César Caneda

César Caneda
Personal information
Full name	César Fernández de las Heras Caneda
Date of birth	10 May 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Vitoria, Spain
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1994–1995	Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years	Team
1995–1999	Bilbao Athletic
1995	→ Aurrerá (loan)
1998–2005	Athletic Bilbao
1999–2000	→ Salamanca (loan)
2000–2001	→ Sevilla (loan)
2001–2002	→ Racing Santander (loan)
2005–2006	Eibar
2006–2008	Cádiz
2008–2009	Alavés
2009–2010	Guijuelo
2010–2015	Mirandés
2015–2016	Racing Santander
2016–2020	UD Logroñés
2020–2023	SD Logroñés
Total
International career
1996	Spain U18
1997	Spain U20
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

César Fernández de las Heras Caneda (born 10 May 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

He played 382 matches in the Segunda División and 402 in the Segunda División B, in a senior career that spanned more than two decades. In La Liga, he appeared for Athletic Bilbao.

Club career

Caneda was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava. Another product of Athletic Bilbao's prolific youth system at Lezama, he could never however fully establish in the first team, only playing a maximum of ten matches in two different La Liga seasons, also having appeared in the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League.^[1] He was also loaned to UD Salamanca, Sevilla FC and Racing de Santander, all in the Segunda División (he won promotion with the latter two, being regularly used).^[2]^[3]

After his permanent release in 2005, Caneda resumed his career in the second division. He appeared regularly for SD Eibar, Cádiz CF and Deportivo Alavés, but suffered two consecutive relegations with the last two clubs.^[4]

In the summer of 2009, Caneda joined Segunda División B side CD Guijuelo, switching to another team in that tier, CD Mirandés, for 2010–11.^[5] On 24 January 2012, the 33-year-old scored in the last minute of a 2–1 home win against RCD Espanyol in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey following a free kick from Pablo Infante – the competition's top scorer – as the minnows from Castile and León reached the last-four stage after a 4–4 aggregate score.^[6]

Caneda returned to the lower leagues in 2015, going on to represent Racing Santander,^[7] UD Logroñés^[8]^[9] and SD Logroñés and retiring aged 45.^[10]^[11] In August 2022, he played in a pre-season friendly against Deportivo Alavés B, whose team included his 19-year-old son Aritz.^[12]

References

^ Suso, Ramón (10 December 1998). "Julen no falla" [Julen does not fail]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
^ Briones, Macu (21 January 2020). "César Caneda, el eterno exleón" [César Caneda, the eternal former lion] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
^ García Arnáiz, Daniel (1 April 2021). "El 'abuelo' Caneda logra su quinto ascenso de categoría a los 42 años" ['Grandpa' Caneda earns his fifth league promotion at the age of 42] (in Spanish). Nueve Cuatro Uno. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
^ "César Caneda: "Es frustrante, llevo dos temporadas gafado"" [César Caneda: "This is frustrating, a jinx has come over me two seasons ago"]. Diario de Cádiz (in Spanish). 18 June 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
^ "Fichado César Caneda" [César Caneda signed] (in Spanish). CD Mirandés. 20 July 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
^ Aldunate, Ramiro (24 January 2012). "El milagro de Anduva" [Miracle in Anduva]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 January 2012.
^ García, Alberto (31 July 2015). "El Racing ficha a César Caneda" [Racing sign César Caneda]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
^ Abizanda, Jorge (29 October 2018). "César Caneda, la historia del futbolista inagotable" [César Caneda, the story of the tireless footballer]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
^ "César Caneda seguirá un año más liderando la defensa blanquirroja" [César Caneda will continue to lead the white-and-red defence for another year] (in Spanish). UD Logroñés. July 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
^ Río, Endika (8 August 2020). "César Caneda ficha por la SD Logroñés... ¡¡¡a sus 42 años!!!" [César Caneda signs for SD Logroñés... at the age of 42!!!]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 August 2020.
^ Zaballa, Carlos (25 May 2023). "El exrojiblanco César Caneda se retira el sábado a los 45 años" [Former red-and-white César Caneda retires Saturday at age 45]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 September 2023.
^ Bravo, Oier (21 August 2022). "Padre e hijo vitorianos, de 19 y 44 años, se enfrentan en un partido" [Father and son from Vitoria, 19 and 44 years old, face each other in a match]. Gasteiz Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 September 2022.