Quick Facts
Biography
Daniel Chabrera Ríos (born 17 February 1992) more commonly known as Dani, is a professional Spanish footballer turned coach who played and coaches as a goalkeeper.
Playing career
Dani was scouted as a goalkeeper at the young age of 11 by Spanish side Villarreal CF. It would be with this team that Dani dedicated 18 years of his professional career. Dani progressed through the academy with Villarreal CF as a player between 2001–2013. Along with teammate Marcos Senna, Dani was awarded ‘The Yellow Submarine’ (a symbol of Villarreal CF), a prestigious award given to players marking 10 years with the club.
Coaching career
In 2013, Dani decided to turn his talent into coaching and became goalkeeper coach for Villarreal CF. Again, showing his talent for coaching, Dani was promoted to coordinator and coached the C, B and eventually First Team. During the summer of 2018, Dani was asked to coach the Indian National Football Team U-21s during the International Football Tournament COTIF.
In 2018, Dani's talent was noticed by Portuguese football coach Hélder Cristóvão, who met with Dani and asked him to join him and a team of four other coaching staff in Saudi Arabia to be goalkeeper coach and coordinator for Al-Nassr FC. After a successful season and winning both the Saudi Professional League and U-21s League, fellow Saudi club Ettifaq FC requested Dani and his coaching team to coach their final few matches of the season in an attempt to avoid relegation, in which they positively delivered. Additionally, Dani organises and coaches annual International Football Camps and lectures football coaching seminars across Spain.