Pedro Cordero Sánchez

Cartagena FC

Cordero was born in Cartagena in the Region of Murcia, and began his career with local side Cartagena FC. He made his debut for the Segunda División club at the age of 18, in a 1–0 home win over Sestao Sport on 17 December 1986. He came on as a substitute for Jesús Crespo with 12 minutes remaining. He made his first start in a 4–0 away loss to Real Oviedo at Estadio Carlos Tartiere on 11 January, and two weeks later he scored his first goal in a 2–1 away win over Hércules at Estadio José Rico Pérez. This earned him his first home start, which came on 1 February in a 2–1 win over Recreativo de Huelva. He made 20 appearances that season, and scored twice more.

Real Murcia

Cordero's fine performances with Cartagena earned him a move to the region's top team, La Liga side Real Murcia. He made his top flight debut in the first match of the 1987–88 season, a 1–0 away defeat at the hands of Osasuna at Estadio El Sadar on 30 August. A week later, he marked his home debut with a goal in a 2–1 win over Las Palmas at Estadio de La Condomina. At the end of the season, Murcia found themselves 17th in the table, and so faced a relegation playoff. In the home first leg against Rayo Vallecano, Murcia grasped a 2–0 lead just before the hour mark, with goals from Salvo Mejías and Juanjo. Cordero was brought on in place of Eugenio with 15 minutes left, and Murcia put themselves in a commanding position with a third goal from Manolo just before the end. Cordero…

Cordero received a call-up to the Spain U21 team for the 1988–89 season, but he did not play in any matches. He never had a call-up to the Spain national team.

Since his retirement, Cordero has had an extensive technical career with many clubs in Spain. His first such role was as the sporting director of Torrevieja, which he held during the 2006–07 Tercera División season. After a year out, he took up the same role with Águilas in 2008. He worked with the Segunda División B club for two seasons, but at the end of the latter season, the club was dissolved due to serious economic problems. He then joined Granada CF, working as a technical analyst under his brother Juan Carlos. He held this post during the 2010–11 Segunda División season, in which Granada earned promotion to La Liga for the first time since 1975–76 via the playoffs. This success allowed Cordero to take on the more senior role of sporting director at Tenerife. He helped the club to second place in their group in the 2011–12 Segunda División B campaign, but their promotion dreams were dashed at the last hurdle in the playoffs by Ponferradina. He left the club following this failure, and returned to his previous role as a technical analyst at Granada. After an uneventful 2012–13 La Liga season, he left once again, becoming sporting director of Córdoba in December 2013. Cordero guided Córdoba back to La Liga for the first time since 1971–72 at the first attempt, as they were promoted via the playoffs. However, they were relegated in last place after just one season in the top flight, and Cordero was fired in May 2015. In the winter of 2016, Cordero joined forces with…

Cordero is the eldest of three footballing brothers. Middle brother Juan Carlos, six years younger, played for a succession of Segunda División B clubs as a forward during the 1990s, and also made four Segunda División appearances for Écija Balompié during 1995–96. He also played for the Spain Under-20s in the 1993 Alcudia Trophy, appearing in matches against Georgia and Ukraine. He and Pedro worked together at both Granada CF and Cádiz after their playing careers. Youngest brother Jorge, nine years Pedro's junior, was also a midfielder, and like Pedro his clubs included Cartagonova and Ciudad de Murcia. He also had a spell with Real Mallorca around the turn of the millennium, with whom he played twice in La Liga and appeared in the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Jorge later worked with Pedro at Elche. In February 2016, Cordero launched his own restaurant in his hometown of Cartagena, called La Bodega Real. The opening night was attended by many celebrities including his brothers, former teammate and Tenerife colleague Manolo Sánchez, and Cartagena left winger Chus Hevia.