Fernando Soriano

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Sorianoand the second or maternal family name is Marco.

Fernando Soriano

Soriano playing with Almería in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Fernando Soriano Marco
Date of birth	(1979-09-24) 24 September 1979 (age 44)
Place of birth	Zaragoza, Spain
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Youth career
	Zaragoza
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–2001	Zaragoza B	144	(32)
2001–2005	Zaragoza	81	(6)
2001–2002	→ Recreativo (loan)	39	(4)
2005–2010	Almería	149	(19)
2010–2011	Osasuna	30	(2)
2011–2016	Almería	163	(23)
Total		606	(86)
International career
1995–1996	Spain U16	6	(1)
1997	Spain U17	5	(0)
1998	Spain U18	1	(0)
1999	Spain U20	2	(0)
Managerial career
2016–2017	Almería
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fernando Soriano Marco (born 24 September 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

He spent most of his 19-year career with Almería, totalling ten seasons in two different spells. In La Liga, where he also represented Zaragoza and Osasuna, he amassed totals of 229 games and 21 goals, adding the same amount of matches and 33 goals in the Segunda División.

Over nine months and starting in 2016, Soriano also managed Almería.

Playing career

Soriano was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. A product of hometown Real Zaragoza's youth ranks, he was loaned to Segunda División side Recreativo de Huelva before appearing with the main squad, which happened in the 2002–03 season in the same league. ^[1]

In La Liga, Soriano proved a very useful midfield element. In the 2003–04 campaign, he scored the winner in 2–1 wins over Racing de Santander ^[2] and FC Barcelona ^[3] while also helping his team to the conquest of the Copa del Rey. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Soriano joined UD Almería for 2005–06, netting seven goals in his first year. He was an instrumental figure in the club's first-ever top division promotion the next season, reuniting with his former Zaragoza teammate Corona; both players were instrumental the following campaign, as the Andalusians finished eighth in their maiden experience in the top flight. ^{[7] [8]}

Soriano had a successful season overall in 2009–10, as Almería retained their status for the third consecutive year. Without the presence of striker Álvaro Negredo, he was much more depended upon in scoring matters and netted seven times in 35 games, joint-second in the team as they finished in 13th position (he also collected 13 yellow cards); on several occasions, he was deployed as a supporting striker. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

On 21 May 2010, the free agent Soriano signed for 2+1 years with CA Osasuna. ^[12] He made his official debut for the Navarrese in the season opener, a 0–0 home draw against his former team Almería. ^[13]

After a disappointing campaign overall, Soriano terminated his contract with Osasuna and returned to his previous club in late July 2011, penning a three-year deal. ^[14] He scored a career-best 12 goals from 39 appearances in the 2012–13 campaign, helping the team to return to the top flight after a two-year absence. ^{[15] [16] [11]}

Managerial career

On 17 May 2016, aged 36, Soriano retired and was immediately appointed manager of Almería until the end of the second-tier season. ^[17] After managing to avoid relegation and remain unbeaten in his four games in charge (two wins and two draws), he renewed his contract for a further year. ^[18]

Soriano signed as sporting director at UD Ibiza in December 2018. ^[19] He left his post in April 2022 ^[20] and, on 16 June 2023, joined Deportivo de La Coruña in the same capacity. ^[21]

Career statistics

^{[22] [23]}

Club	Season	Competition	League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Zaragoza B	1997–98	Segunda División B	34	9	—						34	9
	1998–99		35	6	—						35	6
	1999–2000		32	10	—				6	0	38	10
	2000–01		37	7	—						37	7
	Total		138	32	—				6	0	144	32
Recreativo	2001–02	Segunda División	39	4	0	0	—				39	4
Zaragoza	2002–03	Segunda División	38	4	2	1	—				40	5
	2003–04	La Liga	24	2	3	1	—				27	3
	2004–05		19	0	0	0	8	1	1	0	28	1
	Total		81	6	5	2	8	1	1	0	95	9
Almería	2005–06	Segunda División	34	7	1	0	—				35	7
	2006–07		22	2	0	0	—				22	2
	2007–08	La Liga	34	2	1	0	—				35	2
	2008–09		24	1	2	0	—				26	1
	2009–10		35	7	1	0	—				36	7
	Total		149	19	5	0	—				154	19
Osasuna	2010–11	La Liga	30	2	1	0	—				31	2
Almería	2011–12	Segunda División	34	4	4	2	—				38	6
	2012–13		39	12	2	0	—		4	0	45	12
	2013–14	La Liga	35	4	0	0	—				35	4
	2014–15		28	3	2	0	—				30	3
	2015–16	Segunda División	23	0	3	2	—				26	2
	Total		159	23	11	4	—		4	0	174	27
Career totals			596	86	22	6	8	1	11	0	637	93

Managerial statistics

As of match played 26 February 2017

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Almería [24]		17 May 2016	26 February 2017	32	8	9	15	32	37	−5	025.00
Total				32	8	9	15	32	37	−5	025.00

Honours

Zaragoza

• Copa del Rey: 2003–04 ^[6]
• Supercopa de España: 2004 ^[25]

References

1. Fernando Soriano: "El Zaragoza ya tiene la calidad y el orden lo pondrá Lucas Alcaraz" (Fernando Soriano: "Zaragoza already have the quality and Lucas Alcaraz will bring the order"); Heraldo de Aragón, 26 October 2018 (in Spanish)
2. El Zaragoza logra la remontada en Santander (Zaragoza come from behind in Santander); El Mundo, 23 November 2003 (in Spanish)
3. Todos contentos en la Romareda (Everybody happy at la Romareda); El Mundo, 23 May 2004 (in Spanish)
4. Afortunadamente, no pasó de un sobresalto (Luckily, just a scare); ESPN Deportes, 8 October 2003 (in Spanish)
5. El Zaragoza da una lección de coraje (Lession in courage by Zaragoza); El País, 18 December 2003 (in Spanish)
6. Beckham misses out on Cup; BBC Sport, 17 March 2004
7. Soriano busca su cuarto ascenso y Corona, el tercero (Soriano in search of a fourth promotion and Corona, a third); Marca, 19 June 2013 (in Spanish)
8. Corona y Fernando Soriano, dos capitanes para buscar el ascenso (Corona and Fernando Soriano, two captains in search of promotion); Ideal, 17 June 2015 (in Spanish)
9. Kalu Uche y el trío Soriano-Crusat-Piatti, la clave del gol (Kalu Uche and the trio Soriano-Crusat-Piatti, the key to goal); Diario de Almería, 13 May 2010 (in Spanish)
10. Fernando Soriano quiere ser Pichichi (Fernando Soriano wants to be Pichichi); El Periódico de Aragón, 2 December 2012 (in Spanish)
11. Guerrero deslavazado (Disjointed warrior); Ecos del Balón, 14 January 2014 (in Spanish)
12. Soriano ficha por Osasuna por dos temporadas (Soriano signs for Osasuna for two seasons); Marca, 21 May 2010 (in Spanish)
13. No goals in Osasuna; ESPN Soccernet, 29 August 2010
14. Fernando Soriano regresa a Almería (Fernando Soriano returns to Almería); Marca, 25 July 2011 (in Spanish)
15. Soriano: "Ser favoritos al ascenso nos genera a veces una presión un poco excesiva" (Soriano: "Being favourites to promote sometimes brings an excessive pressure with it"); Marca, 28 February 2013 (in Spanish)
16. El Almería se aprovecha de la fiesta de ascenso del Elche (Almería crash Elche's promotion party); Diario AS, 19 May 2013 (in Spanish)
17. Fernando Soriano dirigirá al Almería hasta el final de la presente temporada (Fernando Soriano will manage Almería until the end of the current season); UD Almería, 17 May 2016 (in Spanish)
18. Fernando Soriano será el entrenador del Almería para la próxima temporada (Fernando Soriano will be Almería's manager for the following season); UD Almería, 8 June 2016 (in Spanish)
19. Fernando Soriano, nuevo director deportivo de la UD Ibiza (Fernando Soriano, new UD Ibiza sporting director); Diario de Ibiza, 21 December 2018 (in Spanish)
20. Fernando Soriano deja de ser el director deportivo del Ibiza (Fernando Soriano is no longer Ibiza's sporting director); Marca, 7 April 2022 (in Spanish)
21. Fernando Soriano, nuevo director deportivo del Deportivo (Fernando Soriano, new Deportivo sporting director); Marca, 16 June 2023 (in Spanish)
22. "Soriano: Fernando Soriano Marco". BDFutbol. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
23. "Soriano". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
24. "Soriano: Fernando Soriano Marco". BDFutbol. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
    "Soriano: Fernando Soriano Marco". BDFutbol. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
25. El Zaragoza sorprende al Valencia y logra su primera Supercopa (Zaragoza surprise Valencia and get their first Supercup); Diario de Mallorca, 25 August 2004 (in Spanish)

External links

• Fernando Soriano at BDFutbol
• Fernando Soriano at Futbolme (in Spanish)