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Name: Marco Asensio Willemsen Nickname: Marco or "Pichabro" Date of birth: 21 January 1996 Height: 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Birthplace: Palma, Spain Residence: Madrid, Spain Parents: Gilberto Asensio and Maria Willemsen (deceased) Current team: Real Madrid Number: 20 Playing position: Attacking midfielder / Winger BIOGRAPHY: Early life Born in Palma, Majorca, Balearic Islands to a Dutch mother and a Spanish father, Asensio joined RCD Mallorca in 2006 from CF Platges de Calvià. His mother, Maria Willemsen, died of cancer when he was 15. Asensio struggled with growth deficiencies in his knees during his youth, which only healed in his teens. Club career Mallorca After being scouted by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Asensio made his senior debuts with Mallorca's reserves in the 2013–14 season in Tercera División, despite still being a junior; on 27 October 2013 he made his first competitive appearance for the first team, playing the last six minutes in a 1–3 away loss against Recreativo de Huelva for the Segunda División championship. Again from the bench, Asensio played the last six minutes in a 0–0 home draw against CD Lugo. After impressing in his first games, he was promoted to the first team by manager José Luis Oltra. Asensio scored his first professional goal on 16 March 2014, netting the first in a 2–0 home win over CD Tenerife. He was made a starter under new coach Valeri Karpin, scoring against CA Osasuna, Deportivo Alavés and UE Llagostera within a month. Real Madrid On 24 November 2014, Real Madrid reached an agreement in principle to sign Asensio. On 5 December the deal was officially announced, with the player signing a six-year deal for a €3.9 million fee and remaining with the Bermellones on loan until the end of the campaign. On 20 August 2015, after making the whole pre-season with Real Madrid, Asensio was loaned to RCD Espanyol in La Liga. He played his first game in the competition on 19 September, featuring 86 minutes in a 3–2 success at Real Sociedad, and he ended his spell at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with 12 overall assists. Returned to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for 2016–17, Asensio's first competitive appearance took place on 9 August, as he played the full 120 minutes and scored through a 25-meter effort in a 3–2 win against fellow Spaniards Sevilla FC for the UEFA Super Cup. He made his first league start 12 days later, netting the second goal in a 3–0 success at Real Sociedad. Asensio featured 23 times over his first season, scoring three times as the club won the national championship for the first time since 2012. He added as many goals in that year's UEFA Champions League, including one in the final against Juventus FC (4–1 in Cardiff) to give the Spaniards their twelfth title in the latter competition. Asensio scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season with a 25-yard finish in a 3–1 win against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou, for the Supercopa de España, He repeated the feat with a similarly spectacular effort in the second leg, in a 5–1 aggregate triumph. On 28 September 2017, Asensio extended his contract until 2023. International career After being a regular for Spain at youth level, Asensio made his debut for the under-21 team on 26 March 2015, coming on as a late substitute for goalscorer Gerard Deulofeu in a 2–0 friendly win over Norway in Cartagena. In July, he was part of the victorious under-19 side at the UEFA European Championship in Greece, where he scored both goals in a semi-final victory over France in Katerini, in the 88th minute and in added time. On 17 May 2016, Asensio and Espanyol teammate Pau López were called up to the full side for a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He made his debut on the 29th, starting in the 3–1 win in Switzerland. Selected for the 2017 European Under-21 Championship finals by manager Albert Celades, Asensio scored a hat-trick in his debut in the competition, helping to a 5–0 group stage routing of Macedonia. Personal life Asensio's father, Gilberto, was also a footballer. Also an attacking midfielder, he represented Barakaldo CF as a youth. His elder brother, Igor, notably played for Platges de Calvià as a defender. Honours With Real Madrid: La Liga: 2016–17 Supercopa de España: 2017 UEFA Champions League: 2016–17 UEFA Super Cup: 2016, 2017 FIFA Club World Cup: 2016 International: UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2015 Individual: Segunda División Player of the Month: October 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship: Golden Player 2015 La Liga Awards Breakthrough Player: 2015–16 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Silver Boot 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Team of the Tournament 2017 DISCLAIMER: i know this is kind of backwards because i've posted recent pics first and older ones later, but the thread has been created in 2017 and there's just a lot of info and photos about him that hasn't been posted yet (obviously) so i'll just keep updating with the most recent info and then inbetween those posts there will be a few old photos of his friends, family and ex-girlfriend CREDITS: all pictures and gifs are taken from tumblr unless stated otherwise tumblr credits: puliszic, pichabros, gfsports, madridistaforever and marcoasensio