Francisco Yeste

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Yeste and the second or maternal family name is Navarro.

Francisco Yeste
Yeste taking a corner for Athletic Bilbao in 2005
Personal information
Full name Francisco Javier Yeste Navarro
Date of birth (1979-12-06) 6 December 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Basauri, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1991–1997 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Basconia 38 (7)
1998–2000 Bilbao Athletic 34 (2)
1999–2010 Athletic Bilbao 302 (50)
2010–2011 Al Wasl 21 (9)
2011–2012 Olympiacos 5 (0)
2012 Baniyas 7 (0)
Total 407 (68)
International career
1998 Spain U18 1 (0)
1999 Spain U20 7 (0)
2000–2001 Spain U21 12 (0)
2003–2007 Basque Country 5 (3)
Managerial career
2014 Eldense
2016 Eldense
Medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's football
FIFA World Youth Championship
Winner 1999 Nigeria
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Francisco "Fran" Javier Yeste Navarro (born 6 December 1979) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a left winger, and is a manager.

He spent eleven years of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao (19 counting the youth system), appearing in 353 official matches and scoring 59 goals.[1]

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in Basauri, Biscay, and a product of Athletic Bilbao's youth academy at Lezama, Yeste made his first-team debut on 7 February 1999, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–2 away loss against Racing Santander.[2] He would appear in a further 13 games that and the following seasons combined, while mainly registered with the reserves.

From 2000–01 onwards, Yeste was used regularly in the main squad, scoring six La Liga goals during that year including two in a 4–0 home win over Real Oviedo on 10 December 2000.[3] After regular displays in 2003–04 he won a callup for Spain, although he did not make his debut;[4][5] he scored a career-best eleven goals in the latter campaign, with the Basques finishing fifth and qualifying to the UEFA Cup.

At times troubled with injuries, Yeste continued to appear prominently, playing all the league matches in 2006–07 as Athletic barely avoided relegation (17th) and scoring five goals in the process. A player of volatile temperament,[6][7] he was also sent off five times from 2007 to 2009 and added 14 yellow cards,[8] one of the ejections occurring after he pushed Real Madrid's Iker Casillas in a 2–5 home loss.[9]

Yeste featured irregularly in the 2009–10 season, also being ousted by manager Joaquín Caparrós for more than one month.[10] In the first match upon his return, a 0–2 loss at Atlético Madrid on 25 March 2010, he was booked;[11] on 21 May, after his contract expired, he announced his departure from the club through his agent.[12]

United Arab Emirates

On 19 June 2010, Yeste agreed to a two-year deal with Al Wasl.[13] In March of the following year, during the 2010–11 Etisalat Emirates Cup semi-final against Al Ain, the opponents took the lead before the 50th minute (49:27) and, as they were still celebrating, he shot from the centre circle to score a goal that was described by Dutch news site Voetbal Stijl as "The fastest equalizer in the history of football" (49:54).[14]

There was controversy surrounding the legality of the goal, as Yeste shot the ball directly without having the ball passed from the centre circle, whilst another player was inside it, but it was later confirmed as valid, as the ball hit the ground just before crossing the goal line, and the other player inside the circle was from Al Ain.[15]

Later years

In July 2011, Yeste signed with Greek champions Olympiacos, reuniting with former Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde. On 17 January 2012, his contract was mutually terminated;[16] the following day, he returned to the United Arab Emirates and joined Baniyas for six months.[17]

Honours

Basconia

Athletic Bilbao

Olympiacos

Spain U20

References

  1. ^ Jiménez, Mayca (4 October 2018). "¿Qué fue de Fran Yeste? El '10' de Basauri que rugió en La Catedral" [What happened to Fran Yeste? The '10' from Basauri who roared at The Cathedral] (in Spanish). Diario AS. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  2. ^ Muriendas, Mauro (8 February 1999). "El Racing gana al Athletic y acaba con el gafe en casa" [Racing defeat Athletic and end home jinx] (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  3. ^ Yelde [sic], con dos tantos, abrió la goleada que cerraron Javi y Julen (Yelde, with two goals, started routing that Javi and Julen ended); El Mundo, 10 December 2000 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Xavi y Yeste, novedades en España (Xavi and Yeste, new to Spain) Archived 30 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Es Más, 1 October 2004 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ "Yeste es la ´sorpresa´ de la selección española" [Yeste is the ´surprise´ in Spanish national team] (in Spanish). El Periódico de Extremadura. 2 October 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  6. ^ Martín, Juan Pablo (11 February 2010). "Otro arrebato de Yeste" [Another Yeste outburst] (in Spanish). El Correo. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  7. ^ Yeste vuelve a la Liga dos meses después (Yeste returns to the League two months after); El País, 25 March 2010 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ "El Athletic lleva 7 expulsiones en 7 partidos, 5 en los 4 últimos" [Athletic have 7 ejections in 7 matches, 5 in last 4] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  9. ^ Casillas: "Yeste no me da en la cara, pero me empuja" (Casillas: "Yeste does not hit my face, but he pushes me"); Marca, 15 March 2009 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Yeste no convence a Caparrós (Yeste does not convince Caparrós); Mundo Deportivo, 7 March 2010 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ "Forlán y Agüero reenganchan al Atlético" [Forlán and Agüero put Atlético back in the mix] (in Spanish). RTVE. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  12. ^ Thanks to Francisco Javier Yeste Archived 3 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Athletic Bilbao, 21 May 2010
  13. ^ Fran Yeste se marcha al Al Wasl de Dubai (Fran Yeste goes to Dubai's Al Wasl); Diario AS, 19 June 2010 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ "Speler Al Wasl maakt snelste tegendoelpunt allertijden" [Al Wasl player scores the fastest equalizer in the history of football] (in Dutch). Voetbal Stijl. 14 March 2011. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  15. ^ درويش: لا غبار على هدف يستي وركلتي العين والشــــــــباب [Yeste's goal is valid] (in Arabic). Emarat Al Youm. 12 March 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  16. ^ "Λύθηκε η συνεργασία με τον Φραν Γέστε" ("Cooperation with Fran Yeste terminated"), Olympiacos FC, 17 January 2012 (in Greek)
  17. ^ McHardy, Chris (18 January 2012). "Fran Yeste out to prove Al Wasl wrong after sealing Bani Yas switch". Sport 360. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  18. ^ García, Miguel Ángel (17 April 2009). "Qué fue de los campeones del mundo sub20" [What happened to the under-20 world champions] (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 3 May 2017.