Roberto Jiménez Gago (; born 10 February 1986), known simply as Roberto, 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He appeared in 150

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 over eight seasons, for

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

(two spells),

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

(twice),

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 ...

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, Alavés and

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 pr ...

. Abroad, he spent three years with

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

where he won the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

in three consecutive seasons, and also played in Portugal with Benfica and England with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. Roberto represented Spain at youth level.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

youth graduate,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

-born Roberto played mainly for the reserves, only receiving the occasional call-up due to suspensions or injuries. After a plague of the latter he made his first-team debut on 22 December 2005, in a 2–1 away loss against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. In early July 2008, following a

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 ...

loan at

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

, Roberto was deemed surplus to requirements and sold to fellow

club

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

as part of the deal that sent

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 ...

in the opposite direction – Atlético, however, had an option to rebuy. During his only season, which ended in relegation, he was restricted solely to

appearances Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or p ...

in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. Roberto returned to Atlético on 13 July 2009 after a payment of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1,250,000 to the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns, penning a three-year contract. This happened after the simultaneous departures of

Grégory Coupet Grégory Coupet (born 31 December 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Coupet is most well known for his lengthy career at Lyon where he won seven Ligue 1 titles. He also played for Saint-Étienne, Atlét ...

and

Leo Franco Leonardo "Leo" Neoren Franco (born 20 May 1977) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After starting out at Independiente in 1995, he went on to spend the vast majority of his career in Spain, playing 328 L ...

. As first-choice Sergio Asenjo was summoned for the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

, Roberto was promoted to the starting XI, his first game being a 5–2 loss at

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

on 19 September. He got injured shortly after, and when he returned found himself third-choice behind Asenjo and youngster

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (; born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fiorentina. Considered one of the best keepers of his generation, he is known for his reflexes and shot-stopping capabilitie ...

; thus, in late January 2010, a loan to struggling

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

was arranged until the end of the campaign– he relegated

Juan Pablo Carrizo Juan Pablo Carrizo (born 6 May 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with River Plate, where he played until 2008, winning the 2008 Clausura. His performances earne ...

to the bench, helping the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese finally escape relegation.

Benfica

On 25 June 2010, it was confirmed that

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

signed Roberto for a fee of €8.5 million. In his first three official matches – the first against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

in the season's

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

– his performances were poor overall, as the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

club suffered three defeats and he conceded six goals; he was benched for the third

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

game of the season, at home against

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

, but had to be brought in after Júlio César was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for a foul in the box at the 20-minute mark, and saved the ensuing

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

from Hugo Leal in a 3–0 win. Subsequently, Roberto fell out of favour at Benfica after the off-season signings of

Artur Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur meaning "bear-like", or “of honour”. It is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word '' ...

and

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Dudu (footballer, born 1992) (Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer * Eduardo (footballer, born 1 ...

Zaragoza return

On 1 August 2011, Roberto returned to Zaragoza, being transferred for a fee of €8.6 million in a purchase which was almost totally funded by a parent company of Zaragoza, who retained 99% of the player's economic rights. However, it was later reported that a football investment fund was involved in that deal. In his first season in his second spell, he played all 38 league games as the team again avoided top-flight relegation in the last round. He again started in the 2012–13 campaign, but they returned to the second tier after a four-year stay.

Olympiacos

Roberto returned to Atlético Madrid on 26 July 2013, signing a four-year contract after an arrangement with Benfica and being immediately loaned to Greek side

Olympiacos FC Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós'', "Olymp ...

. The transfer was questioned by the

Portuguese Securities Market Commission The Portuguese Securities Market Commission, also known by its initials as "CMVM", is the Portuguese financial regulator that supervises and regulates securities and other financial instruments and activities of all those who operate within said m ...

, with Benfica explaining that BE Plan, the parent company who originally funded his transfer, defaulted on its obligations, so Zaragoza and Benfica agreed to revert the player's sporting and economic rights, with the latter immediately selling him to Atlético Madrid for €6 million. On 5 November 2013, Roberto put on a

player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

performance against his former club Benfica, in a 1–0 win in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

in the season's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. In February of the following year, Olympiacos and Atlético reached an agreement for a permanent €2.5 million transfer, and he signed a four-year contract with the former; prior the official announcement, news regarding the move were announced through the

Karaiskakis Stadium The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium (), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium (, ), is a Association football, football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the home ground of the Piraeus football club Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos. It i ...

loudspeakers during a match against

Panionios FC Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek (language), Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Sy ...

. Roberto saved several shots in a 1–0 home win over

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the Champions League on 22 October 2014, but his team eventually did not progress from the group stage.

Espanyol

On 22 June 2016, Roberto became new manager

Quique Sánchez Flores Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 games and 16 g ...

' first signing at

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 ...

, penning a three-year contract for €3 million. On 5 July of the following year, after playing second-fiddle to Diego López, he moved to fellow top-tier club

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

on loan. Upon his return to the

RCDE Stadium RCDE Stadium, also known as Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (; ), is an all-seater football stadium on the outskirts of Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, in the wider Barcelona urban area (Catalonia, Spain). It took three years to bui ...

, Roberto did not take part in any more league games as López was present in all 38 fixtures.

West Ham United

On 31 May 2019, Roberto signed for

on a two-year deal for a free transfer commencing on 1 July. He made his full debut on 27 August, in a 2–0 win against Newport County in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. His maiden

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

appearance took place on 28 September, when he replaced the injured

Łukasz Fabiański Łukasz Marek Fabiański (born 18 April 1985) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. He will become a free agent on ...

34 minutes into an eventual 2–2 away draw to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

. He retained his place in goal with Fabianski's injury predicted to keep him out for up to two months, and several of his performances attracted criticism after he was deemed to be at fault for goals by Everton,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, the latter where he pushed the ball into his own net for the opposition's third goal in a 3–0 victory. Following yet more poor form he was dropped to the bench, with third-choice David Martin playing the fixture against Chelsea on 30 November. In February 2020, former team manager

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

blamed the player's form as part of the reason for his sacking the previous December. After only ten competitive games for West Ham, on 20 January 2020 Roberto joined

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

on loan until the end of the season. During his brief tenure, in which he was praised for his professional approach even though he played second-fiddle to Fernando Pacheco, he conceded 19 goals.

Valladolid

In late August 2020, Roberto joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

on a free transfer and a three-year contract. He made his debut on 20 September in a 2–0 loss at

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

after

Jordi Masip Jordi Masip López (born 3 January 1989) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the vast majority of his career with Barcelona and Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipa ...

tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, and played roughly a third of the season's fixtures despite contracting the same virus in March. In 2021–22, with ''Pucela'' in the second division, new manager Pacheta played him for the first 19 games before switching to Masip. Roberto announced his retirement on 5 September 2022 at the age of 36, through his social media.

International career

Roberto won the first of his six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at under-21 level on 5 June 2007, in a 1–0 away victory over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

for the 2009 UEFA European Championship qualifiers.

Career statistics

Honours

Benfica *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Olympiacos *

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2014–15; runner-up 2015–16 Spain U17 *

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

runner-up:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual * Super League Greece Goalkeeper of the Season 2013–14, 2015–16 * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2013–14, 2015–16

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberto Jimenez 1986 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Recreativo de Huelva players Real Zaragoza players RCD Espanyol footballers Málaga CF players Deportivo Alavés players Real Valladolid players Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Premier League players West Ham United F.C. players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England