Rubén Baraja

Rubén Baraja Vegas (born July 11, 1975 in Valladolid) is a Spain professional football (soccer) player, who currently plays for Valencia CF in the Spanish La Liga. He is one of Europe's most complete midfielders with his good tackling in his defensive position on the pitch, as well as offensive qualities as a proven goalscorer, and Ruben Baraja has been a consistent part of the Spain national football team from 2000 to 2006.

Biography

Baraja started his career at local club Real Valladolid before moving to Atlético Madrid. When Atletico was relegated at the end of the 1999/2000 Baraja left the club in a 2,000 million Spanish peseta transfer to UEFA Champions League 1999-00 finalists Valencia CF who were looking to strengthen their midfield following the sale of first team players Claudio López, Gerard, and Javier Farinós. In his first season at Valencia, Ruben Baraja made his debut for the Spanish national team on October 7, 2000 in the Football World Cup 2002 (qualification UEFA) Group 7 2-0 win over Israel national football team. For Valencia, Ruben Baraja took part in a new challenge for the UEFA Champions League 2000-01, but the club was beaten in the final once again, this time losing on penalty shootouts to Bayern Munich despite Baraja scoring on his penalty shot.

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 championship in 31 years. He finished the club's top scorer in the league that season with seven goals in only seventeen league games. On the international stage, Baraja played for the national team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup where the team reached the quarter-finals before being sent out by South Korea national football team on penalties, though Baraja once again scored on his attempt. The 2003/04 season was another big year, winning both the domestic La Liga championship as well as the European UEFA Cup 2003-04 tournament, beating Olympique Marseille 2-0 in the final. Baraja also took part in the disappointing 2004 European Football Championship (Euro 2004) where Spain was eliminated in the group stage by later finalists Portugal national football team and Greece national football team.
To many people's surprise, Baraja was left out of the Spanish squad for the 2006 World Cup. Spain went out in the 2nd round losing to France.

Honours

- Spanish La Liga: 2002, 2004
- UEFA Cup: 2004
- European Super Cup: 2004