Background and career
Fábio Alexandre da Silva Coentrão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈfaβju kwẽˈtɾɐ̃w]; born 11 March 1988) is a Portuguese former professional footballer. Mainly a left-back, he also operated as a winger and occasionally as a defensive midfielder. After starting playing professionally with Rio Ave, he signed for Benfica at 19, going on to be loaned several times before becoming an important member of the first team as a left-back. He joined Real Madrid in 2011, and retired ten years later at his first club. A Portugal international over eight years, Coentrão represented the nation in two World Cups and Euro 2012.
Born in Vila do Conde, Coentrão grew up in the Caxinas fishing neighbourhood, as did his long-time international teammates Bruno Alves and Hélder Postiga. He joined his hometown's Rio Ave F.C. in 2004 at the age of 16, playing three Primeira Liga games in the following season for a northern side that would be relegated. In 2006–07 he established himself as first-choice, as Rio Ave barely missed promotion back and had a good run in the Taça de Portugal, ended by Sporting CP with a 2–1 win in Lisbon; whilst playing for the club, he earned the nickname "Figo das Caxinas". After that season, where he was voted the divisions' Breakthrough Player of the Year, many clubs showed interest in Coentrão, most notably Sporting and S.L. Benfica, with him choosing the latter in July 2007. His playing style was likened to that of Arjen Robben by World Soccer Magazine, in its 50 World Talents 2007 issue.
On 1 January 2008, having received insignificant playing opportunities at Benfica, Coentrão joined Madeira's C.D. Nacional on loan until the end of the season. On 3 May, he scored twice in a 3–0 away victory against already crowned league champions FC Porto. In the summer of 2008, Coentrão transferred to Real Zaragoza, recently relegated into Spain's Segunda División. After almost no appearances during the campaign, however, he returned to Portugal and Rio Ave in January 2009, still owned by Benfica. On 15 February he scored following an individual effort, albeit in a 3–1 loss at Porto. Coentrão extended his contract in late October 2009 until 2015, with a release clause of €30 million. On 2 December, having played some matches as a left-back, he scored his first goal in European competition, against FC BATE Borisov of Belarus in a 2–1 away win in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. On 10 February 2010, Benfica sold 20% of Coentrão's economic rights on any future transfer to a third party owner, Benfica Stars Fund, along with other teammates. He was tagged at €15 million, with the fund paying €3 million. During that season, he had a breakthrough year, appearing in a total of 45 games to win the league and the Taça da Liga; for his performances, he was voted Portuguese League Breakthrough Player of the Year. On 27 September 2010, fully established with both his club and the national team, the 22-year-old Coentrão renewed his link until 2016. On 2 November he scored his first career brace, helping to a 4–3 home defeat of Olympique Lyonnais in the group phase of the UEFA Champions League – in a 67-minute fast break, he combined with Carlos Martins to make it 4–0 for the hosts.
On 5 July 2011, after extensive negotiations, Benfica and Real Madrid reached an agreement in principle over the transfer of Coentrão, who signed a six-year contract the same day for €30 million– Ezequiel Garay went in the other direction as part of the deal. He made his debut in a pre-season friendly against the Los Angeles Galaxy on the 16th, creating an assist for Karim Benzema. His first two official games were against FC Barcelona in the Supercopa de España: in the first leg, he came on as a substitute for Sami Khedira in the second half of a 2–2 home draw and played as a defensive midfielder, and he started at left-back in the second match, a 3–2 loss at the Camp Nou.
Coentrão made his La Liga debut on 28 August 2011 at former club Zaragoza, appearing as a central midfielder in a 6–0 rout (90 minutes played). While he featured mostly in these positions, he was also deployed by manager José Mourinho as a right-back, against Sporting de Gijón on 3 December and against Barcelona the following week, winning the league in his first year. In the last minutes of the second matchday in the 2012–13 season, Coentrão was sent off after insulting referee Pérez Lasa whilst on the substitutes bench, in an eventual 2–1 defeat at Getafe CF. He subsequently received a four-match ban. Coentrão scored his first goal with Real Madrid on 16 December 2012, netting after a Cristiano Ronaldo pass to help the hosts come from behind against RCD Espanyol, as the game eventually ended 2–2. On 2 September of the following year, Manchester United launched a late loan bid for him on transfer deadline day. It was accepted by the Spaniards, but the deal fell through when they failed to secure a replacement in Guilherme Siqueira from Granada CF, who subsequently joined Benfica on loan. Coentrão started the play that led to Gareth Bale's individual effort for the 2–1 winner over Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey. He also started both legs of the Champions League semi-final against holders FC Bayern Munich as Real Madrid dismantled the opposition 5–0 on aggregate en route to their tenth European title, La Décima. Still under manager Carlo Ancelotti, Coentrão was sparingly played in the 2014–15 campaign mainly due to injuries, with only five league starts out of nine appearances. On 26 August 2015, it was announced he was loaned to AS Monaco FC in a season-long move. He made his competitive debut against Gazélec Ajaccio on 13 September, replacing Adama Traoré in an eventual 1–0 away win, and scored his first goal for his new team 11 days later to help the visitors come from behind at Montpellier HSC to win 3–2. As Madrid won the league championship in 2016–17, in which Coentrão contributed with just three appearances. He himself admitted not being fit enough to represent the club; in the season's Champions League he appeared in two group stage games, and his team won the competition for the second consecutive time. On 5 July 2017, Coentrão was loaned to Sporting in a season-long move, despite having stated that in Portugal he would only play for Benfica.
After terminating his contract with Real Madrid, Coentrão signed with Rio Ave for one season on 31 August 2018. He received 11 yellow cards and two red, was released on 30 June 2019 and did not find a new club for the start of 2019–20. On 29 January 2020, Coentrão announced his retirement from professional football. In October, however, he agreed to a new one-year deal at the Estádio dos Arcos.
