Casto (footballer)

Casto

Casto as a Betis player in 2011
Personal information
Full name Casto Espinosa Barriga
Date of birth (1982-06-18) 18 June 1982
Place of birth Pueblonuevo del Guadiana, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Almería
Number 13
Youth career
Pueblo Nuevo
1999–2001 Mérida
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Mérida 7 (0)
2003–2004 Logroñés 0 (0)
2004–2006 Albacete B
2006 Albacete 1 (0)
2006–2007 Betis B 13 (0)
2007–2013 Betis 71 (0)
2013–2014 Murcia 43 (0)
2014–2015 Las Palmas 31 (0)
2015– Almería 36 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 June 2016.


This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Espinosa and the second or maternal family name is Barriga.

Casto Espinosa Barriga (born 18 June 1982), known simply as Casto, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for UD Almería as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Born in Pueblonuevo del Guadiana, Badajoz, Extremadura, Casto spent four years at local Mérida UD all levels comprised, making seven league appearances for the seniors in Segunda División B. In 2003 he moved to CD Logroñés, where he played one season before joining Albacete Balompié in Segunda División, appearing once for the first team during 2005–06.

Real Betis purchased Casto in the 2006 summer, where he initially began as third-choice behind Pedro Contreras and Toni Doblas. With the arrival of Portuguese international Ricardo in the following campaign, it seemed as though he would be provided with little opportunity to shine, even with Contreras' departure. However, after a serious injury to Doblas, he was called up from the reserves; after Ricardo also went down with a minor ailment, he made his debut in La Liga on 16 December 2007, against UD Almería in a 3–1 home win.[1]

In March/April 2008 Casto, who eventually overtook Ricardo as first-choice after the latter's recovery, featured in Betis' first three back-to-back victories in over two years, with wins over CA Osasuna, FC Barcelona and Real Zaragoza. In his first five games Betis won four, with the player keeping clean sheets in three.[2][3][4]

As coach Francisco Chaparro stayed on the bench for 2008–09, Casto won the battle for first-choice over Ricardo, being the side's undisputed starter during the early stages, a situation which would revert midway through the season. He was mainly used as a starter after Ricardo's departure to Leicester City, only being overtaken by Adrián in 2012–13.[5]

Casto left the Verdiblancos after his contract expired, and resumed his career in the second level, representing Real Murcia,[6] UD Las Palmas[7] and UD Almería.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Real Betis 3–1 Almeria". ESPN Soccernet. 16 December 2007.
  2. ↑ "Valladolid 0–0 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 23 December 2007.
  3. ↑ "Osasuna 0–1 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 23 March 2008.
  4. ↑ "Real Zaragoza 0–3 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 6 April 2008.
  5. ↑ "Casto se despide del Betis bajo los palos" [Casto bids Betis farewell behind the sticks] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "El Murcia ficha a Casto e Iván Moreno y renueva a Dos Santos" [Murcia signs Casto and Iván Moreno and renews Dos Santos] (in Spanish). Marca. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Casto, nuevo portero de la UD Las Palmas" [Casto, new goalkeeper of UD Las Palmas] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Casto, un portero con experiencia, se convierte en el cuarto fichaje del Almería" [Casto, an experienced goalkeeper, becomes the fourth signing of Almería] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.

External links

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