Yago Yao Alonso-Fueyo Sako (born 19 August 1979), known as Yago Yao, is a former

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 ...

who played as a

central defender 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 ...

. Yago Yao spent his entire 18-year senior career in Spain, amassing a combined

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' ...

totals of 43 matches and one goal for Celta (two spells) and Recreativo. He added 123 games in the Segunda División, with Celta as well as four other clubs. Born in Ivory Coast, Yago Yao represented Spain at under-18 level and Equatorial Guinea at senior level.

Early life

Yago Yao was born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

, Ivory Coast to an Ivorian mother and a Spanish father. Six hours after his birth he was taxed as Spanish and, three months later, he was taken to live in

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

where his paternal grandfather was from.

Club career

Yago Yao played solely in Spain during his career, representing

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

(two stints), RC Celta de Vigo (two, being severely injured early into his second),

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 ...

, Real Oviedo, Cádiz CF and Levante UD. In 2000–01 he appeared in 20 games in

as the

Galicians Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group from Spain that is closely related to the Portuguese people and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance la ...

finished sixth, but split the 2002–03 season with two teams that met the same fate, relegation (''Recre'' and Oviedo, one in each of the major levels of Spanish football). After unsuccessful trials at both

Aris Thessaloniki F.C. 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'', t ...

and

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

, Yago Yao returned to Spain in January 2010, signing with modest Montañeros CF in Galicia.

International career

According Yago Yao, one of his grandmothers was from what is now known as Equatorial Guinea. He possessed dual nationality, and went on to represent the Equatorial Guinea national team, his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

coming in 2007 at age 28 against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. He previously appeared for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at youth level. In December 2007, Yago Yao played B matches against the

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; es, Región de Murcia ), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in ...

and

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

References

External links

*
Celta de Vigo biography
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yago Yao 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Abidjan Citizens of Spain through descent Spanish footballers Association football central defenders Sporting de Gijón B players Sporting de Gijón players RC Celta de Vigo players Recreativo de Huelva players Real Oviedo players Cádiz CF players Levante UD footballers Coruxo FC players Rápido de Bouzas players Segunda División B players Segunda División players La Liga players Tercera División players Spain youth international footballers Spanish football managers Spanish people of Ivorian descent Spanish sportspeople of African descent European sportspeople of Ivorian descent Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Citizens of Equatorial Guinea through descent Equatoguinean footballers Equatorial Guinea international footballers Equatoguinean football managers Equatoguinean sportspeople of Spanish descent Equatoguinean people of Asturian descent Equatoguinean people of Ivorian descent