Daniel Pacheco

Dani Pacheco

Pacheco training with Liverpool in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Pacheco Lobato
Date of birth	(1991-01-05) 5 January 1991
Place of birth	Pizarra,[1] Spain
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing position	Attacking midfielder / Winger
Club information
Current club	Alcorcón
Number	11
Youth career
	Peña La Vega
2001–2003	Málaga
2003–2007	Barcelona
2007–2009	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2009–2013	Liverpool	5	(0)
2011	→ Norwich City (loan)	6	(2)
2011–2012	→ Atlético Madrid (loan)	0	(0)
2011–2012	→ Rayo Vallecano (loan)	11	(7)
2013	→ Huesca (loan)	19	(11)
2013–	Alcorcón	10	(6)
National team
2007	Spain U16	5	(0)
2007–2008	Spain U17	5	(3)
2009	Spain U18	3	(1)
2009–2010	Spain U19	12	(5)
2011	Spain U20	6	(0)
2011	Spain U21	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 June 2013. † Appearances (Goals).

Daniel "Dani" Pacheco Lobato (born 5 January 1991) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Alcorcón. Pacheco joined Liverpool in 2007 having previously been in the youth ranks at Barcelona, and made his senior debut on 9 December 2009 against Fiorentina in the UEFA Champions League. He went on to make 14 appearances before joining Norwich City in March 2011 in an emergency loan deal until the end of the season. Pacheco ended his loan spell at Norwich with two goals in six games.

Pacheco made his name on the international stage when he appeared in the 2010 European Under-19 Championship. Pacheco scored four goals in the tournament, winning the Golden Boot, but losing to France in the final.

Club career

Early career

He signed from FC Barcelona for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2007 and initially played for Liverpool reserves; before his transfer to Liverpool, Pacheco enjoyed a reputation as a rising star in the ranks of Barcelona's youth academy. Such was his ability to score goals from almost any position, teammates nicknamed him El Asesino (The Assassin).^[3][4]

Liverpool reserves (2008–09)

Pacheco made his first start for the Liverpool reserves on 5 February 2008, against Bolton Wanderers. He scored the first goal of the game, a low curling shot past Ian Walker. In April 2008, Pacheco made a 50-yard pass to assist Krisztián Németh in scoring the only goal of the game against Blackburn Rovers Reserves, which secured the Premier Reserve League North title for Liverpool. On 7 May 2008, Pacheco, who came on as a substitute in the second half, threaded a through pass to teammate Lucas Leiva to score the third and final goal in Liverpool's Reserve League final victory over Aston Villa at Anfield.^[5]

Liverpool first team (2009–2011)

Dani Pacheco playing for Liverpool in a friendly against Toronto in 2012.

He made his first team debut on 9 December 2009, as a second half substitute for Alberto Aquilani in a UEFA Champions League match against Fiorentina.^[6][7] His league debut came just over two weeks later on Boxing Day when he replaced Aquilani once more in a 2–0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[8][9]

On 18 February 2010, Pacheco came on as a substitute in the 75th minute for Aquilani again in a UEFA Europa League match versus Unirea Urziceni, six minutes later he provided an assist for David N'Gog when he headed a pass back across goal for N'Gog to score the winning goal.^[10] Pacheco completed his first 90 minutes for the club in the Europa League Qualifier against Rabotnicki of Republic of Macedonia on 5 August 2010.

On 10 August 2010, Pacheco was handed the number 12 for the 2010–11 season, previously worn by Fabio Aurelio, who was handed number 6 after he re-signed for the club.^[11] On 23 August, Pacheco played the last few minutes of the 3–0 league defeat to Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium. He started in Liverpool's Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor and their opening group game against FC Steaua București, Liverpool winning both ties. On 2 December, Pacheco started and played 89 minutes in Liverpool's return group game against Steaua, the score ending in a 1–1 draw. A day later, Liverpool confirmed that both he and Martin Kelly had signed contract extensions until June 2014. On 15 December, Pacheco came on as a second-half substitute in Liverpool's last Europa League group game of the season, a 0–0 draw with FC Utrecht.

Norwich City loan (2011)

On 23 March 2011, Pacheco joined Norwich City on emergency loan until the end of the season, being handed the number 37 shirt. Pacheco was unveiled on the same day as Sam Vokes, who signed on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Pacheco made his debut against Scunthorpe United setting up the first goal for Grant Holt and playing through the pass which won the penalty for Norwich's second goal.^[12] He scored his first Norwich goal in the 5–1 victory over Ipswich Town on 21 April, scoring the last goal after coming on as a substitute for Wes Hoolahan.^[13]

Atlético Madrid and Rayo Vallecano loan (2011–2012)

On 24 August 2011, Atlético Madrid announced on their official website that Pacheco had joined the club on loan from English club Liverpool for the 2011–12 La Liga season, and would be immediately loaned to Rayo Vallecano for the season. It was also confirmed that Atlético had an option to buy Pacheco at the end of the season.^[14] Pacheco made his debut for Rayo Vallecano as 84th minute substitute in the 0–1 win against Getafe on 18 September 2011.

Return to Liverpool

Pacheco re-joined Liverpool at the end of the 2011–12 season and started training with the first-team at Melwood in preparation for their pre-season tour of North America. On 21 July, Pacheco played 45 minutes of the 1–1 draw with Toronto FC, being replaced by Raheem Sterling at half time. On 19 September, Pacheco was called up to the first-team squad travelling to Switzerland to play Young Boys in a Europa League group game, featuring for 61 minutes before being replaced by Fabio Borini.

Huesca (loan)

On 31 January 2013 he was loaned to second tier SD Huesca until the end of the season.^[15] Pacheco scored on his debut for Huesca, the last goal in a 2–0 win over Real Murcia on 3 February 2013. He helped his team with 5 goal scored in 19 matches. His Huesca's last game was away against Recreativo Huelva which ended 0–0.

Alcorcón

On 2 September 2013 he joined Spanish side Alcorcón on permanent basis.^[16][17]

International career

At the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, Pacheco scored twice in Spain's group match against Portugal. He then went on to score another goal against quarter final opponents Italy as Spain qualified for the semi-finals. He went on to score early in the semi-final against England, a game in which Spain won 3–1. They then lost the final against France 2–1, with Pacheco making an assist.^[18] He won the Golden Boot at the Championships after scoring 4 goals.^[19] Pacheco made his debut for the Spain U21 football team with Liverpool team-mate Daniel Sánchez Ayala when he featured in a friendly against France on 24 March. He played 45 mins and received a yellow card as a second half substitute in a 3–2 friendly defeat.^[20] He was selected as part of the Spain U20 squad to compete at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.^[21]

Club statistics

As of 2 June 2013

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daniel Pacheco.

• Rayo Vallecano official profile (Spanish)
• Profile at Liverpool
• Daniel Pacheco career stats at Soccerbase
• Transfermarkt profile
• ESPN Profile
• LFCHistory Profile
• Daniel Pacheco – FIFA competition record