Willy Caballero

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Caballero and the second or maternal family name is Lazcano.
Willy Caballero

Caballero warming up for Manchester City in 2014
Personal information
Full name Wilfredo Daniel Caballero Lazcano[1]
Date of birth (1981-09-28) 28 September 1981
Place of birth Santa Elena, Argentina
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Manchester City
Number 13
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 Boca Juniors 15 (0)
2004–2011 Elche 186 (0)
2006 → Arsenal Sarandí (loan) 13 (0)
2011–2014 Málaga 117 (0)
2014– Manchester City 9 (0)
National team
2001 Argentina U21 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:08, 2 November 2016 (UTC).


Wilfredo Daniel "Willy" Caballero Lazcano (born 28 September 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City.

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.

Club career

Boca / Elche

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);[3] he made his league debut on 20 February, starting in a 1–1 draw at Villarreal CF,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

On 18 January 2012, Caballero signed a contract extension, tying him to the club until 2016.[7] On 25 March, playing against RCD Espanyol, he fractured his left hand early into the game, being sidelined for the rest of the season.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

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,[11] 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;[12] a week later, in the Premier League opener, he was an unused substitute at Newcastle United.[13]

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.[14]

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'.[15] 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;[16][17] in the decisive match at Wembley Stadium, he saved three attempts in the 3–1 penalty shootout triumph against Liverpool,[18] 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.[19][20]

Following the appointment of manager Pep Guardiola in the 2016 off-season, Caballero became the starter over Hart.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

Career statistics

As of match played 1 November 2016[24]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Boca Juniors 2001–02 Argentine Primera División 4000—0040
2002–03 Argentine Primera División 4000—3070
2003–04 Argentine Primera División 1000—0010
2004–05 Argentine Primera División 6000—1070
Total 15000—40190
Elche 2005–06 Segunda División 10000—00100
2006–07 Segunda División 39020—00410
2007–08 Segunda División 38040—00420
2008–09 Segunda División 38020—00400
2009–10 Segunda División 39010—00400
2010–11 Segunda División 22000—00220
Total 186090—001950
Arsenal Sarandí (loan) 2006–07 Argentine Primera División 13000—00130
Málaga 2010–11 La Liga 15000—00150
2011–12 La Liga 28040—00320
2012–13 La Liga 36000—110470
2013–14 La Liga 38010—00390
Total 117050—1101330
Manchester City 2014–15 Premier League 2020201070
2015–16 Premier League 40306010140
2016–17 Premier League 3000203080
Total 905010050290
Career total 34001901002003890

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors
Manchester City

Country

References

  1. ↑ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Willy Caballero". Premier League. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Mondal, Subhankar (11 February 2011). "Official: Malaga sign Willy Caballero from Elche". Goal.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "Villarreal left disappointed again". ESPN Soccernet. 20 February 2011. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011.
  5. ↑ Puga, Manu (2 October 2011). "Willy Caballero ya es historia viva del Málaga CF" [Willy Caballero becomes living history at Málaga CF]. La Opinión de Málaga (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Levante go second". ESPN Soccernet. 16 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Willy Caballero amplía su vinculación con el Málaga Club de Fútbol hasta la temporada 2015–2016" [Willy Caballero extends Málaga Club de Fútbol link until 2015–2016 season] (in Spanish). Málaga CF. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Caballero se operará de la fractura en su mano" [Caballero to undergo hand fracture surgery]. Marca (in Spanish). 27 March 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "La Liga Team of the Season: Messi, Ronaldo & Falcao make up all-star front line". Goal.com. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Fernandez-Abascal, Eduardo (14 October 2014). "Chelsea duo Thibaut Courtois and Filipe Luis nominated for La Liga awards". International Business Times. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Willy Caballero: Man City sign Malaga goalkeeper for £4.4m". BBC Sport. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  12. ↑ Sanghera, Mandeep (10 August 2014). "Arsenal 3–0 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Chowdhury, Saj (17 August 2014). "Newcastle 0–2 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Keegan, Mike (27 September 2014). "Hull 2–4 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  15. ↑ Al-Samarrai, Riath (26 September 2015). "Harry Kane gets off the mark as Willy Caballero has a day to forget in goal for Manchester City – Player ratings". Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "HOT OR NOT: Manchester City to take huge gamble on Willy Caballero while Marc-Andre Ter Stegen proves his worth for Barcelona". Daily Mail. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero shrugs off criticism amid calls for Joe Hart to replace him in Capital One Cup final: 'I don't care what people think'". Daily Mail. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Rostance, Tom (28 February 2016). "League Cup final: Man City win on penalties". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  19. ↑ "Capital One Cup: Manuel Pellegrini's selection policies pay off". BBC Sport. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Manchester City's Willy Caballero owed an apology after producing stunning League Cup winning display". Manchester Evening News. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "Manchester City news: Pep Guardiola defends decision to drop Joe Hart for 'in-form' Willy Caballero". The Independent. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  22. ↑ Willy Caballero – FIFA competition record
  23. ↑ "International football: Argentina recall Carlos Tevez for Croatia and Portugal friendlies". Sky Sports. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  24. ↑ "W. Caballero". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
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