Roberto Canella

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Roberto Canella

| image = RobertoCanella (cropped).jpg

| caption = Canella with Sporting Gijón in 2014

| fullname = Roberto Canella Suárez{{cite news|url=https://en.as.com/resultados/ficha/deportista/canella/16454/|title=Canella|publisher=Diario AS|accessdate=14 September 2022}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|2|7|df=y}}

| birth_place = Laviana, Spain

| height = {{height|m=1.79}}

| position = Left-back

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 = 1995–1999 | youthclubs1 = ACD Alcava

| youthyears2 = 1999–2005 | youthclubs2 = Sporting Gijón

| years1 = 2005–2006 | clubs1 = Sporting Gijón B | caps1 = 16 | goals1 = 0

| years2 = 2006–2019 | clubs2 = Sporting Gijón | caps2 = 305 | goals2 = 8

| years3 = 2014–2015 | clubs3 = → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) | caps3 = 9 | goals3 = 0

| years4 = 2019–2022 | clubs4 = Lugo | caps4 = 72 | goals4 = 0

| years5 = 2022–2023 | clubs5 = Calahorra | caps5 = 12 | goals5 = 0

| totalcaps = | totalgoals =

| nationalyears1 = 2006–2007 | nationalteam1 = Spain U19 | nationalcaps1 = 5 | nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 2007 | nationalteam2 = Spain U20 | nationalcaps2 = 3 | nationalgoals2 = 0

| nationalyears3 = 2008–2010 | nationalteam3 = Spain U21 | nationalcaps3 = 11 | nationalgoals3 = 0

| club-update = 17:12, 19 January 2023 (UTC)

| nationalteam-update =

}}

Roberto Canella Suárez (born 7 February 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back.

He spent most of his professional career with Sporting de Gijón since making his debut with the first team at the age of 18, going on to appear in 313 official matches. Of those, 129 were in La Liga (four goals).

Canella represented Spain at under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels.

Club career

=Sporting Gijón=

Canella was born in Laviana, Asturias. A product of Sporting de Gijón's cantera[http://www.elcomercio.es/prensa/20060823/deportes/sporting-roberto-canella-para_20060823.html El Sporting ata a Roberto Canella para los próximos cuatro años (Sporting tie Roberto Canella for the next four years)]; El Comercio, 23 August 2006 (in Spanish) he first appeared with the main squad during 2006–07, and established himself as first choice the following season as they returned to La Liga after a ten-year hiatus.[http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2008/06/16/pagina-35/589647/pdf.html El Sporting regresa a la élite (Sporting return to the elite)]; Mundo Deportivo, 16 June 2008 (in Spanish)

Canella scored his first top-flight goal on 5 October 2008 in a 2–0 away win against RCD Mallorca,[https://web.archive.org/web/20121026100141/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/252978?cc=5739 Mallorca 0–2 Sporting Gijon]; ESPN Soccernet, 5 October 2008 being a starter throughout the campaign. According to Cadena COPE, Real Madrid was likely to acquire his services for 2009–10.[http://www.realmadridweb.com/de-roberto-canella-y-el-real-madrid/ De Roberto Canella y el Real Madrid (Of Roberto Canella and Real Madrid)]; Real Madrid Web, 13 January 2009 (in Spanish) Eventually nothing came of it, and the player again occupied the left-back position for the vast majority of the season, with Sporting again retaining their league status.[http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2010/05/09/pagina-34/5599997/pdf.html El Atlético cumple el trámite en Gijón (Atlético go through the procedures in Gijón)]; Mundo Deportivo, 9 May 2010 (in Spanish)

In the following years, Canella continued battling for position with another club youth graduate, José Ángel, with both players appearing in roughly the same number of matches.[http://www.marca.com/2009/03/26/futbol/equipos/sporting/1238083846.html José Ángel y Canella, premiados con el 'Mets Bat' (José Ángel and Canella, awarded the 'Mets Bat')]; Marca, 26 March 2009 (in Spanish)[http://www.lne.es/deportes/2009/11/21/gripe-frena-canella/837225.html La gripe frena a Canella (Flu stops Canella)]; La Nueva España, 21 November 2009 (in Spanish) In 2011–12, following the latter's departure to AS Roma, he became the starter for the Manuel Preciado-led side.[http://www.lne.es/deportes/2011/02/02/lateral-asume-roberto-canella-siga-titular/1028200.html El lateral asume que Roberto Canella siga como titular (Fullback resigned to Roberto Canella being the starter)]; La Nueva España, 2 February 2011 (in Spanish)[http://www.lne.es/deportes/2013/11/08/canella-bicentenario/1496155.html Canella, el bicentenario (Canella, the bicentennial)]; La Nueva España, 8 November 2013 (in Spanish)

On 27 June 2014, Canella was loaned to Deportivo de La Coruña, recently returned to the top tier.[http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/deportivo/2014/06/26/canella-llega-deportivo-cedido-temporada/00031403791969121263883.htm Canella llega al Deportivo cedido por una temporada (Canella arrives to Deportivo on loan for one season)]; La Voz de Galicia, 27 June 2014 (in Spanish) On 22 June 2019, the 31-year-old left Sporting after spending 20 years at the club and playing more than 300 competitive games for them.{{cite news|url=https://www.elcomercio.es/sporting/sueno-guajin-laviana-20190622012730-ntvo.html?vca=dgtk-rrss-ecm&vso=tw&vmc=social&vli=ecm&_tcode=b2k3ejMy|title=Roberto Canella: "Este fue el sueño de un 'guajín' de Laviana"|trans-title=Roberto Canella: "This was the dream of a child from Laviana"|publisher=El Comercio|language=Spanish|date=22 June 2019|accessdate=23 June 2019}}

=Later career=

On 27 July 2019, free agent Canella signed a two-year deal with CD Lugo of Segunda División.{{cite web|url=http://www.cdlugo.com/noticia/rober-canella-nuevo-jugador-del-cd-lugo|title=Rober Canella, nuevo jugador del CD Lugo|trans-title=Rober Canella, new player of CD Lugo|publisher=CD Lugo|language=Spanish|date=27 July 2019|accessdate=31 July 2019}} Three years later, the 34-year-old joined Primera Federación team CD Calahorra.{{cite web|url=https://www.eldesmarque.com/asturias/sporting/noticias/212563-sobre-la-bocina-roberto-canella-encuentra-equipo-en-primera-rfef|title=Sobre la bocina, Roberto Canella encuentra equipo en Primera RFEF|trans-title=At the buzzer, Roberto Canella finds a team in Primera RFEF|publisher=El Desmarque|language=Spanish|date=1 September 2022|accessdate=19 January 2023}}

International career

Internationally, Canella helped Spain to win the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Championship,[http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2006/07/16/pagina-27/835314/pdf.html Europeo Sub-19 (Under-19 European Championship)]; Mundo Deportivo, 16 July 2006 (in Spanish)[http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/under19/history/season=2006/round=2229/match=84496/index.html Bueno double gives Spain glory] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130105014404/http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/under19/history/season=2006/round=2229/match=84496/index.html|date=5 January 2013}}; UEFA, 29 July 2006 played at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup still being under-19[http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2007/06/30/pagina-24/883619/pdf.html Empieza la sucesión de Messi (Messi's succession begins)]; Mundo Deportivo, 30 June 2007 (in Spanish) and then moved to the under-21s.[http://www.lne.es/deportes/2010/02/28/canella-jose-angel-botia-azpilicueta-gijon---sub-21/879572.html Canella, José Ángel, Botía y Azpilicueta, de Gijón a la sub-21 (Canella, José Ángel, Botía and Azpilicueta, from Gijón to the under-21)]; La Nueva España, 28 February 2010 (in Spanish)