Guti

José María Gutiérrez Hernández, commonly known as Guti or 'Guti Haz' as it says on Guti shirt. (born October 31, 1976 in Torrejón de Ardoz, Community of Madrid), is a Spain Association football who currently plays for Real Madrid C.F..

Alongside Raúl González, Míchel Salgado and Iker Casillas, the Midfielder Attacking midfielder serves as Captain (football), and played at the club Guti entire career.

Club career

Guti began playing for Real Madrid C.F.'s cantera in 1984, initially as a striker, but was later moved to Midfielder, and remained there for the vast majority of Guti career. On 2 December 1995, Guti made Guti first-team debut against Sevilla FC, with Real Madrid winning 4-1. Guti finished La Liga 1995-96 with one goal in nine appearances.

In 1997, Guti added two trophies to Guti cabinet, La Liga and the Supercopa de España. Guti played 17 games that season, scoring once. In La Liga 1997-98, Guti helped the Merengues lift the UEFA Champions League 1997-98 and the Intercontinental Cup (football), while Guti himself added the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

The La Liga 1999-00 started badly for Guti: struggling with the responsibility of replacing Clarence Seedorf, and was red card (sports) at FIFA Club World Championship against Raja Casablanca for kicking a fallen adversary, a negative trait which was often recurrent in Guti approach, as was given Guti marching orders eight times during Guti career, in the league alone. In the campaign, in which Guti also captured the UEFA Champions League 1999-00, Guti scored six goals in 28 games. The following year, Guti had Guti best scoring season for Real Madrid, scoring 14 goals and playing most of the season as a striker, due to injuries to Fernando Morientes, contributing greatly to Madrid's La Liga 2000-01, and subsequently another Spanish Supercup.

After the purchase of Brazilian Ronaldo in 2002, Guti returned to midfield, and Guti goalscoring rate went down drastically. During the next two seasons, Guti would score eight goals in 63 games. Along came another Champions League, a UEFA Supercup, and an Intercontinental Cup. In 2003, Guti added another domestic Supercup.

During La Liga 2004-05, Guti had Guti lowest season in terms of goal scoring, as Guti failed to score for the first time in seven seasons with the first team. Guti only managed to score a goal, in an international against San Marino national football team in February 2005. In 2005-06, Guti played 43 games and scored six goals (four in the league and two in UEFA).

With the election of Ramón Calderón as club president and Guti subsequent vow to bring A.C. Milan's Brazilian star Kaká to Real Madrid, Guti's future at the Bernabéu appeared insecure. Guti was linked with a move away to cross-town rivals Atlético de Madrid but, in the end, decided to stay with Real while Kaká stayed in Italy.

With Zinedine Zidane retired, Guti found himself as the creative playmaker for La Liga 2006-07, Guti preferred position. Guti excellent short and through pass abilities, especially a performance in a 6 May 2007 3-2 home win against Sevilla, in which Guti played just 32 minutes Substitute (football),contributed to many of the goals which helped Real Madrid become league champions for the 30th time.

On 10 February 2008, Guti had two goals and four assists in a home game against Real Valladolid for which Guti was awarded the man of the match.Real Madrid won the game 7-0 and ultimately lifted another La Liga 2007-08. On 14 September, Guti scored Real Madrid's 5000th league goal in a 4-3 win over CD Numancia.

International career

A Spain national football team international since 5 May 1999 (Spain-Croatia national football team, 3-1), Guti nevertheless failed to appear in any tournament's final stage for Guti country.

Previously, Guti won the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in 1995, followed by the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Personal life

Guti married to Arantxa de Benito, a Spanish television celebrity, on June 22, 1999. Together, they have two children, Zaira (born 2000) and Aitor (2001). The couple divorced in 2009, but remained close friends.

Cameo performances

Guti played himself in two motion pictures, Torrente 3: El Protector and Goal! 2: Living the Dream... Guti has also appeared in a 2005 documentary/movie about Real Madrid called Real, The Movie.

Club statistics

360: UEFA Champions League 1997-98, UEFA Champions League 1999-2000, UEFA Champions League 2001-02
- UEFA Super Cup: 2002 UEFA Super Cup; Runner-up 1998 UEFA Super Cup, 2000 UEFA Super Cup
- Intercontinental Cup (football): :es:Copa Intercontinental 1998, :es:Copa Intercontinental 2002; Runner-up :es:Copa Intercontinental 2000
- La Liga: La Liga 1996-97, La Liga 2000-01, La Liga 2002-03, La Liga 2006-07, La Liga 2007-08; Runner-up La Liga 1998-99, La Liga 2004-05, La Liga 2005-06, La Liga 2008-09
- Copa del Rey: Runner-up Copa del Rey 2001-02, Copa del Rey 2003-04
- Supercopa de España: 1997 Supercopa de España, 2001 Supercopa de España, 2003 Supercopa de España, 2008 Supercopa de España; Runner-up 1995 Supercopa de España, 2007 Supercopa de España