Francisco Yeste

Francisco Yeste

Yeste taking a corner for Athletic Bilbao in 2005
Personal information
Full name Francisco Javier Yeste Navarro
Date of birth (1979-12-06) 6 December 1979
Place of birth Basauri, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1991–1997 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Basconia 38 (7)
1998–2000 Bilbao Athletic 34 (2)
1999–2010 Athletic Bilbao 302 (50)
2010–2011 Al Wasl 21 (9)
2011–2012 Olympiacos 5 (0)
2012 Baniyas 7 (0)
Total 407 (68)
National team
1998 Spain U18 1 (0)
1999 Spain U20 7 (0)
2000–2001 Spain U21 12 (0)
Teams managed
2014 Eldense
2016 Eldense
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Francisco "Fran" Javier Yeste Navarro (born in Basauri, Biscay, 6 December 1979) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a left winger, and a current manager.

He played 11 years of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao (19 counting the youth system), appearing in 353 official games and scoring 59 goals.

Football career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in Basauri, Biscay, and a product of Athletic Bilbao's youth ranks at Lezama, Yeste made his first-team debut on 7 February 1999, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–2 away loss against Racing de Santander.[1] He would appear in a further 13 games that and the following seasons combined, while mainly registered with the reserves.

From the 2000–01 campaign onwards, Yeste was used regularly in Athletic's main squad, scoring six La Liga goals during that season, including two in a 4–0 home win against Real Oviedo on 10 December 2000.[2] After regular displays in 2003–04 he won a callup for Spain, although he did not make his debut;[3] he netted a career-best 11 goals in the season, with the Basques finishing fifth and qualifying to the UEFA Cup.

At times troubled with injuries, Yeste continued to appear prominently, playing all the league matches in 2006–07 as Athletic barely avoided relegation (17th) and scoring five goals in the process. A player of volatile temperament,[4][5] he was also sent off five times from 2007 to 2009 and added 14 yellow cards,[6] one of the ejections occurring after he pushed Real Madrid's Iker Casillas in a 2–5 home loss.[7]

Yeste featured irregularly in the 2009–10 season, also being ousted by manager Joaquín Caparrós for more than one month.[8] In the first match upon his return, a 0–2 loss at Atlético Madrid on 25 March 2010, he was booked; on 21 May, after his contract expired, he announced his departure from Athletic Bilbao through his agent.[9]

United Arab Emirates

On 19 June 2010, Yeste agreed to a two-year deal with Al Wasl FC.[10] In March of the following year, during the 2010–11 Etisalat Emirates Cup semifinal against Al Ain FC, the opponents took the lead before the 50th minute (49:27) and, as they were still celebrating, he shot from the centre circle to score a goal that was described by Dutch news site Voetbal Stijl as "The fastest equalizer in the history of football" (49:54).[11]

There was controversy surrounding the legality of the goal, as Yeste shot the ball directly without having the ball passed from the centre circle, whilst another player was inside it, but it was later confirmed as valid, as the ball hit the ground just before crossing the goal line, and the other player inside the circle was from Al Ain.[12]

National Selection Team

Although he has never played for the national team, he has been called up once by Luis Aragones in October 2004 for the games against Belgium national football team and Lithuania national football team.

Later years

In July 2011, Yeste signed with Greek champions Olympiacos FC, reuniting with former Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde. On 17 January 2012, his contract was mutually terminated;[13] the following day, he returned to the United Arab Emirates and joined Baniyas SC for six months.[14]

Honours

Club

Basconia
Athletic Bilbao
Olympiacos

Country

Spain U20

References

  1. ↑ "El Racing gana al Athletic y acaba con el gafe en casa" [Racing defeats Athletic and ends home jinx] (in Spanish). El País. 8 February 1999. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Yelde [sic], con dos tantos, abrió la goleada que cerraron Javi y Julen (Yelde, with two goals, started routing that Javi and Julen ended); El Mundo, 10 December 2000 (in Spanish)
  3. ↑ Xavi y Yeste, novedades en España (Xavi and Yeste, new to Spain); Es Mas, 1 October 2004 (in Spanish)
  4. ↑ "Otro arrebato de Yeste" [Another Yeste outburst] (in Spanish). El Correo. 11 February 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Yeste vuelve a la Liga dos meses después (Yeste returns to the League two months after); El País, 25 March 2010 (in Spanish)
  6. ↑ "El Athletic lleva 7 expulsiones en 7 partidos, 5 en los 4 últimos" [Athletic has 7 ejections in 7 matches, 5 in last 4] (in Spanish). El País. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Casillas: "Yeste no me da en la cara, pero me empuja" (Casillas: "Yeste does not hit my face, but he pushes me"); Marca, 15 March 2009 (in Spanish)
  8. ↑ Yeste no convence a Caparrós (Yeste does not convince Caparrós); Mundo Deportivo, 7 March 2010 (in Spanish)
  9. ↑ Thanks to Francisco Javier Yeste; Athletic Bilbao, 21 May 2010
  10. ↑ Fran Yeste se marcha al Al Wasl de Dubai (Fran Yeste goes to Dubai's Al Wasl); Diario AS, 19 June 2010 (in Spanish)
  11. ↑ "Speler Al Wasl maakt snelste tegendoelpunt allertijden" [Al Wasl player scores the fastest equalizer in the history of football] (in Dutch). Voetbal Stijl. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  12. ↑ درويش: لا غبار على هدف يستي وركلتي العين والشــــــــباب [Yeste's goal is valid] (in Arabic). Emaratalyoum. 12 March 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  13. ↑ "Λύθηκε η συνεργασία με τον Φραν Γέστε" ("Cooperation with Fran Yeste terminated"), Olympiacos FC, 17 January 2012 (in Greek)
  14. ↑ Chris McHardy (18 January 2012). "Fran Yeste out to prove Al Wasl wrong after sealing Bani Yas switch". Sport 360. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  15. ↑ "Qué fue de los campeones del mundo sub20" [What happened to the under-20 world champions] (in Spanish). Marca. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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