Andrés Palop

Andrés Palop

Palop playing for Sevilla in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Andrés Palop Cervera
Date of birth	22 October 1973
Place of birth	L'Alcúdia, Spain
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Valencia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1997	Valencia B	68	(0)
1997–2005	Valencia	43	(0)
1997–1999	→ Villarreal (loan)	74	(0)
2005–2013	Sevilla	217	(0)
2013–2014	Bayer Leverkusen	0	(0)
Total		402	(0)
Teams managed
2015–2016	Alcoyano
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Andrés Palop Cervera (born 22 October 1973) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and a current manager.

After having languished on the bench of hometown club Valencia for most of his stay,^[1] he became a premiere player with Sevilla well into his 30s, helping it consolidate in both the domestic and European fronts. Over the course of 15 seasons he appeared in 295 games in La Liga, where he also represented Villarreal in 1998–99.

Palop was selected by Spain for Euro 2008, but never gained an international cap.

Club career

Valencia

Born in L'Alcúdia, Valencian Community, Palop was a youth product of local giants Valencia CF, and his first professional seasons were spent at neighbours Villarreal CF, in a two-year loan spell. He was the undisputed starter in both the side's La Liga promotion in 1998 – a first ever – and relegation the following season, being subsequently recalled by the Che.

In his six-year stint with Valencia's main squad, however, Palop was mostly backup to veteran Santiago Cañizares, his most games consisting of 15 in his first year. As the club were crowned league champions in 2002 and 2004, he could only appear seven times combined (all in the former campaign), and eventually grew unsettled.^[1]

Palop during a match with Sevilla.

Sevilla

Palop joined Sevilla FC in the 2005 summer, quickly becoming one of the Andalusians' cornerstones as they added five titles in only one year. On 15 March 2007, he made headlines when he scored an injury time-equalising goal in the UEFA Cup round-of-16 tie against FC Shakhtar Donetsk, forcing extra time as a result – Sevilla, which had drawn 2–2 at home in the first leg, went on to win 3–2, and eventually won the competition for the second consecutive time;^[2][3] in the final against fellow league team RCD Espanyol he stopped three of four penalty kicks in the shootout, being named Man of the match.^[4]

In the following campaigns, veteran Palop continued to be an undisputed starter for Sevilla, never appearing in fewer than 31 league matches. In 2009–10 he helped to a fourth place in the league, with the subsequent qualification to the UEFA Champions League, and victory in the Copa del Rey.^[5]

Bayer Leverkusen

In early June 2013, Palop signed a one-year contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, moving abroad for the first time at the age of nearly 40.^[6] He was used exclusively as back-up by the German Bundesliga club, and in April 2014 he announced his retirement.^[7]

Coaching

On 18 February 2015, Palop was named manager at CD Alcoyano for the remainder of the season in Segunda División B.^[8][9] In June, after achieving the sufficient qualifications, he took the post on a permanent basis,^[10] announcing his exit in May 2016.^[11]

International career

Palop was first called up for Spain in August 2007, for a friendly with Greece, after a last-minute injury to Iker Casillas.^[12] However, he did not leave the bench in the match.^[13]

Uncapped, Palop lost a narrow competition with Pepe Reina of Liverpool for second-choice at UEFA Euro 2008, but beat FC Barcelona's Víctor Valdés for the third spot on the squad.^[14][15] During the ceremony following Spain's victory in the tournament, he wore Luis Arconada's original Euro 1984 final shirt. He received the gold medal from Michel Platini (who had won the 1984 continental competition, scoring the final opener from an Arconada blunder), later president of UEFA.^[16][17]

Club statistics

^[18][19]

Club	Season	League			National Cup[lower-alpha 1]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Valencia	1997–98	La Liga	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	0	0
	1999–00	La Liga	15	0	0	0	6[lower-alpha 2]	0	-	-	21	0
	2000–01	La Liga	1	0	2	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	-	-	4	0
	2001–02	La Liga	7	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 3]	0	-	-	10	0
	2002–03	La Liga	9	0	2	0	3[lower-alpha 2]	0	-	-	14	0
	2003–04	La Liga	0	0	6	0	6[lower-alpha 3]	0	-	-	12	0
	2004–05	La Liga	11	0	1	0	2[lower-alpha 3]	0	-	-	14	0
	Total		43	0	11	0	21	0	-	-	75	0
Villarreal	1997–98	Segunda División	39	0	0	0	-	-	2[lower-alpha 4]	0	41	0
	1998–99	La Liga	35	0	5	0	-	-	2[lower-alpha 5]	0	42	0
	Total		74	0	5	0	-	-	4	0	83	0
Sevilla	2005–06	La Liga	36	0	0	0	7[lower-alpha 3]	0	-	-	43	0
	2006–07	La Liga	34	0	4	0	12[lower-alpha 3]	1	1[lower-alpha 6]	0	51	1
	2007–08	La Liga	31	0	0	0	9[lower-alpha 2]	0	3[lower-alpha 6][lower-alpha 7]	0	43	0
	2008–09	La Liga	35	0	6	0	6[lower-alpha 3]	0	-	-	47	0
	2009–10	La Liga	33	0	6	0	5[lower-alpha 2]	0	-	-	44	0
	2010–11	La Liga	19	0	3	0	8[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]	0	2[lower-alpha 7]	0	32	0
	2011–12	La Liga	13	0	1	0	2[lower-alpha 3]	0	-	-	16	0
	2012–13	La Liga	16	0	3	0	-	-	-	-	19	0
	Total		217	0	23	0	49	1	6	0	295	1
Bayer Leverkusen	2013–14	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
Career total			334	0	39	0	70	1	10	0	453	1

1. Includes Copa del Rey and DFB-Pokal matches.
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in Promotion play-offs
5. Appearances in Relegation play-offs
6. Appearances in UEFA Super Cup
7. Appearances in Supercopa de España

Managerial statistics

As of 20 March 2016

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Alcoyano[20][21]	18 February 2015	Present	44	19	12	13	43.18
Total			44	19	12	13	43.18

Honours

Club

Valencia

• La Liga: 2001–02, 2003–04
• UEFA Cup: 2003–04
• UEFA Super Cup: 2004

Sevilla

• UEFA Cup: 2005–06, 2006–07
• UEFA Super Cup: 2006; Runner-up 2007
• Copa del Rey: 2006–07, 2009–10
• Supercopa de España: 2007; Runner-up 2010

International

• UEFA European Championship: 2008

References

1. "En la quiniela de Palop no caben las variantes" [No variables in Palop's pools] (in Spanish). Estadio Deportivo. 2 February 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
2. Sevilla saved by last gasp Palop; UEFA.com, 15 March 2007
3. Shakhtar Donetsk 2–3 FC Sevilla; ESPN Soccernet, 15 March 2007
4. Palop ensures cup joy for Sevilla; UEFA.com, 16 May 2007
5. "Ganó el serio, cayó el alegre" [Serious won, playful lost] (in Spanish). El País. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
6. Palop adds experience to Leverkusen; UEFA.com, 2 June 2013
7. "Palop cuelga los guantes" [Palop hangs up gloves] (in Spanish). UEFA.com. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
8. Carlos Sempere entrenará al Alcoyano y Andrés Palop será su ayudante (Carlos Sempere will manage Alcoyano and Andrés Palop will be his assistant); Mundo Deportivo, 18 February 2015 (Spanish)
9. Palop afrontará en el Alcoyano su primera experiencia como entrenador (Palop will his face his first experience as a manager at Alcoyano); Marca, 18 February 2015 (Spanish)
10. "Palop ya es el nuevo entrenador del Alcoyano: "Hago realidad un sueño"" [Palop is now Alcoyano's new manager: “I've made a dream come true”] (in Spanish). ABC. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
11. "Palop anuncia que no seguirá el año próximo como entrenador del Alcoyano" [Palop announces that he will not continue next year as manager of Alcoyano] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
12. Casillas no viajará a Grecia y Luis llama a Palop (Casillas will not travel to Greece and Luis calls Palop); Marca, 20 August 2007 (Spanish)
13. "Luis confirma a Reina: 'Palop ya tendrá tiempo de jugar'" [Luis confirms Reina: 'Palop's time to play will come'] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
14. "Palop irá a la Eurocopa" [Palop will go to the Eurocup] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
15. "Raúl se queda fuera; Sergio García y Cazorla son las novedades" [Raúl is ousted; Sergio García and Cazorla are the novelties] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 17 May 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
16. Arconada alucinó con el gesto de Palop (Arconada went crazy with Palop's gesture); Mundo Deportivo, 2 July 2008 (Spanish)
17. "Euro 2008: Palop's tribute to a legendary goalkeeper (Arconada)" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
18. "Palop: Andrés Palop Cervera". BDFutbol. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
19. "Palop". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
20. "Palop: Andrés Palop Cervera". BDFutbol. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
21. "Palop: Andrés Palop Cervera". BDFutbol. Retrieved 20 March 2016. (registration required (help)).

External links

• Andrés Palop profile at BDFutbol
• Andrés Palop manager profile at BDFutbol
• Stats at Footballdatabase