Name Willy Caballero Career start 2001 Years Team Weight 80 kg | Number 13 Height 1.86 m Playing position Role Footballer | |
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Full name Wilfredo Daniel Caballero Lazcano Date of birth (1981-09-28) 28 September 1981 (age 34) Similar People Martin Demichelis, Richard Wright, Joe Hart, Bruno Zuculini, Rony Lopes Profiles | ||
Caballero Saves Zola's Penalty! Ampadu's Antics, Hilarious Goalkeeper Drill | Chelsea Unseen
Wilfredo Daniel "Willy" Caballero Lazcano (born 28 September 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Chelsea.
Contents
- Caballero Saves Zolas Penalty Ampadus Antics Hilarious Goalkeeper Drill Chelsea Unseen
- Fifa 16 shoot out drama willy caballero v kelly
- Early career
- Mlaga
- Manchester City
- Chelsea
- International career
- Career statistics
- Club
- International
- References
He spent most of his career in Spain, representing Elche and Málaga and competing in La Liga with the latter club. In the summer of 2014 he signed for Manchester City, helping them win the 2016 League Cup.
Fifa 16 shoot out drama willy caballero v kelly
Early career
Born in Santa Elena, Entre Ríos, Caballero started his playing career with Boca Juniors in 2001, where he won three major titles in 2003. On 14 December of that year he witnessed – from the bench – his team beat A.C. Milan 3–1 on penalties, in the 2003 Intercontinental Cup.
Caballero joined Elche CF of Spain in 2004, and had a brief loan spell back in his country with Arsenal de Sarandí in 2006. With the former, after a rough first season, he went on to become the undisputed starter, appearing in nearly 200 Segunda División games.
Málaga
On 10 February 2011, Caballero was transferred to Málaga CF in La Liga for €900,000 and two and a half years, as an emergency transfer – after the 31 January transfer deadline – due to a serious knee injury to Sergio Asenjo (the club's previous starter, Rubén, was also unavailable due to physical problems); he made his league debut on 20 February, starting in a 1–1 draw at Villarreal CF, and played all the matches until the end of the campaign, with the Andalusians finally escaping relegation.
On 1 October 2011, Caballero entered Málaga's history books as he kept his goal clean for 480 minutes, beating the club's previous record of 429 held by Pedro Contreras since the 2001–02 season. On 16 October he was sent off midway through the first half of an away fixture against Levante UD, after touching the ball with his hands just outside the box – the hosts eventually won it 3–0.
On 18 January 2012, Caballero signed a contract extension, tying him to the club until 2016. On 25 March, playing against RCD Espanyol, he fractured his left hand early into the game, being sidelined for the rest of the season.
Caballero returned to full fitness for 2012–13, featuring in all but two games and helping the Boquerones to the sixth position. Goal.com named him as the best player in his position for the campaign. At the end of the following season he was nominated as the best goalkeeper in the league, alongside Thibaut Courtois of Atlético Madrid and Keylor Navas of Levante.
Manchester City
On 8 July 2014, Caballero signed a three-year deal with Manchester City, for a fee believed to be in the region of £6 million excluding add-ons. He reunited at his new club with former Málaga manager Manuel Pellegrini, and his competitive debut came on 10 August in the 2014 FA Community Shield, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–3 loss to Arsenal at Wembley Stadium; a week later, in the Premier League opener, he was an unused substitute at Newcastle United.
Caballero's second official appearance for City occurred on 24 September 2014, in the 7–0 home routing of Sheffield Wednesday for the Football League Cup. He made his first league appearance away against Hull City three days later, relegating longtime incumbent Joe Hart to the bench in a 4–2 win.
Caballero's third league match was on 26 September 2015, a 1–4 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur which was described as 'a day to forget'. Throughout the season, he was first-choice in the League Cup, receiving criticism in the national press before the final following the 1–5 loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup where he was adjudged to be at fault for two goals; in the decisive match at Wembley Stadium, he saved three attempts in the 3–1 penalty shootout triumph against Liverpool, and Pellegrini subsequently said he would rather lose the match to keep his word, whilst several pundits added that both player and manager deserved an apology with some remarking the performance was a lesson in loyalty.
Following the appointment of manager Pep Guardiola in the 2016 off-season, Caballero became the starter over Hart. Soon after, with the signing of Claudio Bravo, he returned to his backup role.
On 19 October 2016, Caballero appeared as a substitute in a 0–4 defeat by FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. After replacing the red-carded Bravo in goal, he saved a penalty from Neymar in the 87th minute of the match. Two weeks later, he deputised for the suspended Bravo in the 3–1 home win over the same opponent for the same competition.
On 1 February 2017, Caballero replaced Bravo after a run of form which had seen the Chilean concede 28 goals from 22 appearances. On his return to the starting XI, he kept a clean sheet in a 4–0 win over West Ham United at the London Olympic Stadium. Late into the month, in a 5–3 Champions League round of 16 win over AS Monaco FC, he saved a penalty from Radamel Falcao.
On 25 May 2017, it was announced Caballero would leave the club on the expiry of his contract, leaving the club officially on 1 July.
Chelsea
On 1 July 2017, Caballero signed for title holders Chelsea on a free transfer.
International career
Caballero played for Argentina at under-20 level, helping the nation win the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship by playing in the competition's last two games. In 2004, he was picked for the gold medal-winning squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics as backup to Germán Lux (also first-choice in the previous tournament).
In November 2014, Caballero was called up to the senior squad by Gerardo Martino for friendlies against Croatia and Portugal.