Jesús Tato

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rodríguez and the second or maternal family name is Tato.
Jesús Tato
Personal information
Full name Jesús Rodríguez Tato[1]
Date of birth (1983-07-12) 12 July 1983 (age 41)[1]
Place of birth Murcia, Spain
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Murcia
Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Barcelona C 38 (11)
2004–2008 Murcia 23 (5)
2007 → Lleida (loan) 13 (3)
2007–2008 → Ceuta (loan) 37 (6)
2008–2010 Cartagena 67 (11)
2010–2011 Albacete 37 (13)
2011–2013 Xerez 53 (9)
2013 Las Palmas 28 (5)
2014 Girona 12 (0)
2014–2015 Zaragoza 16 (0)
2015–2016 Moghreb Tétouan 7 (1)
2016 Pune City 10 (1)
2017 La Roda 8 (0)
2017–2018 Lincoln Red Imps 2 (0)
Total 351 (65)
International career
1999 Spain U16 2 (0)
2002 Spain U20 3 (0)
Managerial career
2018–2020 Goa (assistant)
2020–2021 Mumbai City (assistant)
2022–2023 Sichuan Jiuniu (assistant)
2023–2024 Shenzhen Peng City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jesús Rodríguez Tato (born 12 July 1983) is a Spanish football manager and former footballer who played as a striker.

He spent most of his career in the Segunda División, totalling 191 games and 35 goals in total of seven teams across nine seasons. He also competed professionally in Morocco and India.

Playing career

Murcia

Born in Murcia, Tato began his development at Real Murcia CF and concluded it at FC Barcelona, where he made his senior debut for the reserves in the Tercera División. In 2004, he returned to his hometown team in La Liga and made his professional debut on 28 March in a 2–0 home win against RCD Mallorca, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for Juanma;[2] he made six further appearances off the bench, as the season ended with relegation.[3]

Tato scored his first professional goal on 6 May 2006, a consolation in a 2–1 away loss to CD Castellón in the Segunda División.[4] He followed it eight days later with a brace in a 3–1 victory over CD Numancia at the Estadio de La Condomina, also providing an assist for Nacho Garro.[5]

Halfway through Murcia's promotion-winning season, Tato returned to Catalonia by joining Segunda División B team UE Lleida on loan. The following campaign, he remained in the same level at AD Ceuta, helping them to the play-offs.

Journeyman

In 2008, Tato signed with neighbours FC Cartagena, and renewed his link after winning promotion to division two via the play-offs in his first season.[6] After a second campaign at the Estadio Cartagonova he moved to Albacete Balompié,[7] where he netted a career-best 13 goals in his only season, which ended in relegation from the second tier.[8]

Tato joined Xerez CD in June 2011, being officially presented on 8 July and hoping to help them gain promotion to the top flight,[9] but he left in January 2013 for fellow second division side UD Las Palmas for the same reason.[10] He extended his contract at the latter club in the summer, after helping it to the play-offs.[11]

In February 2014, Tato signed for Girona FC for the remainder of the season,[12] and remained a free agent from then until September, when he joined Real Zaragoza still in the second tier.[13]

In July 2015, Tato moved abroad for the first time in his career at the age of 32, joining Morocco's MA Tétouan alongside countryman José Manuel Rueda.[14] He switched to a third continent in September 2016, signing for FC Pune City ahead of the Indian Super League season.[15] He played all but four games for the latter, who missed out on the play-offs, and headed the opening goal of a 1–1 draw at Delhi Dynamos FC on 27 October.[16]

Coaching career

After retiring, Tato worked as assistant manager under his compatriot Sergio Lobera at FC Goa. On 31 January 2020, the pair left the Fatorda Stadium,[17][18] resuming their association at Mumbai City FC also of the Indian top flight[19] and China League One side Shenzhen Peng City FC.[20]

Honours

Manager

Shenzhen Peng City

References

  1. ^ a b c Jesús Tato at AS.com (in Spanish) Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "El Mallorca se complica su existencia en Murcia" [Mallorca make matters worse for themselves in Murcia]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 28 March 2004. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Tato, un trotamundos que ha pasado por el Murcia y el Efesé y ha acabado en el Zaragoza" [Tato, a globetrotter who had Murcia and Efesé spells and has ended at Zaragoza]. La Verdad (in Spanish). 9 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  4. ^ "El Castellón gana por la vía rápida" [Castellón win through the fast lane]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 7 May 2006. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Un genial Tato deja al Numancia lejos de los puestos altos" [A great Tato leaves Numancia far from the high positions] (in Spanish). La Voz Digital. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Tato y Rubén, a punto de renovar con el Cartagena" [Tato and Rubén, about to renew with Cartagena]. Marca (in Spanish). 17 June 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Tato: "Desde principio de verano quise fichar por el Albacete"" [Tato: "From the start of the summer I wanted to sign for Albacete"]. Marca (in Spanish). 31 August 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Albacete: Los goles de Tato, sinónimo de puntos" [Albacete: Tato's goals, equal to points] (in Spanish). El Digital Castilla La Mancha. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  9. ^ Domínguez, H. (8 July 2011). "Tato: "El Xerez es un buen atajo para volver a jugar en Primera"" [Tato "Xerez is a good shortcut to play in Primera again"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  10. ^ Artiles Castellano, Alberto (31 January 2013). "Tato: "Elegí a la UD para ascender"" [Tato: "I chose UD to gain promotion"]. Canarias7 (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  11. ^ Bethencourt, Fernando (12 July 2013). "Tato renueva su ambición" [Tato renews his ambition]. La Provincia (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  12. ^ "El Girona fitxa a Jesús Rodríguez, 'Tato'" [Girona sign Jesús Rodríguez, 'Tato'] (in Catalan). Esport 360. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  13. ^ "Jesús Rodríguez 'Tato' se compromete con el Real Zaragoza" [Jesús Rodríguez 'Tato' commits to Real Zaragoza]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 16 September 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  14. ^ "Tato y Rueda firman con el Moghreb Tetouan de Marruecos" [Tato and Rueda sign with Morocco's Moghreb Tétouan] (in Spanish). Be Soccer. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  15. ^ Gupta, Shashank (20 September 2016). "Indian Super League: FC Pune City rope in former Barcelona youth player Jesus Tato". Goal. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Delhi Dynamos and FC Pune City play out 1–1 draw". The Indian Express. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  17. ^ "FC Goa and Sergio Lobera part ways". Indian Super League. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  18. ^ "ISL table-toppers FC Goa sack Sergio Lobera, coach 'very unhappy' with being shown the door". News18. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  19. ^ "ISL 2020/21: Mumbai City FC appoint Sergio Lobera as head coach". ESPN. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  20. ^ "关于聘任塞尔吉奥·洛贝拉先生担任四川九牛队主教练的公告" [Announcement of Mr. Sergio Lobera's appointment as Shenzhen Xinpengcheng head coach] (in Chinese). Dongqiudi. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  21. ^ Martín Fuentenebro, Pablo (23 October 2023). "Los tentáculos del City triunfan en China" [The City's tentacles make it big in China]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 June 2024.