Víctor Valdés

Football player infobox
playername= Víctor Valdés


fullname = Víctor Valdés Arribas
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|1|14
cityofbirth = L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia
countryofbirth = Spain
height = height|m=1.83
currentclub = FC Barcelona
clubnumber = 1
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2000–2003
2003–
clubs = FC Barcelona B
FC Barcelona
caps(goals) = 077 (0)
188 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = August 17 2008
ntupdate =

Víctor Valdés Arribas (born January 14, 1982 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia), raised in Gavà, is a Spanish football goalkeeper, who plays for FC Barcelona of the Spanish La Liga. Before joining the principal team in 2002/03 season, Víctor played for the youth teams and FC Barcelona B [ [http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/english/futbol/temporada_06-07/plantilla/jugadors/Valdes.html FCBarcelona.cat] ] . Currently, he has a contract with Barcelona until 2010 [ [http://www.rediff.com/sports/2005/sep/01ron.htm rediff.com] ] .

Early career

Valdés was born to Águeda Arribas and José Manuel Valdés, and has two brothers, elder Ricard and younger Álvaro. He started his career with Barça's youth team when he joined from Peña Cinco Copas on July 1 1992. But in September, he moved with his family to Tenerife and had to leave the club, rejoining only three years later. After returning, he made quick progress through the youth system and was made part of the senior squad in the 2002-03 season.

FC Barcelona

The early part of the season saw him play deputy to Argentine international Roberto Bonano. The arrival of Radomir Antic as the new coach saw regular first team opportunities for him.

In the 2003-04 season, he emerged as first-choice goalkeeper, and in the 2004-05 season, he played in almost all of Barcelona's matches helping Barcelona to their first league title in six years. He also won the Zamora Trophy for the best goalkeeper in Spain.

In the 2005-06 season, he helped Barça to the double. He played a big part in Barca's UEFA Champions League 2005-06 title and in the final against Arsenal, he denied Thierry Henry twice from point-blank range. His efforts saw him singled out for praise from Coach Frank Rijkaard. The "Zamora" title however eluded him as Víctor came third after Santiago Cañizares and the winner José Manuel Pinto.

On June 17 2007, the last round in La Liga, Valdés matched a goalkeeping record of Barcelona legend Andoni Zubizarreta. The record held by "Zubi" is that he went all season long, all 38 rounds in La Liga without leaving the starting line-up nor getting substituted. [ [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=637303.html FIFA.com - The long shadow of Zamora ] ] It has never been matched, by any Barça goalkeeper, until Valdés. However, despite Barcelona's season-finale 2-0 win over Racing Santander, with Valdes saving a penalty by Ezequiel Garay, Barcelona lost the title on the last day of competition to archrivals Real Madrid.

Valdés set the FC Barcelona club record for not conceding a goal in European competition with a clean sheet against Rangers on 7 November 2007, which saw him re-write the Barça record books after not conceding a goal for 466 minutes. [http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada07-08/11/n071107102115.html]

On April 1 2008 he made his 250th appearance for Barça.

All-time club statistics

As of August 17, 2008 [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=23968&cc=5901 Soccernet player statistics] ] [ [http://footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=6171&b=true&pn=V%C3%ADctor_Vald%C3%A9s_Arribas Football database player statistics] ]

References