Casto (footballer)

Casto Espinosa Barriga (born 18 June 1982), known simply as Casto, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Extremadura UD as a goalkeeper.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Espinosa and the second or maternal family name is Barriga.
Casto
Casto as a Betis player in 2011
Personal information
Full name Casto Espinosa Barriga
Date of birth (1982-06-18) 18 June 1982
Place of birth Pueblonuevo del Guadiana, Spain
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Extremadura
Number 1
Youth career
Pueblo Nuevo
1999–2001 Mérida
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Mérida 7 (0)
2003–2004 Logroñés 0 (0)
2004–2006 Albacete B
2006 Albacete 1 (0)
2006–2007 Betis B 13 (0)
2007–2013 Betis 71 (0)
2013–2014 Murcia 43 (0)
2014–2015 Las Palmas 31 (0)
2015–2017 Almería 77 (0)
2017–2018 Alcorcón 39 (0)
2018– Extremadura 28 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 October 2019

Club career

Born in Pueblonuevo del Guadiana, Badajoz, Extremadura, Casto spent four years at local Mérida UD all levels comprised, making seven league appearances for the seniors in Segunda División B. In 2003, he moved to CD Logroñés where he played one season before joining Albacete Balompié in Segunda División, appearing once for the first team during 2005–06.

Real Betis purchased Casto in the summer of 2006, where he initially began as third-choice behind Pedro Contreras and Toni Doblas. With the arrival of Portuguese international Ricardo in the following campaign, it seemed as though he would be provided with little opportunity to shine, even with Contreras' departure. However, after a serious injury to Doblas, he was called up from the reserves; after Ricardo also went down with a minor ailment, he made his debut in La Liga on 16 December 2007, against UD Almería in a 3–1 home win.[1]

In March/April 2008 Casto, who eventually overtook Ricardo as first-choice after the latter's recovery, featured in Betis' first three back-to-back victories in over two years, with wins over CA Osasuna, FC Barcelona and Real Zaragoza. In his first five games they won four, with the player keeping clean sheets in three.[2][3][4]

As coach Francisco Chaparro stayed on the bench for 2008–09, Casto won the battle for first-choice over Ricardo, being the side's undisputed starter during the early stages, a situation which would revert midway through the season.[5] He started often after Ricardo's departure to Leicester City, only being overtaken by Adrián in 2012–13.[6]

Casto left the Verdiblancos after his contract expired, and resumed his career in the second level, representing Real Murcia,[7] UD Las Palmas,[8] UD Almería,[9] AD Alcorcón[10] and Extremadura UD.[11] With the latter club, he spent the first half of the 2018–19 campaign unregistered as it had surpassed the agreed salary cap.[12]

References
  1. "Real Betis 3–1 Almeria". ESPN Soccernet. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  2. "Valladolid 0–0 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 23 December 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  3. "Osasuna 0–1 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 23 March 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  4. "Real Zaragoza 0–3 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 6 April 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  5. "Ricardo vuelve a ser el portero titular del Betis" [Ricardo is Betis' starting goalkeeper again]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 9 January 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  6. "Casto se despide del Betis bajo los palos" [Casto bids Betis farewell behind the sticks] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  7. "El Murcia ficha a Casto e Iván Moreno y renueva a Dos Santos" [Murcia sign Casto and Iván Moreno and renew Dos Santos]. Marca (in Spanish). 24 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  8. "Casto, nuevo portero de la UD Las Palmas" [Casto, new goalkeeper of UD Las Palmas] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 28 August 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  9. "Casto, un portero con experiencia, se convierte en el cuarto fichaje del Almería" [Casto, an experienced goalkeeper, becomes the fourth signing of Almería] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  10. "Casto, nueva incorporación de la A.D. Alcorcón para la temporada 2017–2018" [Casto, new A.D. Alcorcón addition for the 2017–2018 season] (in Spanish). AD Alcorcón. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  11. "Oficial: Casto Espinosa regresa a su tierra" [Official: Casto Espinosa returns to his land]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. "Casto, el que más ganas tiene de que se abra el mercado invernal" [Casto, the one most eager to see winter market open]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 December 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
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