Saúl Ñíguez

Saúl

Saúl with Spain U19 in 2012
Personal information
Full name Saúl Ñíguez Esclápez
Date of birth (1994-11-21) 21 November 1994
Place of birth Elche, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Atlético Madrid
Number 8
Youth career
2006–2008 Real Madrid
2008–2010 Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Atlético Madrid B 70 (8)
2012– Atlético Madrid 90 (12)
2013–2014 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 34 (2)
National team‡
2009 Spain U16 4 (1)
2010–2011 Spain U17 9 (2)
2012 Spain U18 3 (0)
2012–2013 Spain U19 11 (0)
2013 Spain U20 8 (0)
2013–2017 Spain U21 25 (9)
2016– Spain 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2017.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2017

Saúl Ñíguez Esclápez (Spanish pronunciation: [saˈul ˈɲiɣeθ]; born 21 November 1994), known simply as Saúl, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid as a central or defensive midfielder.

Club career

Born in Elche, Alicante, Valencian Community, Saúl moved to Atlético Madrid in 2008 at not yet 14, after starting in the youth team of neighbouring Real Madrid. He made his senior debuts in the 2010–11 season, appearing with the Colchoneros' reserves in the third division, and his first goal came in a 3–1 away win against Extremadura UD on 10 April 2011,[2] his only of the campaign in an eventual midtable finish.

In the summer of 2011, Saúl joined the Atlético main squad for pre-season training. On 10 July, he netted twice in a 19–1 friendly win with CD Arcángel.[3]

On 8 March 2012, at the age of just 17 years and 108 days, Saúl made his official debut with Atleti's first team, playing the last six minutes in a UEFA Europa League game against Beşiktaş JK (3–1 home win, 6–1 on aggregate).[4] His second appearance came on 20 September, again as a substitute and in the Europa League, against Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC;[5] three days later he scored both goals for Atlético B, in a 2–1 away derby win over Real Madrid C.[6]

Saúl made his La Liga debut on 21 April 2013, playing two minutes in a 1–0 success at Sevilla FC after replacing fellow youth graduate Koke.[7] Again from the bench, he appeared in his second league match with the main squad on 4 May, against Deportivo de La Coruña (0–0).[8]

On 21 July 2013, Saúl signed with Rayo Vallecano in a season-long loan deal.[9] After returning, he featured in both legs of the 2014 Supercopa de España in which Atlético defeated Real Madrid, starting in the first match.[10][11]

In a Madrid derby on 7 February 2015, Saúl replaced the injured Koke after ten minutes, and scored his team's second goal shortly after through a bicycle kick, in an eventual 4–0 win.[12] From the 2015–16 season onwards, after the departure of Mario Suárez and the injury of Tiago Mendes, he became a nuclear midfield element for the Diego Simeone-led team.[13][14]

On 27 April 2016, Saúl played 85 minutes in the first leg of the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League against FC Bayern Munich, and also scored the only goal at the Vicente Calderón Stadium after an individual effort.[15] The following 18 April, in the same competition but in the last-eight stage, he netted through a rare header to help to a 1–1 draw at Leicester City (2–1 aggregate triumph);[16] also in that month, in an interview given to Diario AS, he admitted to having played for "two seasons" under extremely painful circumstances.[17]

On 1 July 2017, Saúl signed a new nine-year contract.[18]

International career

Saúl earned 47 caps for Spain, all youth levels comprised. On 26 May 2015, he was called to the full side for a friendly with Costa Rica and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Belarus,[19] but did not make his debut on either occasion; he, Sergio Rico and Lucas Vázquez were the three uncapped players in a provisional squad for the final tournament in France,[20] but he was eventually cut alongside Isco.[21]

Saúl made his full debut on 1 September 2016, playing 15 minutes in a 2–0 friendly win in Belgium.[22] He was crowned top scorer at the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, notably scoring a hat-trick to help see off Italy 3–1 in the semi-finals.[23]

Personal life

Saúl comes from a football family: his father, José Antonio, played several years with Elche CF – including the 1984–85 season in the top division – as a striker. Saúl's brothers Aarón and Jonathan are also footballers.[24][25][26]

Club statistics

As of 21 May 2017[27]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Atlético Madrid B 2010–11 221—221
2011–12 221—221
2012–13 266—266
Total 708—708
Atlético Madrid 2011–12 0000100010
2012–13 20207000110
Total 20208000120
Rayo Vallecano (loan) 2013–14 34230—372
Total 342300000372
Atlético Madrid 2014–15 244405020354
2015–16 3144213300489
2016–17 3348112400539
Total 88121633072013622
Career totals 194232133872025532

Honours

Club

Atlético Madrid[28]

International

Spain U19[28]
Spain U21

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Saúl". Atlético Madrid. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Atlético B win in Extremadura". Atlético Fans. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Twenty goal spectacle in first friendly". Atlético Fans. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  4. ↑ "Saúl Ñíguez debuta con el Atlético" [Saúl Ñíguez makes Atlético debut]. Marca (in Spanish). 8 March 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–3 Atletico Madrid: Diego Simeone's men begin defence of title with an easy victory over Israeli side; Goal.com, 20 September 2012
  6. ↑ Saúl firma la primera victoria de un gran Atlético de Madrid B ante el Real Madrid C (1–2) (Saúl spearheads first win of great Atlético de Madrid B against Real Madrid C (1–2)); Atlético Madrid, 23 September 2012 (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ "Falcao nets again". ESPN FC. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Draw enough for Rojiblancos". ESPN FC. 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Saúl se marcha cedido al Rayo" [Saúl goes on loan to Rayo]. Marca (in Spanish). 21 July 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  10. ↑ Estepa, Javier (19 August 2014). "El Atleti lo deja todo en el aire" [Atleti leave it open]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Campos, Tomás (23 August 2014). "Una pequeña revancha" [A small payback]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "Atl Madrid 4–0 Real Madrid". BBC Sport. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "Simeone: "No necesito que Saúl se parezca a Tiago"" [Simeone: "I don't need for Saúl to look like Tiago"] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Hijón, Laura (14 March 2016). "Saúl Ñíguez, el 'delantero revelación', afinado para el PSV" [Saúl Ñíguez, the 'best new forward', tuned up for PSV] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Slick Atlético inflict more Spain pain on Bayern". UEFA.com. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Leicester City 1–1 Atlético Madrid". BBC Sport. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  17. ↑ "Saúl Ñiguez: "I used to pee blood after every game"". Diario AS. 16 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  18. ↑ "Saul Niguez to stay with Atletico Madrid for nine more years". BBC Sport. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  19. ↑ "Espanyol defender Ruben Duarte will train with Del Bosque's Spain squad in June". Sport. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "Euro 2016: Diego Costa, Juan Mata & Fernando Torres not in Spain squad". BBC Sport. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "Isco y Saúl fuera de la lista de Del Bosque para la Eurocopa 2016" [Isco and Saúl out of Del Bosque's list for 2016 European Championship]. El País (in Spanish). 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Belgium 0–2 Spain: match report, as it happened". Diario AS. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  23. ↑ "Spain U21 3–1 Italy U21". BBC Sport. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  24. ↑ "Los Ñiguez, familia de futbolistas" [The Ñiguezes, footballing family] (in Spanish). Colgados por el Fútbol. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  25. ↑ "Saúl, Aarón y Jony, los hermanos Ñíguez marcan un 'triplete' histórico" [Saúl, Aarón and Jony, the Ñíguez brothers score historic 'triple'] (in Spanish). La Información. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  26. ↑ "Los hermanos Ñíguez, unidos y luchando contra la esclerosis" [The Ñíguez brothers, united and fighting against sclerosis]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 21 December 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  27. ↑ "Saúl". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  28. 1 2 "Saúl – Trophies". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  29. ↑ "Saúl Ñíguez wins U21 EURO adidas Golden Boot". UEFA.com. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  30. ↑ "Official Under-21 Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
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