Victor Valdes
Barcelona legend and five-time Zamora Trophy winner
Víctor Valdés Arribas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiɣtoɾ βalˈdes aˈriβas]; born 14 January 1982) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He spent most of his professional career with Barcelona in La Liga appearing in 535 official games whilst winning 21 major titles. Valdés won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for the league's least scored-against goalkeeper five times, four of which consecutively. After leaving Barcelona in 2014, he played for Manchester United, Standard Liège and Middlesbrough before retiring in 2017. Valdés played 20 games for Spain between 2010 and 2014, with most of his international career being as a back-up to Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina. He was part of the Barcelona team that defeated Real Madrid 6–2 and 5–0, respectively, in 2009 and 2010.
Quick Facts
- Full name
- Víctor Valdés Arribas
- Born
- 14 January 1982
- Birthplace
- L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
- Height
- 1.83 m / 6 ft
- Position
- Goalkeeper
- Total caps
- 509
Facts from the source article.
Background
Valdés was born in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia, and raised in nearby Gavà, while his family was originally from Puebla de Sanabria in the Province of Zamora. He started his career with Peña Cinco Copas in 1992. That September, he moved with his family to Tenerife, where he joined UD Ibarra, and he returned to Catalonia in 1995 to join FC Barcelona's La Masia academy. He made his first team debut against Legia Warsaw in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League on 14 August 2002.
In the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League winning campaign, he saved from Arsenal forward Thierry Henry as Barcelona came from behind to win the final 2–1 at the Stade de France. Rijkaard singled him out for praise for this save, and teammate Deco said that the comeback would never have happened without the stop. On 17 June 2007, Valdés matched a goalkeeping record held by former Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta by starting, and never being substituted, in all 38 matches of the La Liga season.
He set the Barcelona club record for not conceding a goal in European competition with a clean sheet against Rangers on 7 November 2007, which saw him re-write the Barça record books after not conceding a goal for 466 minutes. On 3 February 2008, Valdés captained Barcelona for the first time in a 1-0 league win at home against Osasuna. On 27 May 2009, Barcelona beat Manchester United 2–0 in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to complete an unprecedented treble of La Liga, Champions League, and Copa del Rey.
In the match, Valdés made two saves from attempts by Cristiano Ronaldo in both halves. On 29 August 2011, Valdés played his 410th match with Barcelona and equaled Andoni Zubizarreta's record as Barcelona's goalkeeper with the most appearances. On 1 May 2013, in a 3–0 Champions League semi-final loss to Bayern Munich at Camp Nou, Valdés made his 100th appearance in the competition, becoming the 17th player to do so. He currently holds the club records as goalkeeper with most appearances in the league and in official competition, breaking Andoni Zubizarreta's records during the 2011–12 season.
Did You Know?
- He saved a crucial shot from Thierry Henry in the 2006 Champions League final, which teammate Deco said made the comeback possible.
- Valdés matched Andoni Zubizarreta's record by starting all 38 La Liga matches in the 2006–07 season.
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