| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Unai Vergara Díez-Caballero | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1977-01-20)20 January 1977 (age 48) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Portugalete, Spain | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position | Centre back | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Masnou | ||||||||||||||
| Ferrán Martorell | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Sant Andreu | 31 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Gramenet | 70 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Mérida | 38 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2000–2004 | Villarreal | 60 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | →Albacete (loan) | 14 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Elche | 15 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Lleida | 26 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Gavà | 34 | (3) | |||||||||||
| Total | 288 | (22) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Spain U21 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2000 | Spain U23 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2001 | Spain | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Unai Vergara Díez-Caballero (born 20 January 1977), known simply asUnai, is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as acentral defender.
He amassedLa Liga totals of 74 matches and five goals over four seasons, almost exclusively withVillarreal. The owner of a powerful left-foot shot,[1] he also played in the competition withAlbacete.
Unai inPortugalete,Biscay. After three seasons playing with modest sides in theCatalonia area, he representedCP Mérida in1999–2000'ssecond division, where he produced a fine individual campaign; however, although theExtremadura team finished sixth, the club was relegated for lack of payment to its players.
Subsequently, Unai joinedVillarreal CF, which had just returned toLa Liga. He was relatively used during three seasons, also adding three goals inhis first. His first match in the competition took place on 28 October 2000, when he camefrom the bench in a 0–0 home draw againstAthletic Bilbao.[2]
After a string of injuries (some serious), Unai had an unassuming loan spell atAlbacete Balompié, being released in June 2004 and going on to representElche CF,UE Lleida (second level) andCF Gavà (third).[3]
On 28 February 2001, Unai made his sole appearance forSpain, playing 90 minutes in a 0–3friendly loss againstEngland inBirmingham.[4] Previously, he representedthe nation at the2000 Summer Olympics, playing three times for theeventual silver medalists.[5]
Unai was the first-ever Villarreal player to be called up for either team.[1]
Spain U23
