Carles Puyol

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Carles Puyol
Carles Puyol Joan Gamper-Tr.jpg
Personal information
Full name Carles Puyol i Saforcada
Date of birth 13 April 1978 (1978-04-13) (age 31)
Place of birth La Pobla de Segur, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current club Barcelona
Number 5
Youth career
1993–1995 C. Pobla de Segur
1995–1997 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1997–2000 Barcelona B 83 (4)
1999– Barcelona 311 (5)
National team‡
1995 Spain U18 3 (0)
2000 Spain U21 4 (0)
2000 Spain U23 5 (0)
2000– Spain 80 (2)
2001– Catalonia 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 December 2009.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 November 2009
This is a Spanish name; the first family name is Puyol and the second is Saforcada.

Carles Puyol i Saforcada (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈkaɾles ˈpujol]; born 13 April 1978 in La Pobla de Segur, Lleida, Catalonia) is a Spanish footballer who plays with FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team.

Mainly a central defender, he can also appear on either flanks, especially as a right back. He also served as a longtime team captain, after taking over from Luis Enrique on August 2004.

Contents

[edit] Club career

Puyol started playing football for his hometown club, La Pobla de Segur, as a goalkeeper. However, after injury problems with his shoulder, he switched to striker. In 1995, he moved to join FC Barcelona's youth team, switching positions again, to play as a defensive midfielder. In 1997, Puyol stepped up to play for the club's B-team, occupying the position of right back.

In 1999, then coach Louis van Gaal promoted Puyol to the first team. He made his first division debut on October 2, 1999, at Real Valladolid, in a 2–0 win. After that, he successfully made another reconversion, now to central defender; he was awarded "Best European right back" award by UEFA in 2002 and "Best European centre back" in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Puyol also won the trophy "UEFA Club Best Defender" in 2006.

Carles Puyol

Puyol was first chosen as the captain of Barcelona at the end of the 2003–04 season, after the retirement of Luis Enrique. On September 16, 2008, he made his 400th appearance in all competitions for Barça's first team in a Champions League match against Sporting Clube de Portugal.[1]

On October 30, 2009, Puyol signed a new three-year extension to his contract, running until 2013. This link also contained a release clause of €10 million euros.[2] The next day, in the league against CA Osasuna, he became the third player with more official matches for the Catalans with 453, surpassing Carles Rexach, now only trailing teammate Xavi Hernández and record holder Migueli (548 appearances).[3]

[edit] International career

Puyol won his first Spanish cap on November 15, 2000 against the Netherlands, and remained a regular fixture ever since. He played for the nation at the 2000 Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2008 and the Confederations Cup 2009.

At Euro 2008, Puyol started throughout the vast majority of the competition, as the defensive backline only conceded two goals in five games, in an eventual final win against Germany. He was named in the Team of the Tournament with defensive partner Carlos Marchena of Valencia CF.

Puyol started three out of five games at the 2009 Confederations Cup, and captained the team when Iker Casillas was rested for the last group stage match. As Spain finished third, he and three other teammates were named in the Team of the Tournament.

[edit] Club statistics

As of 12 December 2009 [4][5]

Club Season League Cup Europe Other [6] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Barcelona B 1996–97 1 1 - - - - - - 1 1
1997–98 36 1 - - - - - - 36 1
1998–99 38 2 - - - - - - 38 2
1999–00 8 0 - - - - - - 8 0
Total 83 4 - - - - - - 83 4
Barcelona 1999–00 24 0 5 0 8 0 0 0 37 0
2000–01 17 0 2 0 5 0 - - 24 0
2001–02 35 2 1 0 15 0 - - 51 2
2002–03 32 0 0 0 14 0 - - 46 0
2003–04 27 0 4 0 7 0 - - 38 0
2004–05 36 0 1 0 8 0 - - 45 0
2005–06 35 1 3 0 12 0 2 0 52 1
2006–07 35 1 7 0 8 1 5 0 55 2
2007–08 30 0 7 0 10 1 - - 47 1
2008–09 28 1 6 0 11 0 - - 45 1
2009–10 12 0 1 0 5 0 3 0 21 0
Total 311 5 37 0 103 2 10 0 461 7
Career totals 394 9 37 0 103 2 10 0 544 11

[edit] International goals

International Goals[7]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. April 17, 2002 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 0–4 0–5 International Friendly
2. October 11, 2008 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 0–3 0–3 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit] Honours

[edit] Barcelona

[edit] International

[edit] Individual

[edit] References

  1. ^ The captain makes it to 400 games; FC Barcelona official website, 16 September 2008
  2. ^ Puyol signs new Barcelona deal; ESPN Soccernet, 30 October 2009
  3. ^ Puyol thrilled with new Barça deal; UEFA.com, 31 October 2009
  4. ^ Official site statistics
  5. ^ Soccernet player statistics
  6. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup
  7. ^ National team data (Spanish)
  8. ^ "Spain dominate Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. 2008-06-30. http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=729372.html#spain+dominate+team+tournament. Retrieved 2008-06-30. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
FC Barcelona – current squad

1 Valdés · 2 Dani Alves · 3 Piqué · 4 Márquez · 5 Puyol (c) · 6 Xavi · 8 Iniesta · 9 Ibrahimović · 10 Messi · 11 Bojan · 13 Pinto · 14 Henry · 15 Keita · 16 Busquets · 17 Pedro · 18 Milito · 19 Maxwell · 21 Chygrynskiy · 22 Abidal · 24 Touré · 35 Jeffrén · Coach: Guardiola
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