Ricardo Cabanas

Ricardo Cabanas 2006

Ricardo Cabanas ( born January 17, 1979 in Zurich ) is a former Swiss football player. He played in central midfield.

Club career

Cabanas, son of Spanish parents, was in teenage years already almost the end of his career because he suffered from arthritis in his right knee at the age of 15 years.

His professional career began at the Grasshopper Club Zurich, then she led him in 2003 to the then French first division side Guingamp. From January 2004, played Cabanas, who speaks five languages ​​( German, English, Spanish, French and Italian), again for the Grasshoppers, where he was also determined to captain. In January 2006, he succeeded his former coach Hanspeter Latour in the German Bundesliga and signed a contract with FC Cologne 1 with a term until the end of the 2009/2010 season; the transfer fee was € 650,000. In Cologne he received the nickname Kabänes, a well-known in the area bitters. On 13 June 2007, he broke up his contract with Cologne and went back to the Swiss club Grasshoppers Zurich, where he received a five- year contract again. After having expired in the summer of 2012, he ended his active career as a footballer.

National

After Cabanas had adopted in 1998, the Swiss citizenship, he was first inserted into the U-21 national team. With it he achieved at the 2002 European Championship in Switzerland the semifinals. After the European Championships, he was inducted into the Swiss national team and took her part in the 2004 European Cup in Portugal.

In the qualifying round for the 2006 World Cup he was voted the best fielder in the away game of the Swiss in France on 26 March 2005 at the Stade de France in the sports newspaper L' Équipe. Another success in his national team career was the qualification of Switzerland for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He reached with his team the next round, which was unlucky to lose on penalties against Ukraine. Cabanas missed doing his kick as his teammates Streller and Barnetta.

In 51 international matches get him four goals. At the 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland, he was last in the squad Switzerland.

Family

Cabanas is married and the father of two children.