Sito Riera
Llorenç "Sito" Riera Ortega (born 5 January 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Cypriot club AEL Limassol.
 Riera in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Llorenç Riera Ortega | ||
| Date of birth | 5 January 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Manacor, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | AEL Limassol | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Barcelona | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2006 | Barcelona C | 5 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Barcelona B | 64 | (16) |
| 2007–2008 | Espanyol B | 29 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Espanyol | 0 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | → Panthrakikos (loan) | 28 | (5) |
| 2009–2011 | Panionios | 53 | (7) |
| 2012–2014 | Chornomorets Odesa | 37 | (3) |
| 2014–2016 | Kairat | 41 | (4) |
| 2016–2018 | Śląsk Wrocław | 45 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Enosis Neon | 44 | (5) |
| 2020– | AEL Limassol | 44 | (6) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 January 2022 | |||
A youth and reserve player at Barcelona and Espanyol, he never featured professionally in his own country, going on to spend over a decade abroad. He played top-flight football in Greece, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Poland and Cyprus.
Club career
Born in Manacor, Balearic Islands, Riera represented both major clubs in Barcelona, FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol, but never made it past its B sides. In the 2007–08 season he suffered relegation from the third division with the latter, not managing to find the net in the process.
On 8 July 2009, after a loan experience with Panthrakikos FC,[1] Riera signed with fellow Super League Greece team Panionios FC. On 14 December 2011, player and club mutually terminated the contract.[2]
At the start of March 2014, Riera left FC Chornomorets Odesa – which he represented for one and a half seasons, earning a late red card in his last game for the team, a 1–0 away win against PSV Eindhoven in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League[3]– due to the civil unrest caused by the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.[4] On 23 June 2014 he moved to Kazakhstan, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with FC Kairat.[5]
On 1 April 2016, after three seasons of irregular playing time, Riera left the Almaty Central Stadium,[6] and resumed his career that August with Śląsk Wrocław in the Polish Ekstraklasa, on a two-year deal.[7]
After his stint in Poland, Riera moved to the Cypriot First Division, where he played for Enosis Neon Paralimni FC and AEL Limassol.[8][9]
Personal life
Riera's older brother, Albert, was also a footballer. A winger, he represented, amongst others, Espanyol, Liverpool and the Spanish national team.[10]
Career statistics
- As of match played on 31 August 2019[11]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Panthrakikos (loan) | 2008–09 | Super League Greece | 28 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 5 | |||
| Panionios | 2009–10 | Super League Greece | 25 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | 26 | 5 | |||
| 2010–11 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 23 | 3 | |||||
| 2011–12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 53 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 9 | ||
| Chornomorets | 2011–12 | Ukrainian Premier League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2012–13 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |||||
| 2013–14 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | 29 | 4 | |||
| Total | 37 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 54 | 4 | ||
| Kairat | 2014 | Kazakhstan Premier League | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | 16 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 27 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | 7 | 0 | 37 | 4 | |||
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 41 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 56 | 6 | ||
| Śląsk Wrocław | 2016–17 | Ekstraklasa | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 45 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
| Enosis Neon | 2018–19 | Cypriot First Division | 25 | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | 31 | 4 | |||
| 2019–20 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 21 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 44 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 6 | ||
| Career totals | 248 | 24 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 291 | 30 | ||
References
- Mercado fichajes – Pretemporada 2008/2009 (Transfer market – Preseason 2008/2009) Archived 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine; at Webesport (in Spanish)
- Λύση συνεργασίας με Σίτο Ριέρα (Riera and Panionios part ways) Archived 5 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Panionios FC, 14 December 2011 (in Greek)
- "Dja Djedje has PSV heading for the exit". UEFA. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
- "Five foreign players leave Football Club Chornomorets because of situation in Ukraine". Kyiv Post. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- Риера, Жерар, Исаэль и Куат стали игроками «Кайрата» [Riera, Gerаrd, Isael and Kuat are Кairat players] (in Russian). FC Kairat. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- "Риера – вне заявки" [Riera – Departure] (in Russian). FC Kairat. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- "Sito Riera zawodnikiem Śląska!" [Sito Riera a Śląsk player!] (in Polish). Śląsk Wrocław. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- Jaume, Tommy M. (13 October 2019). "Mallorca exporta su fútbol al extranjero" [Mallorca exports its football abroad] (in Spanish). Mallorca Confidencial. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- Valens, Jaume (5 November 2020). "De Manacor a Chipre: Sito Riera" [From Manacor to Cyprus: Sito Riera] (in Spanish). Tribuna Sol. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- Sito Riera: “Me gustaría jugar en el Mallorca” (Sito Riera: “I would like to play with Mallorca”); Fútbol Balear, 11 August 2010 (in Spanish)
- Sito Riera at Soccerway
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sito Riera. |
- Sito Riera at BDFutbol
- Sito Riera at 90minut.pl (in Polish)