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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 Real Zaragoza and CA 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.
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 El Zaragoza logra la remontada en Santander (Zaragoza come from behind in Santander); El Mundo, 23 November 2003 (in Spanish) and FC Barcelona Todos contentos en la Romareda (Everybody happy at la Romareda); El Mundo, 23 May 2004 (in Spanish) while also helping his team to victory in the Copa del Rey. Afortunadamente, no pasó de un sobresalto (Luckily, just a scare); ESPN Deportes, 8 October 2003 (in Spanish) El Zaragoza da una lección de coraje (Lession in courage by Zaragoza); El País, 18 December 2003 (in Spanish) Beckham misses out on Cup; BBC Sport, 17 March 2004
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 finished eighth in their maiden experience in the top flight. 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) 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)
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. 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) Fernando Soriano quiere ser Pichichi (Fernando Soriano wants to be Pichichi); El Periódico de Aragón, 2 December 2012 (in Spanish) Guerrero deslavazado (Disjointed warrior); Ecos del Balón, 14 January 2014 (in Spanish)
On 21 May 2010, the free agent Soriano signed for 2+1 years with CA Osasuna. Soriano ficha por Osasuna por dos temporadas (Soriano signs for Osasuna for two seasons); Marca, 21 May 2010 (in Spanish) He made his official debut for the in the season opener, a 0–0 home draw against his former team Almería. No goals in Osasuna; ESPN FC, 29 August 2010
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. Fernando Soriano regresa a Almería (Fernando Soriano returns to Almería); Marca, 25 July 2011 (in Spanish) 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. 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) El Almería se aprovecha de la fiesta de ascenso del Elche (Almería crash Elche's promotion party); Diario AS, 19 May 2013 (in Spanish)
Soriano signed as sporting director at UD Ibiza in December 2018. Fernando Soriano, nuevo director deportivo de la UD Ibiza (Fernando Soriano, new UD Ibiza sporting director); Diario de Ibiza, 21 December 2018 (in Spanish) He left his post in April 2022 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) and, on 16 June 2023, joined Deportivo de La Coruña in the same capacity. Fernando Soriano, nuevo director deportivo del Deportivo (Fernando Soriano, new Deportivo sporting director); Marca, 16 June 2023 (in Spanish)
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. 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) 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. 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)
Career statistics
Zaragoza B 1997–98 Segunda División B 9 1998–99 6 1999–2000 10 2000–01 7 Recreativo 2001–02 Segunda División 4 Real Zaragoza 2002–03 Segunda División 5 2003–04 La Liga 3 2004–05 1 Almería 2005–06 Segunda División 7 2006–07 2 2007–08 La Liga 2 2008–09 1 2009–10 7 CA Osasuna 2010–11 La Liga 2 Almería 2011–12 Segunda División 6 2012–13 12 2013–14 La Liga 4 2014–15 3 2015–16 Segunda División 2
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure Almería 17 May 2016 26 February 2017
Honours
Zaragoza
External links
Categories: 1979 Births, Living People, Spanish Men's Footballers, Footballers From Zaragoza, Men's Association Football Midfielders, La Liga Players, Segunda División Players, Segunda División B Players, Deportivo Aragón Players, Real Zaragoza Players, Recreativo De Huelva Players, Ud Almería Players, Ca Osasuna Players, Spain Men's Youth International Footballers, Spanish Football Managers, Segunda División Managers, Ud Almería Managers
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