Gonzalo Castro

Not to be confused with Gonzalo Castro Irizábal, a Uruguayan footballer.

Gonzalo Castro

Castro signing autographs in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Gonzalo Castro Randón
Date of birth	(1987-06-11) 11 June 1987
Place of birth	Wuppertal, West Germany
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Bayer Leverkusen
Number	27
Youth career
	Post SV Wuppertal
	Viktoria Rott
	Bayer Wuppertal
1999–2005	Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2006	Bayer Leverkusen II	10	(3)
2004–	Bayer Leverkusen	247	(21)
National team
2006–2009	Germany U21	21	(3)
2007	Germany	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 06:08, 20 December 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Gonzalo Castro Randón (born 11 June 1987) is a German footballer of Spanish descent.^[1] He plays as a midfielder for Bayer Leverkusen.

Career

Club career

Castro coming before a match in 2012

Born in Wuppertal, he began his career with the Post SV Wuppertal. Other stations during his youth were Viktoria Rott and SV Bayer Wuppertal. In 1999, he moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. At 17, he played his first game for the senior team from Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League.^[2] In his first year he played already in 13 matches and was from matchday 24 always on the grid. Although he had played 21 times in the 2005–06 season, he was only a reserve player, especially in the second half of the season and was incidentally also used in the second team. From 2006, Castro then moved from midfield to the back four of Leverkusen and played with solid performances in the starting eleven. Four years in a row he was largely undisputed. Only in the 2010–11 season, he saw his place on the right side of defense disputed by Daniel Schwaab. Since the 2012–13 season, Castro plays again in midfield.

Castro trained as a sports and fitness administrator at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

International career

In his youth, Castro was invited by the Spanish Football Federation invited for various courses. He played a single match for a Spanish junior selection and chose at the age of 18 to play for the German Football Association. Castro has played for the German national U-21 team at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.^[3] In the three test caps at the beginning of 2006, Castro gained a place in the German squad for the finals of the U-21 European Championship 2006 in Portugal. There he delivered solid performances. His biggest footballing success was winning the U-21 Championship 2009 in Sweden under coach Horst Hrubesch. In a 4–0 victory in the final against England, Castro scored the 1–0 in the 23rd minute.

In the European Championship qualifier against the Czech Republic on 24 March 2007, Castro was for the first time called up to the senior squad. Four days later, he gave his debut against Denmark. This was in 2007 followed by four more international appearances. Since then, Castro was no longer used.^[2]

Career statistics

As of 20 December 2013

U21 International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	5 September 2006	Wilhelmshaven, Germany	Romania	4–1	3–1	2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
2.	22 June 2009	Helsingborg, Sweden	England	1–0	1–1	2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
3.	29 June 2009	Malmö, Sweden	England	1–0	4–0	2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final

Honours

Bayer Leverkusen

• DFB-Pokal: Runner-up 2008–09
• Bundesliga: Runner-up 2010–11

Germany U-21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2009

References

External links

• Gonzalo Castro at kicker.de (German)
• Leverkusen who's who
• Gonzalo Castro at fussballdaten.de (German)