Esteban Andrés Suárez (born 27 June 1975), known simply as Esteban, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He started and finished his extensive senior career, which spanned more than two decades, at Real Oviedo. He appeared in 280 matches in La Liga over 13 seasons, also representing in the competition Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, Celta and Almería.El portero incombustible (The neverending goalkeeper); El Comercio, 14 January 2015 (in Spanish)

Club career Early years Born in Avilés, Asturias, Esteban began his career with hometown's SD Navarro CF in 1993, but soon moved to local giants Real Oviedo after a stint at Real Avilés Industrial CF. In five seasons with the first team, four of those spent in La Liga, he only missed a total of 12 league games, and moved to Atlético Madrid in summer 2002 as the Colchoneros had just returned to the top flight after a two-year absence,Esteban, nuevo jugador del Atlético (Esteban, new player of Atlético); Diario AS, 15 August 2002 (in Spanish) finishing the campaign as starter after beginning as understudy to Germán Burgos.Esteban vence al Mono Burgos (Esteban beats Monkey Burgos); Diario AS, 28 September 2002 (in Spanish)Para debate, el suyo (Speaking about debates, theirs); Marca, 14 September 2013 (in Spanish)

Esteban joined fellow top-division club Sevilla FC in August 2003.Esteban: "A ver si puedo debutar en la selección jugando aquí" (Esteban: "Let's see if i can make the national team playing here"); Diario AS, 8 August 2003 (in Spanish) After two solid seasons with the Andalusians (two sixth league places, as first choice) he signed for RC Celta de Vigo,Esteban: "Vengo a ayudar y a ganarme la titularidad" (Esteban "I come to help and to earn myself a starting position"); Diario AS, 7 July 2005 (in Spanish) backing up José Manuel Pinto in the Segunda División side until the latter moved to FC Barcelona in January 2008.Pinto, el eterno suplente, un profesional del fútbol (Pinto, the eternal backup, a professional of football); Público, 18 January 2008 (in Spanish)

Almería In the 2008 off-season, Esteban joined UD Almería in the top tier,El Almería ficha al portero Esteban Andrés Suárez (Almería sign goalkeeper Esteban Andrés Suárez); Diario de Almería, 4 July 2008 (in Spanish) where he was second choice to Diego Alves in his first year. However, profiting from injury to the starter in late March 2009, he was put between the posts and remained there until the end of the season even when the Brazilian recovered.Se vuelve a encender la alarma por Diego Alves (Alarms go off for Diego Alves again); Diario AS, 1 April 2009 (in Spanish)

In the 2009–10 campaign, Esteban's league output consisted of 30 minutes – the last round notwithstanding– after Alves was sent off in a 0–3 home defeat against Valencia CF.Pablo inspires Los Che win ; ESPN Soccernet, 25 October 2009 At the season's end, however, the 35-year-old renewed his contract for another year.El Almería renueva a Esteban y Kalu Uche (Almería renew Esteban and Kalu Uche); Marca, 10 May 2010 (in Spanish)

Esteban continued as Alves' backup in 2010–11. He was the starter, however, in Almería's Copa del Rey run, which saw the club reach the competition's semi-finals for the first time ever.El Almería se niega a despertar del sueño (Almería refuse to awake from dream); Marca, 19 January 2011 (in Spanish) In the final stretch of the campaign, as they were already relegated and Alves announced his departure to Valencia, he appeared in four matches and conceded 11 goals, including eight in a 8–1 loss at Real Madrid.Almeria suffer relegation ; ESPN Soccernet, 7 May 2011Third place dream dying for Villarreal ; ESPN Soccernet, 11 May 2011Rare win for Almeria ; ESPN Soccernet, 15 May 2011Ronaldo breaks record in rout ; ESPN Soccernet, 21 May 2011

Subsequently, at 36, Esteban became Almería's first choice.La hora de Esteban (Esteban's time); El País, 30 September 2011 (in Spanish) He played all 42 league games during the second-division season, conceding 43 goals as the team finished seventh.El Almería ensancha el récord de Esteban y el portero hace una estirada al ascenso (Almería extend Esteban record and the goalkeeper goes one-on-one with promotion) ; Almería 360, 13 February 2013 (in Spanish)

Esteban did not miss one single match in the 2013–14 campaign, as the Rojiblancos were again in the Spanish top flight and managed to stay afloat.Esteban, el adiós más dulce (Esteban, the sweetest goodbye); Vavel, 19 May 2014 (in Spanish)

Return to Oviedo On 13 May 2014, Esteban announced he was returning to Oviedo twelve years after leaving."Me quiero despedir dejando al Almería en Primera División" ("I want to say goodbye leaving Almería in Primera División"); UD Almería, 13 May 2014 (in Spanish) An undisputed starter in his first two seasons, he was overtaken by new signing Juan Carlos in 2016–17.Juan Carlos se reivindica (Juan Carlos takes a stand); Marca, 20 July 2017 (in Spanish)

On 29 June 2017, despite Esteban's willingness to play a further season,Esteban quiere jugar y el club piensa en él como entrenador (Esteban wants to play and the club thinks about him as a manager); La Nueva España, 30 June 2017 (in Spanish) he retired and was immediately included in the club's backroom staff.El Oviedo hace público en su web el futuro de sus 26 jugadores (Oviedo turn public future of their 26 players in their web); Marca, 29 June 2017 (in Spanish)

Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAvilés1994–95Segunda División B2010——301995–96Segunda División B38000—60440Total40010—60470Oviedo B1996–97Segunda División B370———3701997–98Segunda División B30———30Total400———400Oviedo1997–98La Liga28010——2901998–99La Liga37000——3701999–2000La Liga38000——3802000–01La Liga38000——3802001–02Segunda División41010——420Total182020——1840Atlético Madrid2002–03La Liga23030——260Sevilla2003–04La Liga30080——3802004–05La Liga2800090—370Total5808090—750Celta2005–06La Liga2040——602006–07La Liga4020100—1602007–08Segunda División27010——280Total33070100—500Almería2008–09La Liga7040——1102009–10La Liga2020——402010–11La Liga5080——1302011–12Segunda División42000——4202012–13Segunda División42000—404602013–14La Liga38000——380Total1360140—401540Oviedo2014–15Segunda División B38020—304302015–16Segunda División30000——3002016–17Segunda División0010——10Total68030—30740Career total58003801901306500

Honours Oviedo Segunda División B: 2014–15¡Campeones! (Champions!); Real Oviedo, 11 June 2015 (in Spanish)

Spain U21 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 1998Príncipes (Princes); Mundo Deportivo, 1 June 1998 (in Spanish)

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