Thursday, July 8, 2010

David Villa




David Villa

Personal information
Full name David Villa Sánchez
Date of birth 3 December 1981 (1981-12-03) (age 28)
Place of birth Langreo, Spain
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Barcelona
Number 7
Youth career
1991–1999 Langreo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Sporting Gijón B 65 (25)
2001–2003 Sporting Gijón 80 (38)
2003–2005 Zaragoza 73 (32)
2005–2010 Valencia 166 (107)
2010– Barcelona 0 (0)
National team
2000–2003 Spain U21 7 (0)
2005– Spain 64 (43)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 July 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 July 2010 (UTC)

David Villa Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈβið ˈβiʎa]; born 3 December 1981), nicknamed El Guaje (The Kid in Asturian), is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a striker for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team.

Despite sustaining a serious injury as a child, he started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón and made his debut in 2000 in Spain's Segunda División. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, after a total of 38 goals and 80 appearances for Gijón. He made his La Liga debut at Zaragoza and scored 31 goals in 73 appearances in the next two seasons, winning the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España, his first senior honours. He joined Valencia CF in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million. He was the second highest scorer in the 2005–06 season with 25 goals, and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey for a seventh time in the 2007–08 season. In 2010 he moved to Barcelona for €40 million.

Villa made his international debut in 2005 against San Marino. He has since participated in three major tournaments: 2006 World Cup, Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was top scorer at Euro 2008 with four goals and another five at the 2010 World Cup. He is the second all-time scorer for Spain, trailing Raúl González's record of 44 goals. Statistics (based on goal importance and the tournament they were scored in) demonstrate Villa to be the most prolific goalscorer in the world between 2005–2009, seeing the back of the net over 156 times, while the IFFHS listed him 4th in the "World's Top Goal Scorer 2009" rankings, while in 2010, he came 1st in their "2010's World Top Goalscorer at International Level" rankings. Villa has two children with his wife Patricia and often attends charity events supported by sports personalities.

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