Diego Cervero Otero (born 13 August 1983) is a Spanish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. He spent most of his career with

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

, representing the club in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

and

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. In the second competition, he played 363 games and scored 140 goals.

Club career

Born in

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, Cervero graduated from

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

's youth setup, and made his senior debut with the reserves in the 2000–01 season, in

. In the summer of 2003 he was promoted to the main squad, now also in the fourth division, appearing regularly for the side over a three-year spell. In August 2006, Cervero went on a trial at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

after turning down a new contract from Oviedo. However, nothing came of it and he moved to

UD Marbella Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Dama de Noche football groun ...

, signing in the subsequent

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

with

CD Lealtad Club Deportivo Lealtad de Villaviciosa (English: Loyalty Sporting Club of Villaviciosa) is a Spanish football team based in Villaviciosa, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1916, it plays in , holding home games at ''Les Caley ...

. Cervero returned to Oviedo in July 2007, and scored a career-best 35 goals in the 2008–09 campaign. On 15 July 2009, he signed a three-year deal with

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Estad ...

. On 5 July 2012, Cervero returned to his former club Oviedo after agreeing to a three-year contract. He renewed his link in June 2014, also accepting a pay cut. For most of his stint, he acted as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. Cervero made his

debut on 23 August 2015, aged 32, coming on as a late substitute for

Miguel Linares Miguel Linares Cólera (born 30 September 1982) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Club career Born in Zaragoza, Aragon, Linares began his career at ...

in a 2–2 home draw against

CD Lugo Club Deportivo Lugo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Primera Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio Anxo ...

. He returned to the third tier in August 2016, signing for

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

. After reaching the play-offs, he moved one year later to

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

, where he was the group's top scorer with 23 goals in his debut campaign, yet his side failed to promote at the same hurdle. On 6 September 2018, the 35-year-old Cervero joined

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The original Burgos CF (1936), Burgos CF was dissolved in 1983 after becoming Insolven ...

also in the third division. He continued to compete at that level the following years, with

CD Atlético Baleares Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Palma de Mallorca, Palma, the capital of the Mallorca, island of Mallorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Foun ...

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Basque football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in , holding home stadium is '' Lasesarre'', with a 7,960 Seat Capacity. History Barakaldo pla ...

and

Atlético Sanluqueño CF Atlético Sanluqueño Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1948, although its registration in official competitions took place in 195 ...

. In February 2022, Cervero moved to the newly created Segunda División RFEF with

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

. In May, after finishing first in the group and being promoted to the

Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

, he announced his retirement from football.

Personal life

Like his father Rafael, Cervero was a qualified doctor. The former was also the Spanish record-holder for the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

in the 1950s.

Honours

Oviedo *

: 2014–15

References

External links

Oviedo official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cervero, Diego 1983 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Oviedo Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players Real Oviedo Vetusta players Real Oviedo players Marbella FC players CD Lealtad players UD Logroñés players CF Fuenlabrada footballers CD Mirandés footballers Burgos CF footballers CD Atlético Baleares footballers Barakaldo CF footballers Atlético Sanluqueño CF players CD Numancia players