Saúl Coco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Coco-Bassey and the second or maternal family name is Oubiña.
Saúl Coco
Personal information
Full name Saúl Basilio Coco-Bassey Oubiña[1]
Date of birth (1999-02-09) 9 February 1999 (age 23)
Place of birth Lanzarote, Spain
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back, midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Las Palmas
Number 29
Youth career
Orientación Marítima
2013–2016 Las Palmas
2015–2016 → Orientación Marítima (loan)
2016–2018 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Espanyol B 0 (0)
2018–2019 → Horta (loan) 22 (0)
2019–2020 Las Palmas C 13 (0)
2020– Las Palmas B 9 (0)
2020– Las Palmas 2 (0)
National team‡
2018 1 (0)
2017– Equatorial Guinea 6 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 May 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 October 2021

Saúl Basilio Coco-Bassey Oubiña (born 9 February 1999), better known as Saúl Coco, is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender or a defensive midfielder for Spanish club UD Las Palmas. Born in Spain, he represents the Equatorial Guinea national team.

Early life[]

Coco was born in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, to Basilio Coco-Bassey Eyanga and a Spanish mother. His father is an Equatoguinean former footballer and current coach[3] who played for Canarian club CDU Puerto del Carmen in the 1987–88 season, alongside his brother Luis (Coco's uncle).[4] Coco is also of Nigerian descent through his paternal grandfather.

Club career[]

Coco joined RCD Espanyol's youth setup in July 2016, after representing CD Orientación Marítima (where he was trained by his father) and UD Las Palmas.[5][6] In August 2018, after finishing his formation, he was loaned to Tercera División side UA Horta for the season.[7]

Coco made his senior debut on 18 August 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 home win against UE Figueres.[8] The following 18 July, he returned to his former club Las Palmas, being assigned to the C-team also in the fourth division.[2]

Promoted to the reserves in Segunda División B ahead of the 2020–21 campaign, Coco made his first team debut on 17 December 2020, replacing Álvaro Lemos in a 4–0 away win against CD Varea, for the season's Copa del Rey.[9]

International career[]

Eligible to play internationally for Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria or Spain, Coco was called up to the senior squad of the former in August 2017.[10] He made his full international debut on 3 September, replacing Pablo Ganet in a 1–2 friendly loss to Benin;[11][12] by doing so, he became the first person from Lanzarote to get called up internationally in 67 years.[13] The match was subsequently eliminated from FIFA records,[14] as the referee and his assistants referees were from Equatorial Guinea.[15][16]

Coco became cap-tied to Equatorial Guinea on 17 November 2018, when he appeared in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match against Senegal.[17]

International goals[]

Scores and results list Equatorial Guinea's goal tally first.[18]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 October 2021 Estadio de Malabo, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea  Zambia 1–0 2–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

References[]

  1. ^ "Federació Catalana de Futbol". fcf.cat.
  2. ^ a b "Saúl Coco regresa para reforzar Las Palmas C" [Saúl Coco returns to bolster Las Palmas C] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Comité de Competición. Sesión 20 de febrero de 2013" [Competition committee. Session of 20 February 2013] (in Spanish). Lanzarote Deportiva. 21 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Temporada 87-88" [87-88 season] (in Spanish). Historia de Tías. 22 May 2015.
  5. ^ "El centrocampista Saúl Coco ficha por el equipo juvenil del RCD Espanyol" [Central midfielder Saúl Coco signs for the juvenil squad of RCD Espanyol] (in Spanish). Lanzarote Deportiva. 17 July 2016.
  6. ^ "El joven lanzaroteño Saúl Coco ficha por el RCD Espanyol" [Young lanzaroteño Saúl Coco signs for RCD Espanyol] (in Spanish). Lancelot Digital. 18 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Pelegrín no seguirá" [Pelegrín will not continue] (in Spanish). RCD Espanyol. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  8. ^ "El At. Horta ganó en casa al Figueres" [At. Horta defeated Figueres at home] (in Spanish). nvfocus.com. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Las Palmas se da un brindis y no se complica en la Copa" [Las Palmas give themselves a toast and do not complicate things in the Cup] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  10. ^ Betancort, Rubén (28 August 2017). "Saúl Coco convocado con la selección absoluta de Guinea Ecuatorial" [Saúl Coco called up to the full national team of Equatorial Guinea] (in Spanish). Lanzarote Deportiva.
  11. ^ "Saúl Coco se quedó sin victoria en la noche de su debut con Guinea Ecuatorial" [Saúl Coco ended up without a win in the night of his debut with Equatorial Guinea] (in Spanish). Lanzarote Deportiva. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Malawi stun Togo, Benin edge past Equatorial Guinea". ESPN. 4 September 2017.
  13. ^ "Saúl Coco puso fin a 67 años sin un futbolista internacional absoluto de Lanzarote" [Saúl Coco ended a 67-year spell without an international footballer from Lanzarote] (in Spanish). Lanzarote Deportiva. 4 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Live Scores - Equatorial Guinea - Matches". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Mismo error, la misma posición y el mismo árbitro" [Same mistake, the same position and the same referee] (in Spanish). P.Sports. 6 September 2017.
  16. ^ "Joaquín ELA, el árbitro de los partidos eliminados por la FIFA" [Joaquín Elá, the referee of the matches eliminated by FIFA] (in Spanish). P.Sports. 6 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Saúl Coco y Jordan ya juegan con la absoluta de Guinea" [Saúl Coco and Jordan already play with the full side of Guinea] (in Spanish). Ahora EG. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Saúl Coco". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 14 October 2021.

External links[]

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