Fernando Llorente
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| Fernando Llorente | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fernando Llorente Torres | |
| Date of birth | February 26, 1985 (age 22) | |
| Place of birth | Iruñea , Spain | |
| Height | 6'3 (193 cm) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Athletic Bilbao | |
| Number | 9 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1996 - 2005 | Bilbao Athletic, CD Baskonia, Funes | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2005 - present | Athletic Bilbao | 46 (6) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2005 - present | Euskadi XI | 3 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Fernando Llorente Torres (born February 26, 1985 in Iruñea, Nafarroa) is a Spanish Basque footballer, who currently plays for Athletic Bilbao in La Liga as a forward.
[edit] Playing History
Fernando first joined the Athletic Bilbao setup in the 1996-97 season, at the age of 11. He spent his first many seasons in the various junior levels of the club, before being promoted to CD Baskonia of the Tercera División, effectively the Athletic 3rd/U20 team, in 2003-04 as an 18-year-old. There, he scored 12 goals in 33 appearances, an impressive output for such a young player, and this success paved way for his promotion to Bilbao Athletic, Athletic's Reserve team in Segunda División B, for the 2004-05 season.
He featured in 16 games for Bilbao Athletic and scored 4 goals in the first half of season, leading to another promotion, this time to the Athletic Bilbao first team. On January 16 2005, 6 weeks before turning 20, he got his La Liga debut in a 1-1 draw with Espanyol. 3 days later, in a Copa del Rey match against UD Lanzarote, he scored a hat-trick, prompting great expectations for his future with Athletic. He would go on to feature in all but five of the 19 remaining league games, and score 3 goals, while also featuring in 3 Copa del Rey matches and a UEFA Cup match against Austria Vienna. His strong performance in the U20 World Cup at the end of the season, including a 4-goal match against Chile, added to the Athletic fans' hopes that he had a great career with the team in front of him.
In 2005-06, he scored in the opening day Basque derby 3-0 win against Real Sociedad, but since then found the goals hard to come by in the league, and was dropped for several games as Athletic battled in the bottom half of the table for the entire year, eventually finishing 12th. He did however score twice in a Cup game against L'Hospitalet in November, which helped keep him in the first team. A day before the 1-year anniversary of his Athletic debut, he picked up another goal in a loss to Barcelona, but then hit another goalscoring drought, that lasted the rest of the season.
He has started the 2006-07 season as the fourth choice striker, behind Aduriz, Joseba Etxeberría and the veteran Ismael Urzaiz, but the team's poor form and a lack of production from all four forced now ex-coach Félix Sarriugarte into rotating the players. Fernando has so far scored one goal, which came in the dying minutes of a 1-1 draw with Valencia, after he had been brought on from the bench in the 80th minute. It remains to be seen how new coach José Manuel Esnal will use the young striker, as Athletic fight to escape the relegation zone after a sub-standard first half of the season.
[edit] Awards
- 2nd in Top Goal Scorer chart in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.
| Athletic Bilbao - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Lafuente | 2 Expósito | 3 Casas | 4 Ustaritz | 5 Amorebieta | 6 Sarriegi | 7 Tiko | 8 Garmendia | 9 Llorente | 10 Yeste | 11 Gabilondo | 12 Zubiaurre | 13 Aranzubía | 14 Prieto | 15 Iraola | 16 Javi González | 17 Etxeberria | 18 Gurpegi | 19 Murillo | 20 Urzaiz | 21 Dañobeitia | 22 Iturriaga | 23 Aduriz | 24 Martinez | 25 Unai Alba | 45 Bergara | — Orbaiz | Coach Mané |
