Willy Caballero

Wilfredo Daniel "Willy" Caballero Lazcano (born 28 September 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City.
He spent most of his career in Spain, representing Elche and Málaga and competing in La Liga with the latter club. In the summer of 2014, he signed for Manchester City.

Boca / Elche

Born in Santa Elena, Entre Ríos, Caballero started his playing career with Boca Juniors in 2001, where he won three major titles in 2003. On 14 December of that year he witnessed – from the bench – his team beat A.C. Milan 3–1 on penalties, in the 2003 Intercontinental Cup.

Caballero joined Elche CF of Spain in 2004, and had a brief loan spell back in his country with Arsenal de Sarandí in 2006. With the former, after a rough first season, he went on to become the undisputed starter, appearing in nearly 200 Segunda División games.

Málaga

On 10 February 2011, Caballero was transferred to Málaga CF in La Liga for €900,000 and two and a half years, as an emergency transfer – after the 31 January transfer deadline – due to a serious knee injury to Sergio Asenjo (the club's previous starter, Rubén, was also unavailable due to physical problems); he made his league debut on 20 February, starting in a 1–1 draw at Villarreal CF, and played all the matches until the end of the campaign, with the Andalusians finally escaping relegation.

On 1 October 2011, Caballero entered Málaga's history books as he kept his goal clean for 480 minutes, beating the club's previous record of 429 held by Pedro Contreras since the 2001–02 season. On 16 October he was sent off midway through the first half of an away fixture against Levante UD, after touching the ball with his hands just outside the box – the hosts eventually won it 3–0.

On 18 January 2012, Caballero signed a contract extension, tying him to the club until 2016. On 25 March, playing against RCD Espanyol, he fractured his left hand early into the game, being sidelined for the rest of the season.

Caballero returned to full fitness for 2012–13, featuring in all but two games and helping the Boquerones to the sixth position. Goal.com named him as the best player in his position for the campaign. At the end of the following season he was nominated as the best goalkeeper in the league, alongside Thibaut Courtois of Atlético Madrid and Keylor Navas of Levante.

Manchester City

On 8 July 2014, Caballero signed a three-year deal with Manchester City, for a fee believed to be in the region of £6 million excluding add-ons. He reunited at his new club with former Málaga manager Manuel Pellegrini, and his competitive debut came on 10 August in the 2014 FA Community Shield, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–3 loss to Arsenal at Wembley Stadium; a week later, in the Premier League opener, he was an unused substitute at Newcastle United.

Caballero's second official appearance for City occurred on 24 September 2014, in the 7–0 home routing of Sheffield Wednesday for the Football League Cup. He made his first league appearance away against Hull City three days later, relegating longtime incumbent Joe Hart to the bench in a 4–2 win.

Caballero's third league match was on 26 September 2015, a 1–4 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur which was described as 'a day to forget'. Throughout the season, he was first-choice in the League Cup, receiving criticism in the national press before the final following the 1–5 loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup where he was adjudged to be at fault for two goals; in the decisive match at Wembley Stadium, he saved three attempts in the 3–1 penalty shootout triumph against Liverpool, and Pellegrini subsequently said he would rather lose the match to keep his word, whilst several pundits added that both player and manager deserved an apology with some remarking the performance was a lesson in loyalty.

Following the appointment of manager Pep Guardiola in the 2016 off-season, Caballero became the starter over Hart. Soon after, with the signing of Claudio Bravo, he returned to his backup role.

Caballero played for Argentina at under-20 level, helping the nation win the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship by playing in the competition's last two games. In 2004 he was picked for the gold medal-winning squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics, as backup to Germán Lux (also first-choice in the previous tournament).

In November 2014, Caballero was called up to the senior squad by Gerardo Martino for friendlies against Croatia and Portugal.

As of match played 1 February 2016

Club

Boca Juniors

• Argentine Primera División: Apertura 2003
• Copa Libertadores: 2003
• Intercontinental Cup: 2003

Manchester City

• Football League Cup: 2015–16

Country

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2001
• Summer Olympic Games: 2004