Rubén Baraja

Rubén Baraja

Personal information
Full name	Rubén Baraja Vegas
Date of birth	(1975-07-11) 11 July 1975
Place of birth	Valladolid, Spain
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Elche (coach)
Youth career
	Valladolid
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1995	Valladolid B	46	(11)
1993–1996	Valladolid	41	(2)
1996–1999	Atlético Madrid B	79	(20)
1999–2000	Atlético Madrid	34	(4)
2000–2010	Valencia	262	(41)
Total		462	(78)
International career
1993	Spain U18	3	(1)
2000–2005	Spain	43	(7)
Managerial career
2011	Atlético Madrid (assistant)
2013–2015	Valencia (youth)
2013	Valencia B (interim)
2015–	Elche
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Baraja and the second or maternal family name is Vegas.

Rubén Baraja Vegas (born 11 July 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer, and the current coach of Elche CF.

A complete central midfielder with good tackling and offensive qualities together with accurate passing and goalscoring ability, he played mostly for Valencia during a 17-year professional career, being an essential figure in five of the club's major titles, which included two La Liga championships.

For five years Baraja was also a consistent part of the Spanish national team, appearing in one World Cup and one European Championship and gaining nearly 50 caps.

Club career

Born in Valladolid, Castile and León, Baraja started his career at local club Real Valladolid before moving to Atlético Madrid, where he would spend two and a half seasons with the B-side, first appearing with the main squad on 7 February 1999 by playing the second half of a 1–2 defeat at UD Salamanca. In the 1998–99 campaign, with the B's in the second division, he scored a career-best 11 goals.

When Atlético was relegated at the end of 1999–2000, Baraja left the club in a 2,000 million pesetas transfer to that year's UEFA Champions League finalists Valencia CF, who were looking to strengthen their central midfield following the sale of first-team players Gerard and Javier Farinós. In his first season he was a key element in the Che's Champions League campaign, as the club was beaten in the final for the second year running, this time losing in a penalty shootout to FC Bayern Munich, with the player scoring on his attempt.

The 2001–02 season would see Baraja's first trophy win, where his goals late in the campaign helped Valencia to their first La Liga title in 31 years – he finished as the club's top scorer in the league, netting seven in only seventeen league games. 2003–04 was another big year, winning both the domestic championship (with eight league goals from him) as well as the UEFA Cup, beating Olympique de Marseille 2–0 in the final.

In 2006–07 Baraja only appeared in 14 league contests as Valencia finished fourth, and continued to be constantly bothered by physical problems in the following years. After two respectable seasons, often partnering longtime central midfield partner David Albelda, he was again greatly troubled with physical problems in the 2009–10 season, appearing in only 18 matches (two complete); on 16 May 2010 he closed his Valencia chapter after one full decade, receiving homages before and after the 1–0 home win against CD Tenerife and being replaced to a standing ovation in the 89th minute. Shortly after the 35-year-old announced his retirement, having appeared in 338 first division games over the course of 15 seasons and scoring 47 goals.

In June 2011 Baraja returned to former team Atlético Madrid, as part of newly appointed manager Gregorio Manzano's coaching staff. In the 2013 summer he returned to main club Valencia, first coaching the youths then the reserves.

On 12 July 2015, Baraja was appointed manager of Elche CF, newly relegated to the second tier.

International career

Baraja made his debut for the Spanish national team on 7 October 2000, in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 2–0 win over Israel. Consequently, he was picked for the final stages, where the team reached the quarter-finals before being sent out by South Korea on penalties, though the player, as the year before with his club, once again scored on his attempt.

Baraja also took part in the disappointing UEFA Euro 2004 tournament, where Spain was eliminated in the group stage by eventual finalists Portugal and Greece. He was left out of the 2006 World Cup squad, as his club presence was also diminished due to recurrent injuries.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 October 2000	Ernst Happel, Vienna, Austria	Austria	1–1	1–1	2002 World Cup qualification
2.	25 April 2001	Nuevo Arcángel, Córdoba, Spain	Japan	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3.	17 April 2002	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	0–2	0–5	Friendly
4.	12 October 2002	Carlos Belmonte, Albacete, Spain	Northern Ireland	1–0	3–0	Euro 2004 qualifying
5.				3–0
6.	18 February 2004	Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain	Peru	2–1	2–1	Friendly
7.	5 June 2004	Alfonso Pérez, Getafe, Spain	Andorra	2–0	4–0	Friendly

Personal life

Baraja's younger brother, Javier, is also a professional footballer. A defender, he too graduated at Valladolid, and went on to spend most of his senior career there.

Honours

Valencia

• UEFA Cup: 2003–04
• UEFA Super Cup: 2004
• La Liga: 2001–02, 2003–04
• Copa del Rey: 2007–08

External links

• Rubén Baraja profile at BDFutbol
• Rubén Baraja manager profile at BDFutbol
• National team data
• CiberChe biography and stats (Spanish)
• Rubén Baraja at National-Football-Teams.com
• Rubén Baraja – FIFA competition record