Diego Espejo de la Concepción (born 18 August 2002) is a Spanish footballer currently playing as a defender for Orihuela in the Segunda Federación on loan from Atlético Madrid B.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Diego Espejo de la Concepción[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 August 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Orihuela CF (on loan from Atlético Madrid B) | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Tenerife | |||
| 2016–2022 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022– | Atlético Madrid B | 0 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | → Atlético Ottawa (loan) | 49 | (2) |
| 2024– | → Orihuela (loan) | 12 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2018 | Spain U17 | 2 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 October 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 April 2022 | |||
Early life edit
Born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Espejo began playing youth football with local teams in Tranvía and Chincanayro.[2] his youth career with Tenerife.[3][4] In 2016, he joined the Atlético Madrid youth system.[5] In 2019, he scored a notable bicycle kick goal in a youth match against Leganés.[6]
Club career edit
In July 2021, he joined Atlético Madrid B in the Tercera División RFEF,[7] where he made a few bench appearances, but did not appear in a match.[8]
In February 2022, he signed a contract extension with Atlético Madrid through, prior to being loaned out to their affiliate club, Atlético Ottawa in the Canadian Premier League for the 2022 season.[9] In 2022, he led the league in headed clearances with 80 and finished second in total clearances with 114.[10] After the season, his loan was extended for another year,[11][12] with it also being announced that he would trial with Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF in January, before joining Ottawa for pre-season.[13] Espejo returned to Atlético Madrid B after his season-long loan expired in November 2023.[14]
In January 2024, Espejo was loaned to Segunda Federación club Orihuela for the remainder of the season.[15][16] On 4 February 2024, he scored a brace in a 2-1 victory over El Palo.[17]
International career edit
In 2016, he was named to the Canary Islands regional U16 team.[18] In 2018, he was called up to the Spain U17 team, where he earned two caps.[19]
Honours edit
Atlético Ottawa
- Canadian Premier League Regular season: 2022
Career statistics edit
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | Domestic Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Atlético Madrid B | 2021–22 | Tercera División RFEF | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| Atlético Ottawa (loan) | 2022 | Canadian Premier League | 25 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 28 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 19 | 1 | – | 2 | 1 | – | 21 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 44 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 2 | ||
| Orihuela (loan) | 2023–24 | Segunda Federación | 12 | 3 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 12 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 56 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 5 | ||
- Notes
- ^ Appearance(s) in the CPL playoffs
References edit
- ^ a b Diego Espejo at Soccerway
- ^ Rodríguez, Tomás (28 March 2023). "Diego Espejo, el tinerfeño del Atlético de Madrid que triunfa en Canadá" [Diego Espejo, the Atlético de Madrid native from Tenerife who triumphs in Canada]. Radio Marca Tenerife.
- ^ Fernandes, Vinicius (February 24, 2022). "Atlético de Madrid-ESP empresta jovem zagueiro ao Atlético Ottawa-CAN" [Atletico Madrid-ESP lends young defender to Atlético Ottawa-CAN]. DaBase (in Spanish).
- ^ Jacques, John (February 22, 2022). "Atletico Ottawa Reveals Two International Loans". Northern Tribune.
- ^ Baines, Tim (February 22, 2022). "Atletico Ottawa adds two players on season-long loan from other Atletico clubs". Ottawa Sun.
- ^ "El monumental gol de chilena de Diego Espejo, juvenil del Atlético" [The monumental bicycle kick goal of Diego Espejo, Atlético youth]. ABC (in Spanish). February 14, 2019.
- ^ "Ottawa brings on Diego Espejo, Vladimir Moragrega on loan from Atléti family". OneSoccer. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Diego Espejo Statistics". La Preferente.
- ^ "Diego Espejo renueva hasta 2024 y jugará cedido en el Atlético Ottawa durante la temporada 2022" [Diego Espejo renews until 2024 and will play on loan at Atlético Ottawa during the 2022 season]. Atlético Madrid (in Spanish). 22 February 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (October 13, 2022). "'Hard, hard, hard work': Espejo & Atlético Ottawa channelling parent club in Madrid for defensive success". Canadian Premier League.
- ^ Jacques, John (December 22, 2022). "Atletico Ottawa Extends Espejo Loan". Northern Tribune.
- ^ "Spanish defender Diego Espejo joins Atlético Ottawa on a second season-long loan". Atlético Ottawa. December 22, 2022.
- ^ "Atlético Ottawa defender Diego Espejo trains with Inter Miami". Atlético Ottawa. January 10, 2023.
- ^ "Atletico Ottawa End-of-Season Roster Update". Atlético Ottawa. 21 November 2023.
- ^ "El defensa Diego Espejo llega al Orihuela cedido por el Atlético de Madrid" [Defender Diego Espejo arrives at Orihuela on loan from Atlético de Madrid]. Alicante Plaza (in Spanish). 23 January 2024.
- ^ "El Orihuela CF ha llegado a un acuerdo con el Atlético de Madrid para la cesión de Diego Espejo hasta final de temporada" [Orihuela CF has reached an agreement with Atlético de Madrid for the loan of Diego Espejo until the end of the season]. Onda Cero (in Spanish). 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Un doblete de Diego Espejo da la victoria al Orihuela CF en Los Arcos" [A double from Diego Espejo gives the victory to Orihuela CF in Los Arcos]. Activa Orihuela (in Spanish). 4 February 2024.
- ^ García de la Santa, Mario (December 15, 2016). "La Selección Canaria Sub-16 vence al CD Tenerife a diez días del Campeonato" [The Canarian U-16 National Team beats CD Tenerife ten days before the Championship]. Info Norte Digital (in Spanish).
- ^ "Atlético Ottawa welcomes Espejo, loan with Atleti roots". Atlético Ottawa. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
External links edit
- Diego Espejo at La Preferente (in Spanish)
- Diego Espejo at Soccerway