Saúl Ñíguez

Lyon, France. 16th May, 2018. Soccer, Europa League final ...

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Saúl Ñíguez Esclápez (Spanish pronunciation: [sa'ul '?i?e?]; born 21 November 1994), known simply as Saúl, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid as a central or defensive midfielder.

After coming through Atlético Madrid's youth academy, he went on to appear in more than 200 competitive matches for the club. In the 2013-14 season, he was on loan at Rayo Vallecano also in La Liga.

Having represented Spain at various youth levels, Saúl helped the under-21 team finish second in the 2017 European Championship, being top scorer in the process. He was selected by the senior side to the 2018 World Cup.

Video Saúl Ñíguez

Club career

Born in Elche, Alicante, Valencian Community, Saúl moved to Atlético Madrid in 2008 at the age of 13, after starting in the youth team of neighbouring Real Madrid. He made his senior debut in 2010-11, appearing with the reserves in the third division, and his first goal came in a 3-1 away win against Extremadura UD on 10 April 2011, his only of the season in an eventual midtable finish.

In the summer of 2011, Saúl joined the Atlético main squad for pre-season training. On 10 July, he netted twice in a 19-1 friendly win over CD Arcángel.

On 8 March 2012, at the age of just 17 years and 108 days, Saúl made his official debut with the Colchoneros first team, playing the last six minutes in a UEFA Europa League game against Be?ikta? JK (3-1 home win, 6-1 on aggregate). His second appearance came on 20 September, again as a substitute and in the Europa League, this time against Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC; three days later he scored both goals for Atlético B, in a 2-1 away derby win over Real Madrid C.

Saúl made his La Liga debut on 21 April 2013, playing two minutes in a 1-0 success at Sevilla FC after replacing fellow youth graduate Koke. Again from the bench, he appeared in his second league match with the main squad on 4 May, against Deportivo de La Coruña (0-0).

On 21 July 2013, Saúl signed with Rayo Vallecano in a season-long loan deal. After returning, he featured in both legs of the 2014 Supercopa de España in which Atlético defeated Real Madrid, starting in the first match.

In a Madrid derby on 7 February 2015, Saúl replaced the injured Koke after ten minutes, and scored his team's second goal shortly after through a bicycle kick, in an eventual 4-0 win. From the 2015-16 campaign onwards, after the departure of Mario Suárez and the injury of Tiago Mendes, he became a nuclear midfield element for the Diego Simeone-led team.

On 27 April 2016, Saúl played 85 minutes in the first leg of the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League against FC Bayern Munich, and also scored the only goal at the Vicente Calderón Stadium after an individual effort. The following 18 April, in the same competition but in the last-eight stage, he netted through a rare header to help to a 1-1 draw at Leicester City (2-1 aggregate triumph); also in that month, in an interview given to Diario AS, he admitted to having played for "two seasons" under extremely painful circumstances.

On 1 July 2017, Saúl signed a new nine-year contract.

Maps Saúl Ñíguez

International career

Saúl earned 47 caps for Spain, all youth levels comprised. On 26 May 2015, he was called to the full side for a friendly with Costa Rica and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Belarus, but did not make his debut on either occasion; he, Sergio Rico and Lucas Vázquez were the three uncapped players in a provisional squad for the final tournament in France, but he was eventually cut alongside Isco.

Saúl made his full debut on 1 September 2016, playing 15 minutes in a 2-0 friendly win in Belgium. He was crowned top scorer at the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, notably scoring a hat-trick to help see off Italy 3-1 in the semi-finals.

Back with the full side, Saúl was selected by manager Julen Lopetegui for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He was an unused squad member during the tournament, which ended in round-of-16 exit.

NELI - Boomerang ft. ORIGINAL GRAS (Official Babilon) - YouTube

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Personal life

Saúl came from a football family: his father, José Antonio, played several years with Elche CF - including the 1984-85 season in the top division - as a striker. His brothers, Aarón and Jonathan, were also footballers.