Alberto Rivera Pizarro

Alberto Rivera

Personal information
Full name	Alberto Rivera Pizarro
Date of birth	16 February 1978 (1978-02-16)
Place of birth	Puertollano, Spain
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Sporting Gijón
Number	5
Youth career
	Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–1996	Real Madrid C	35	(7)
1996–1999	Real Madrid B	73	(20)
1995–2002	Real Madrid	3	(1)
1999–2000	→ Numancia (loan)	29	(1)
2002	→ Marseille (loan)	12	(2)
2002–2005	Levante	113	(17)
2005–2009	Betis	107	(2)
2009–	Sporting Gijón	69	(1)
National team
1993–1994	Spain U16	14	(3)
1995–1996	Spain U18	13	(7)
1997	Spain U20	7	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Rivera and the second or maternal family name is Pizarro.

Alberto Rivera Pizarro (born 16 February 1978 in Puertollano, Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Sporting de Gijón as a central midfielder.

Football career

Real Madrid

A product of Real Madrid's youth ranks, Rivera made his first team debuts aged only 17 (his only appearance for the main squad during 1994–95), scoring in the merengues 2–0 away win to Celta de Vigo, with the La Liga title race already decided. He totalled 35 games and seven goals in 1995–96, for Madrid's C team, playing three additional seasons with Real Madrid Castilla.

Rivera moved to CD Numancia on a loan deal, for 1999–2000. After helping the Soria side barely avoid top division relegation, he returned to Real Madrid, where he played two additional league matches in the following season. In January 2002, he had another loan spell, with Ligue 1's Olympique de Marseille, together with FC Barcelona striker Alfonso Pérez, and appeared regularly for the French side until the end of the season, as Marseille finished ninth.

Levante / Betis

Rivera joined Levante UD in 2002, with the team in the second division. In three seasons he was an undisputed starter, netting a career-high 11 goals in 2003–04's promotion, before moving on to Real Betis upon Levante's immediate relegation (having played in all the games but one, with five goals) for €3.4 million.

Completely established in the top flight as a midfielder with skill and vision, Rivera made 34 league appearances, with seven UEFA Champions League and three additional UEFA Cup games in 2005–06, without finding the net however. The next season he played 27 times, scoring his first Betis goal in a 2–3 away defeat to Villarreal CF, on 5 November 2006.

Sporting

In mid-June 2009, after rejecting Betis' offer of a new deal, and with the Andalusians relegated, Rivera penned a two-year deal with Sporting de Gijón, which had barely retained its league status, arriving on a free transfer.

External links

• Sporting Gijón official profile (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• Alberto Rivera French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• Alberto Rivera – FIFA competition record
• Transfermarkt profile