to his family: "I told them that if I scored then I'd run to where they were. I knew where they were and that is what I did."

Career statistics

Club

International

''Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Asensio goal.''

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 2016–17, 2019–20, 2021–22 * Supercopa de España:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, 2021–22 *

: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2021–22 *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

* FIFA Club World Cup:

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 ...

: 2015 Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

Spain Olympic * Summer Olympic silver medal:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Individual * Segunda División Player of the Month: October 2014 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Golden Player: 2015 * La Liga Breakthrough Player: 2015–16 *UEFA European Under-21 Championship Silver Boot: 2017 *UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2017 *UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI: 2017

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asensio, Marco 1996 births Living people Spanish people of Dutch descent Spanish people of Basque descent Footballers from Palma de Mallorca Spanish footballers Association football midfielders RCD Mallorca B players RCD Mallorca players Real Madrid CF players RCD Espanyol footballers Tercera División players Segunda División players La Liga players UEFA Champions League winning players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Olympic footballers of Spain Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Spain Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics