Full name Sergio Sanchez Sanchez Years Team Playing position | Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Name Sergio Sanchez | |
Date of birth (1977-04-28) 28 April 1977 (age 38) | ||
Place of birth Carbayin Alto, Spain | ||
Sergio Sánchez Sánchez (born 28 April 1977 in Carbayín Alto, Siero, Asturias) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Football career
Having joined local Sporting de Gijón's youth system as an infant, Sánchez first appeared for the professionals during the 1998–99 season as the Asturias club was in the second division. Another spell in the category, with Atlético Madrid, would follow, although he played almost no part in the Colchoneros's return to La Liga in 2002 (three games played).
Loaned by Atlético to RCD Espanyol in the 2002–03 campaign – making his top flight debut on 2 September 2002 in a 0–2 away loss against Real Madrid – Sánchez would meet the same fate the following season, with Getafe CF. There, he would appear in exactly half of the matches as the Madrid outskirts team achieved a first ever top level promotion, only collecting eight appearances during 2004–05.
After an unassuming stint with Hércules CF, Sánchez signed for lowly UD Melilla, leaving shortly after for personal reasons without any official appearances. He finished the season with ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands.
Sánchez returned to Gijón for 2007–08, featuring only once in the league as his team returned to the first division after a ten-year absence. He started the following campaign as first-choice but, after conceding 19 goals in four matches (most in 50 years of competition), he would be relegated to the bench, being reinstated in late December following Iván Cuéllar's serious ankle injury in a 0–3 loss at Athletic Bilbao; with Iñaki Lafuente's arrival on loan from that club in January 2009 and Cuéllar's recovery, he would be demoted to third-choice, and was eventually released in July.
In 2010, after one year without a club, Sánchez retired from football at the age of 33. He had his first coaching experience with amateurs Candás CF as assistant to another former Sporting player, Abelardo Fernández. Simultaneously he opened his own football school, Dorsal 13.
Sánchez returned to Gijón in 2011, being appointed reserves goalkeeper coach and youth team manager.