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Roberto Soldado is one of LaLiga Santander’s veterans at 35, but the forward continues to add great performances for Granada this season.
His goals, like the double he scored against Real Betis, have taken Granada to sixth place and make him dream of another Europa League final.
Soldado will return to Valdebebas, where it all began for him, on Wednesday when Granada face Real Madrid at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.
‘Zidanes and Pavones’
In September 2002, Soldado was playing for Castilla, Real Madrid’s B team, which played in the Second Division B. Soldado was only 17 years old and played alongside players such as César Navas, Borja Fernández, Luis García, Antonio Núñez and Álvaro Mejía. .
The man who took it upon himself to grow the new generation of Real Madrid players was Juan Ramón López Caro, who often reminded his players that they could be the next Zinedine Zidane or Francisco Pavón.
Soldado’s opportunity in the first team came in the Copa del Rey against Tenerife. Real Madrid won the eventual 1-0 winners in overtime and ended the game with three homegrown players, Soldado, Juanfran Torres and Rubén de la Red, on the field.
First game in LaLiga Santander: Soldado replaces Zidane
Soldado made his Real Madrid debut at the beginning of the 2005/06 season when he substituted for Zidane during the last 18 minutes of the game. A goal from David Villa gave Valencia victory at the Bernabéu. Soldado played with Zidane nine times in his farewell season. His first goal for Real Madrid came against Osasuna and was even assisted by the French.
In the Champions League, Soldado marked his debut with a goal against Olympiacos, where he replaced Julio Baptista with just 11 minutes to go. David Beckham helped this time.
Next stop: Pamplona.
In the next stage of his career, Soldado went on loan to Osasuna, where he scored 11 goals in 30 matches and even reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Soldado scored in the first leg but received a yellow card that ruled him out of the second leg, where Sevilla were left without eventual winners of the tie.
Soldado performed so well that season that he was called up to the Spanish national team by Luis Aragonés, who gave the forward his debut against Latvia in 2007.
Return to Madrid: this time with Getafe
After the year with Osasuna, Soldado had already made a name for himself in Spanish soccer and extended his contract with Bernd Schuster’s Real Madrid. He made just eight appearances, without scoring goals, and had players like Raúl González, Ruud van Nistlerooy, Gonzalo Higuaín, Arjen Robben and Javier Saviola, all ahead of him in pecking order.
Getafe arrived and was left with six million euros per Soldier. Ultimately, he scored 33 goals in 66 appearances for the Madrid team.
Villa replacement in Valencia
After a great record with Getafe, Soldado was the forward chosen by Valencia to replace David Villa, who arrived at Barcelona in 2011. Ten million euros was the price of Soldado. In his first campaign at Mestalla, he scored 25 goals and was disappointed when he was not called up by Vicente del Bosque’s team that won the Euro Cup in 2012. In his three seasons in Valencia, Soldado scored 82 goals.
However, he made the cut for the team after Spain’s win at Euro 2012 in a friendly against Georgia, where he scored. The last match he played for Spain was against Chile in the Confederations Cup, with his total tally for the national team of 12 matches and seven goals. An impressive record.
Bad experiences and Granada
Soldado packed his bags and went to the Premier League in 2013, joining Tottenham Hotspur for € 30 million, but was unfortunately unable to replicate his Valencia form. In two seasons he managed just 11 goals, at which point Villarreal came in offering 16 million euros to bring him back to Spain.
In the two seasons he played for Villarreal, Soldado scored just 12 goals in 55 games and decided to try his luck abroad once more.
The next stop was Istanbul with Fenerbahce. Once again, after adding 12 goals, he was out of contract with the Turkish team and looked without luck, until Granada called.
A year and a half later, Soldado returns to enjoy life in LaLiga Santander. He has scored 15 goals for the club and is enjoying the team’s first experience in European football.
On Wednesday he will play the team he started with, with Zidane at the helm, a former teammate who scored the first of his 120 goals in all competitions.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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