Iván Helguera

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Iván Helguera
Personal information
Full name	Iván Helguera Bujía
Date of birth	March 28, 1975 (1975-03-28) (age 33)
Place of birth	Santander, Spain
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Central Defender, Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Valencia
Number	15
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–1996 1996–1997 1997–1998 1998–1999 1999–2007 2007–	CD Manchego Albacete Balompié AS Roma RCD Espanyol Real Madrid Valencia	013 0(2) 014 0(2) 008 0(0) 037 0(2) 228 (19) 024 0(1)
National team2
1998–	Spain	047 0(3)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:04, 16 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 29 June 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

This is a Spanish name; the first family name is Helguera and the second is Bujía.

Iván Helguera Bujía (born March 28, 1975 in Santander, Cantabria) is a Spanish football central defender or defensive midfielder, who currently plays for Valencia CF of La Liga.

[edit] Career

On the club level, Helguera has played for CD Manchego (1996), Albacete Balompié (1997), AS Roma (1997-98), RCD Espanyol (1998-99), and Real Madrid (1999-2007). He won the Champions League twice with Real. For Spain, Helguera has been capped nearly 50 times. He played for his country at Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Euro 2004, missing the 2006 World Cup after being omitted from the squad in the months before the tournament by national team coach Luis Aragonés.

At the start of the 2006-07 football season, Helguera was surprisingly stripped of his number 6 jersey (which went to Mahamadou Diarra), given the 21 squad number and made to train with the youth team, in anticipation of his leaving the club, even though his contract ends in June 2009^[1]. However, he later managed to fight his way back into the starting eleven, making a subsequent 21 starts, being influential in helping the club win the La Liga title.^[2]

On July 20, 2007, Helguera left Real Madrid, signing for Valencia on a three-year contract.^[2] Upon joining the club, Helguera stated that he had wanted to come to Valencia for a "long time" and was "delighted" to arrive in Valencia.

[edit] Personal life

His younger brother, Luis Helguera is also a professional footballer. Iván is married to his longtime girlfriend Lorena. They welcomed their first baby, a little boy named Luca on November 30, 2005. He was father again in 2008. The name of his son is Enzo. He loves Italy and because of it his sons have italian names.

[edit] Honours

• Spanish La Liga: 2000-2001, 2002-2003, 2006-2007
• Spanish Super Cup: 2001 and 2003
• UEFA Champions League: 2000 and 2002
• European Supercup: 2002
• Intercontinental Cup: 2002
• Copa del Rey: 2007-08

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Valencia C.F. official website
• Helguera on Rus

v • d • e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Cañizares • 2 Salgado • 3 Aranzábal • 4 Guardiola • 5 Abelardo • 6 Hierro • 7 Helguera • 8 Fran • 9 Munitis • 10 Raúl • 11 Alfonso • 12 Sergi • 13 Casillas • 14 Gerard • 15 Engonga • 16 Mendieta • 17 Etxeberria • 18 Paco • 19 Velasco • 20 Urzaiz • 21 Valerón • 22 Molina • Coach: Camacho

v • d • e Spain squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Casillas • 2 Curro Torres • 3 Juanfran • 4 Helguera • 5 Puyol • 6 Hierro • 7 Raúl • 8 Baraja • 9 Morientes • 10 D. Tristán • 11 de Pedro • 12 A. Luque • 13 Ricardo • 14 Albelda • 15 Romero • 16 Mendieta • 17 Valerón • 18 Sergio • 19 Xavi • 20 Nadal • 21 Luis Enrique • 22 Joaquín • 23 Contreras • Coach: Camacho

v • d • e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Cañizares • 2 Capdevila • 3 C. Marchena • 4 Albelda • 5 Puyol • 6 Helguera • 7 Raúl • 8 Baraja • 9 F. Torres • 10 Morientes • 11 A. Luque • 12 Gabri • 13 Aranzubia • 14 Vicente • 15 R. Bravo • 16 Xabi Alonso • 17 Etxeberria • 18 César Martín • 19 Joaquín • 20 Xavi • 21 Valerón • 22 Juanito • 23 Casillas • Coach: Iñaki Sáez