Rubén Baraja

Rubén Baraja Vegas ( born July 11, 1975 in Valladolid ) is a former Spanish footballer, who spent most of his career at Valencia in the Primera División.

The strengths of the prolific central midfielder lay in his fit, his eye for the free man and his good tackles.

Association

Baraja began his career with his hometown club, Real Valladolid, before joining Atlético Madrid B in 1996. There he was two and a half years regular player until he first played for the first team in February 1999 in the 1-2 defeat against UD Salamanca. After Atlético relegation at the end of the 1999/2000 season in the Segunda División, Baraja changed for almost 10 million euros to FC Valencia, which needed a new midfielder by the disposals of Claudio López and Javier Farinós. He made his debut on 9 September 2000 against Real Madrid. Baraja was later one of the key players who made ​​sure that Valencia 2001 moved into the Champions League final, where they lost against Bayern Munich on penalties. The following season was very successful for him, he helped his team with vital goals at the end of the season to the first championship in 31 years. In the season 2002/ 03 he played 35 of 38 league games, but Valencia was only fifth in the league. The subsequent season was again very successful, he won the UEFA Cup with Valencia with a 2-0 victory in the final against Olympique Marseille.

In the season 2006/ 07 Baraja had to struggle with injury problems and was able to only 14 games contest. 2007/ 08 he won with Valencia despite a disappointing league position (10th) Spanish Cup. After three seasons in which he regularly on the side of David Albelda, in part as a captain, went aground, he finished his career after the 2009/10 season.

National

Since October 7, 2000, when he made his debut in a 2-0 victory over Israel, he has played 43 times for the Spanish national football team. Baraja participated with Spain at the 2002 World Cup, where he played in all four games over the full season before Spain failed in the second round to South Korea on penalties. Also, the next major tournament, the 2004 European Cup, he took part. He played in each of the three group games. For the 2006 World Cup, he was not taken into account by Luis Aragonés.

Achievements

• Spanish Champion: 2002, 2004
• Spanish Cup winner: 2008
• European Supercup winner: 2004
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 2004
• Participation in the 2002 World Cup (4 inserts)
• Participation in the 2004 European Cup (3 inserts)

Others

His younger brother Javier is also a professional footballer and is currently available at Real Valladolid under contract.