Arnau Riera

Football player infobox
playername = Arnau Riera


fullname = Arnau Caldentey Riera
height =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|10|1
cityofbirth = Manacor
countryofbirth = Spain
currentclub = Falkirk
(on loan from Sunderland)
clubnumber = 8
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Mallorca
years =
1999
2000–2006
2006–
2006
2007–2008
2008–
clubs = Mallorca
→ Mataro (loan)
Barcelona B
Sunderland
→ Southend (loan)
→ Falkirk (loan)
→ Falkirk (loan)
caps(goals) =


01 (0)
02 (0)
19 (1)
00 (0)
pcupdate = 21:11, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Arnau Caldenteny Riera (who prefers to be called Arnau) (pronEng|ˈaɹnaʊ) (born October 1 1981) is a Spanish footballer. He currently plays for Falkirk on loan from Sunderland.

He was born in Manacor, Mallorca and can play in a defensive or offensive midfield position. He played for Real Mallorca's youth team aged 18 and played for Balearic Island selection U17 when they were champions of Spain.

Aged 18, he moved to Mataro (on loan from Mallorca) in Spain's Second Division B. A year later he moved to Barcelona B where he was an ever present in the side which won the league in 2000. He stayed with Barca until 2006 and trained with first team in Peralada in 2004. He was Lionel Messi's captain for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

He made substitute appearances for the first team in 2004-05. He also played with the first team in friendlies against Marseille 04/05, China 03/04, Shaktar Donetsk 03/04.

Arnau signed for Sunderland on 10 August 2006 from Barcelona B,cite news
title = Black Cats sign Barca midfielder
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/4781687.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2006-08-10
accessdate = 2007-08-18] and made his debut in the 3-1 defeat to Southend United at Roots Hall on August 19 2006. He played well, but was sent off just three minutes into the following game, a Carling Cup match against Bury which Sunderland lost 2-0 at Gigg Lane.

After falling out of favour at Sunderland, and struggling to establish himself in the first team, Riera joined Southend United on a month's loan,cite news
title = Southend clinch Riera loan deal
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/6178876.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2006-11-23
accessdate = 2007-08-18] the team against which he made his Sunderland debut. In January 2007, Riera returned to Sunderland.

Riera joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on a season-long loan, on 17 July 2007.cite news
title = Bairns sign up Spanish midfielder
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/falkirk/6901970.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-07-17
accessdate = 2007-08-18] He joined Blackpool for a week's trial in July 2008,cite news
title = Blackpool bring in Arnau on trial
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackpool/7495810.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-07-08
accessdate = 2008-07-23] which he left prematurely.cite news
title = Arnau ends Blackpool trial early
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackpool/7500625.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-07-10
accessdate = 2008-07-23] Riera eventually rejoined Falkirk on another season-long loan.cite news
title = Riera passed fit to rejoin Bairns
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/falkirk/7515605.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-07-19
accessdate = 2008-07-23]

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=39904|name=Arnau Riera