Isaías Sánchez Cortés (; born 9 February 1987), known simply as Isaías, 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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent most of his career in Australia with

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

after signing in 2013, making 289 competitive appearances and being named the club's player of the season on four occasions. He was instrumental in their 2015–16 double winning season, which included a goal in the 2016 Grand Final. Prior to his arrival, he played four

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

matches with Espanyol.

Club career

Early years and Espanyol

Born in

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Isaías was a

CF Badalona Club de Fútbol Badalona () is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903 it plays in , temporarily holding home games at Estadi Municipal de Badalona, with a capacity of 4,170 seats. Ba ...

youth graduate, and started playing professionally with that club in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

while also working as a part-time

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

. In 2010 he signed for

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

, but spent the majority of his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

with the reserves in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. On 10 April 2011, Isaías made his first-team and

debut, playing the last 22 minutes of a 0–0 away draw against

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

. He spent the following two seasons on loan to

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

, contributing 27 games and one goal in his second to help the side to return to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

Adelaide United

In July 2013, Isaías signed for

Adelaide United FC Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's Association football, soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently ...

, penning a two-year contract. He won the Player of The Year award for his team in his debut campaign in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. Isaías scored his first goal for the club on 24 January 2015, netting from 25 meters in a 7–0 win over the

Newcastle Jets FC Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under Prof ...

. He repeated the feat in the

2016 A-League Grand Final The 2016 A-League Grand Final was the eleventh A-League Grand Final, and was played on 1 May 2016, at Adelaide Oval to determine the 2015–16 A-League Champion. The match was contested by the two winning finals series semi-finalists, Adelaide U ...

in an eventual 3–1 defeat of

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football, association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South W ...

, through a 34th-minute

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

. On 23 September 2017, Isaías was announced as captain at Adelaide United's

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

launch, taking over from Eugene Galekovic who transferred to

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

. In January 2019, the 32-year-old became an

Australian citizen The primary law governing nationality of Australia is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia. All persons born in Australia before 20 August 198 ...

. Isaías left Adelaide United in May 2019, in order to explore overseas opportunities.

Later career

On 4 July 2019, recently promoted

Al-Wakrah SC Al-Wakrah Sport Club () is a Qatari multi sports club, multi-sports club based in the city of Al Wakrah. Their professional association football, football team competes in the Qatar Stars League. They play their home games at the Al Janoub ...

announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

the transfer of Isaías for an undisclosed fee. The 34-year-old returned to Adelaide United on 23 August 2021, signing a three-year deal. At the end of the 2023–24 campaign, Isaías agreed to a new contract contract alongside his teammate Javi López, one that would see out his playing career as he also completed a coaching badge with the club. On 18 April 2025, he came off the bench in a 3–2 victory over

Wellington Phoenix FC Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under Professional sports league organization#Systems around the world, licenc ...

to become the Reds' most capped player in all competitions at 286 games, surpassing Galekovic. Both Isaías and López announced their retirement on 13 May 2025.

Style of play

Playing as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Adelaide United, Isaías can switch between defensive and offensive positions and also drops into defense, allowing the full-backs to push forward. He is known for his ability to control the pace and intensity of the game, keep possession of the ball and launch attacks when his team plays from defence to attack. Isaías was described by Adelaide manager

Josep Gombau Josep Gombau Balague (born 5 June 1976) is a Spanish professional football manager. He is a former Barcelona youth team coach and has held multiple positions at the club's youth academy. Career Born in Amposta, Tarragona, Catalonia, Gombau w ...

as his "

foot soldier Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

", being a complete footballer with technique, speed and controlled aggression.

Career statistics

Honours

Adelaide United *

Championship:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

*A-League Premiership: 2015–16 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia (known as Football Federation Austra ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Joe Marston Medal:

* A-Leagues All Star:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

* Aurelio Vidmar Club Champion: 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19

References

External links

* *
A-League stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaias Sanchez 1987 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen 21st-century Australian sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Australian men's soccer players Footballers from Sabadell Naturalised soccer players of Australia Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CF Damm players CF Badalona players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers SD Ponferradina players A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars Adelaide United FC players Qatar Stars League players Al-Wakrah SC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Qatar