Rubén Castro

Rubén Castro

Castro playing for Betis in 2012
Personal information
Full name Rubén Castro Martín
Date of birth (1981-06-27) 27 June 1981
Place of birth Las Palmas, Spain
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Guizhou Zhicheng
(on loan from Betis)
Number 40
Youth career
Artesano
Las Palmas
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Las Palmas B 34 (13)
2001–2004 Las Palmas 112 (36)
2004–2010 Deportivo La Coruña 31 (4)
2004–2005 → Albacete (loan) 22 (3)
2006 → Racing Santander (loan) 1 (0)
2007 → Gimnàstic (loan) 20 (4)
2008–2009 → Huesca (loan) 41 (14)
2009–2010 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 42 (14)
2010– Betis 250 (135)
2017– → Guizhou Zhicheng (loan) 3 (3)
National team
2002–2003 Spain U21 7 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2017.

Rubén Castro Martín (born 27 June 1981) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Chinese club Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng F.C. on loan from Real Betis mainly as a striker but also as a winger.

He represented mainly Las Palmas and Betis during his career, appearing in more than 240 games in both La Liga and Segunda División.

Club career

Las Palmas / Deportivo

Born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Castro was signed by Deportivo de La Coruña from local UD Las Palmas in 2004, in a deal which also saw Momo moving in the opposite direction. The deal was agreed in order to wipe out the debt that Las Palmas still had after signing Gabriel Schürrer from Deportivo for €3.6 million.[1]

Castro scored his first goals for Las Palmas in La Liga in the 2001–02 season, when he came on as a substitute in the 64th minute of a home fixture against Real Madrid, with the score at 2–2: the match ended 4–2 for the hosts, courtesy of Rubén.[2] In the 2003–04 campaign he was top scorer in the second division with his hometown club, netting 22 goals – with the team being nonetheless relegated – and being subsequently purchased by Depor.

At the beginning of 2006–07, Castro was on loan at Racing de Santander, but he left Cantabria due to lack of playing opportunities. During the January transfer window another loan happened, this time to Catalonia's Gimnàstic de Tarragona where he started very well with three goals in his first three matches,[3] although the club would be eventually relegated and the player returned to Deportivo.

After appearing scarcely during the 2007–08 season, Castro was loaned again in July 2008, to newly promoted second division team SD Huesca.[4] There, his goals proved crucial for the Aragonese as they retained their recently obtained second level status.[5]

In late August 2009, Castro was again loaned by Deportivo and also in division two, now to Rayo Vallecano. For the second year in a row he repeated club position (11th) and goals scored (14),[6] returning in June to the Galicians.

Betis

In August 2010, Castro was sold to Real Betis for a fee of €1.7 million.[7] The attacking trio of himself, Jorge Molina and midfielder Achille Emaná combined for more than 50 league goals in 2010–11, as the Andalusians returned to the top division after two years of absence.[8]

On 27 August 2011, Castro scored his first goal in the competition in nearly four years, in a local derby against Granada CF (1–0 away win, netting five minutes from time).[9] He repeated exactly the same feat the following matchday, against RCD Mallorca.[10]

On 10 December 2011, Castro put a stop to a streak of 11 games without one win for the Pepe Mel-led side with only one point managed, netting twice in stoppage time in a 2–1 home win against Valencia CF.[11] He finished the campaign with 16 goals – third-best national scorer, eighth overall – as the Verdiblancos finally finished in 13th position.

From 2012 to 2015, Castro scored 67 goals all competitions comprised, including 32 in league in the latter season to help Betis return to the top flight, as champions.[12] He celebrated his 200th appearance in the competition with a goal, helping to a 1–1 home draw against Villarreal CF.[13]

In July 2017, aged 36, Castro moved abroad for the first time in his career, being loaned to Chinese Super League club Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng F.C. for five months.[14]

Personal life

Castro's two older brothers – Rubén is the youngest of five male siblings – Guillermo and Alejandro, were also footballers. At one point in their careers, they also represented hometown's Las Palmas.[15]

In 2013, his fiancée pressed charges against him for domestic violence.[16] He was released on bail and, two years later, Betis fans offered chants of support to the footballer.[17]

Club statistics

As of 21 May 2017[18]
Club Season Division League Cup Continental Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Las Palmas 2000–01 La Liga 3000——30
2001–02 29521——316
2002–03 Segunda División 40911——4110
2003–04 402200——4022
Total 1123632——11538
Albacete 2004–05 La Liga 22300——223
Deportivo 2005–06 La Liga 243118[lower-alpha 1]4—338
Racing Santander 2006–07 La Liga 1000——10
Gimnàstic 2006–07 La Liga 20400——204
Deportivo 2007–08 La Liga 7120——91
Huesca 2008–09 Segunda División 411411——4215
Rayo Vallecano 2009–10 Segunda División 421421——4415
Betis 2010–11 Segunda División 422775——4932
2011–12 La Liga 341610——3516
2012–13 341863——4021
2013–14 2510316[lower-alpha 2]2—3413
2014–15 Segunda División 423241——4633
2015–16 La Liga 381920——4019
2016–17 La Liga 351310——3613
Total 250135241062—280147
Career total 519210331514600566231
  1. ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Intertoto Cup
  2. ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Club

Betis

Individual

Records

References

  1. ↑ El juicio por el ´caso Schurrer´ se celebra esta mañana en Las Palmas (Trial for ´Schurrer affair´ to take place this morning in Las Palmas); La Opinión A Coruña, 20 February 2014 (in Spanish)
  2. ↑ Liga – El 'niño' que eclipsó a Zidane reta al Madrid (Liga – The 'boy' who eclipsed Zidane challenges Madrid); Yahoo! Deportes, 12 October 2011 (in Spanish)
  3. ↑ Rubén Castro resucita al Nàstic (Rubén Castro resurrects Nàstic); El País, 11 December 2006 (in Spanish)
  4. ↑ Rubén Castro jugará en el Huesca (Rubén Castro to play with Huesca); El Diario Montañés, 20 July 2008 (in Spanish)
  5. ↑ El broche a una gran temporada (Icing on cake to great season); Marca, 20 June 2009 (in Spanish)
  6. ↑ Rubén Castro tumba a su ex equipo con dos goles en los primeros seis minutos (Rubén Castro downs former team with two goals in first six minutes); Marca, 8 May 2010 (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ El Deportivo ingresará 1,7 millones por Rubén Castro (Deportivo to make 1,7 million for Rubén Castro); Riazor, 18 November 2010 (in Spanish)
  8. ↑ "Molina y Rubén prometen goles también en Primera" [Molina and Rubén also promise goals in Primera] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 4 September 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Rubén Castro hace justicia (Rubén Castro does justice); El País, 27 August 2011 (in Spanish)
  10. ↑ Castro leads Betis charge; ESPN Soccernet, 11 September 2011
  11. ↑ Castro late show overthrows Los Che; ESPN Soccernet, 10 December 2011
  12. ↑ Rubén Castro, máximo goleador de la Liga regular con 32 tantos (Rubén Castro, top scorer of regular League with 32 goals); Eurosport, 7 June 2015 (in Spanish)
  13. ↑ "Rubén Castro llega a tiempo" [Rubén Castro arrives on time] (in Spanish). Marca. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Rubén Castro se marcha cedido al Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng FC" [Rubén Castro goes to Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng FC on loan] (in Spanish). Real Betis. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  15. ↑ Rubén Castro, otro talento grancanario (Rubén Castro, another talent from Gran Canaria); Mundo Deportivo, 5 October 2001 (in Spanish)
  16. ↑ "Orden de alejamiento para Rubén" [Restraining order for Rubén] (in Spanish). El País. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Los ultras del Betis apoyan a Rubén Castro, acusado de violencia de género" [Betis' ultras support Rubén Castro, charged with gender violence] (in Spanish). Telecinco. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Rubén Castro: Rubén Castro Martín". BDFutbol. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  19. ↑ "Rubén Castro: "I am really proud to have scored so many goals for this club"". Real Betis. 6 December 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
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