Toquero in action for Athletic |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gaizka Toquero Pinedo | ||
| Date of birth | 9 August 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Vitoria, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2002 | Ariznabarra | ||
| 2002–2003 | Real Sociedad | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2005 | Alavés C | ||
| 2005–2006 | Alavés B | 29 | (2) |
| 2006–2007 | Lemona | 33 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Sestao | 37 | (5) |
| 2008– | Athletic Bilbao | 91 | (17) |
| 2008 | → Eibar (loan) | 15 | (4) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Gaizka Toquero Pinedo (born 9 August 1984) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Athletic Bilbao in La Liga, mainly as a forward.
Toquero was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava. After a brief youth spell at Real Sociedad, and some seasons with both reserve teams of Deportivo Alavés, he started playing professionally for SD Lemona in 2006–07, later joining Basque neighbours Sestao River Club (both clubs were in the third division).
While playing for Sestao, Athletic de Bilbao showed interested in acquiring Toquero, whom eventually signed him in 2008. After not fitting coach Joaquín Caparrós' plans to play for the rojiblancos, he was loaned to another Basque club, SD Eibar, greatly due to new manager, Carlos Pouso, who had managed the player before.
After 15 matches in 2008–09's second level, Toquero was re-called by Athletic on 1 January 2009, making his La Liga debut six days later, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 home draw against RCD Espanyol.[1] He netted his first goal for the club on 4 March 2009, in a 3–0 Copa del Rey home win against Sevilla FC (4–2 on aggregate), which qualified Athletic to the final. There, he opened the score, albeit in a 1–4 loss to FC Barcelona.[2]
In 2009–10, Toquero, blessed with few technical skills but a tremendous hard-worker, blossomed into a first division player. He started most of the campaign as an offensive complement to striker Fernando Llorente, and also found the net on several occasions (notably a double against Real Valladolid on 7 March 2010, in a 2–0 home success[3]).
Toquero once again was a regular starter for Athletic during the 2010–11 season. On 30 January 2011, he opened his official goal account, scoring twice in a 2–0 away win against Atlético Madrid.[4]
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