Rubén Baraja

Rubén Baraja

Baraja as manager of Elche in 2016
Personal information
Full name Rubén Baraja Vegas
Date of birth (1975-07-11) 11 July 1975
Place of birth Valladolid, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Rayo Vallecano (coach)
Youth career
Valladolid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 Valladolid B 46 (11)
1993–1996 Valladolid 41 (2)
1996–1999 Atlético Madrid B 79 (20)
1999–2000 Atlético Madrid 34 (4)
2000–2010 Valencia 262 (41)
Total 462 (78)
National team
1993 Spain U18 3 (1)
2000–2005 Spain 43 (7)
Teams managed
2011 Atlético Madrid (assistant)
2013–2015 Valencia (youth)
2013 Valencia B (interim)
2015–2016 Elche
2016– Rayo Vallecano

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Baraja and the second or maternal family name is Vegas.

Rubén Baraja Vegas (born 11 July 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer, and the current coach of Rayo Vallecano.

A complete central midfielder with good tackling and offensive qualities together with accurate passing and goalscoring ability,[1] he played mostly for Valencia during a 17-year professional career, being an essential figure in five of the club's major titles, which included two La Liga championships.

For five years Baraja was also a consistent part of the Spanish national team, appearing in one World Cup and one European Championship and gaining nearly 50 caps.

Club career

Born in Valladolid, Castile and León, Baraja started his career at local club Real Valladolid before moving to Atlético Madrid, where he would spend two and a half seasons with the B-side, first appearing with the main squad on 7 February 1999 by playing the second half of a 1–2 defeat at UD Salamanca. In the 1998–99 campaign, with the B's in the second division, he scored a career-best 11 goals.

When Atlético was relegated at the end of 1999–2000, Baraja left the club in a 2,000 million pesetas transfer to that year's UEFA Champions League finalists Valencia CF,[2] who were looking to strengthen their central midfield following the sale of first-team players Gerard and Javier Farinós. In his first season he was a key element in the Che's Champions League campaign, as the club was beaten in the final for the second year running, this time losing in a penalty shootout to FC Bayern Munich, with the player scoring on his attempt.[3]

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 title in 31 years – he finished as the club's top scorer in the league, netting seven in only seventeen league games. 2003–04 was another big year, winning both the domestic championship (with eight league goals from him) as well as the UEFA Cup, beating Olympique de Marseille 2–0 in the final.[4]

In 2006–07, Baraja only appeared in 14 league contests as Valencia finished fourth, and continued to be constantly bothered by physical problems in the following years. After two respectable seasons, often partnering longtime central midfield partner David Albelda, he was again greatly troubled with physical problems in the 2009–10 season, appearing in only 18 matches (two complete); on 16 May 2010 he closed his chapter at the Mestalla Stadium after one full decade, receiving homages before and after the 1–0 home win against CD Tenerife and being replaced to a standing ovation in the 89th minute.[5] Shortly after the 35-year-old announced his retirement, having appeared in 338 first division games over the course of 15 seasons and scoring 47 goals.

In June 2011, Baraja returned to former team Atlético Madrid as part of newly appointed manager Gregorio Manzano's coaching staff.[6] In the 2013 summer he returned to main club Valencia, first coaching the youths then the reserves.

On 12 July 2015, Baraja was appointed manager of Elche CF, newly relegated to the second tier.[7] On 6 June of the following year, he resigned after failing to agree new terms.[8] On 8 November 2016, he took the reins at fellow league team Rayo Vallecano.[9]

International career

Baraja made his debut for the Spanish national team on 7 October 2000, in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 2–0 win over Israel. Consequently, he was picked for the final stages, where the team reached the quarter-finals before being sent out by South Korea on penalties, though the player, as the year before with his club, once again scored on his attempt.

Baraja also took part in the disappointing UEFA Euro 2004 tournament,[10] where Spain was eliminated in the group stage by eventual finalists Portugal and Greece. He was left out of the 2006 World Cup squad,[11] as his club presence was also diminished due to recurrent injuries.[12][13][14]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 October 2000 Ernst Happel, Vienna, Austria  Austria 1–1 1–1 2002 World Cup qualification
2. 25 April 2001 Nuevo Arcángel, Córdoba, Spain  Japan 1–0 1–0 Friendly
3. 17 April 2002 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 0–2 0–5 Friendly
4. 12 October 2002 Carlos Belmonte, Albacete, Spain  Northern Ireland 1–0 3–0 Euro 2004 qualifying
5. 3–0
6. 18 February 2004 Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain  Peru 2–1 2–1 Friendly
7. 5 June 2004 Alfonso Pérez, Getafe, Spain  Andorra 2–0 4–0 Friendly

Personal life

Baraja's younger brother, Javier, is also a professional footballer. A defender, he too graduated at Valladolid, and went on to spend most of his senior career there.[15]

Managerial statistics

As of 4 December 2016
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Valencia B (interim)[16] 15 December 2013 22 December 2013 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100.000
Elche[17] 12 July 2015 6 June 2016 43 13 19 11 43 49 −6 30.23
Rayo Vallecano[18] 8 November 2016 Present 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 33.33
Total 47 15 20 12 49 53 −4 31.91

Honours

Club

Valencia

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Players to watch – Rubén Baraja; BBC Sport, 25 May 2004
  2. ↑ Valencia break club transfer record; The Namibian, 2 August 2000
  3. ↑ "Bayern crowned European champions". BBC Sport. 23 May 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Valencia 2–0 Marseille". BBC Sport. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Baraja recibe un emotivo adiós de Mestalla" [Baraja gets emotional farewell from Mestalla] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Vizcaíno y Baraja, ayudantes de Gregorio Manzano (Vizcaíno and Baraja, Gregorio Manzano's assistants); Marca, 9 June 2011 (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Rubén Baraja, nuevo entrenador del Elche C.F. (Rubén Baraja. new manager of Elche C.F.); Elche CF, 12 July 2015 (Spanish)
  8. ↑ Rubén Baraja no continuará como entrenador del Elche C.F. (Rubén Baraja will not remain as Elche C.F. manager); Elche CF, 6 June 2016 (Spanish)
  9. ↑ "Baraja, nuevo entrenador del Rayo Vallecano" [Baraja, new manager of Rayo Vallecano] (in Spanish). Marca. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Sáez selects Spain squad". UEFA.com. 20 May 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Aragonés finds no place for Baraja; UEFA.com, 15 May 2006
  12. ↑ Baraja muscled out for Valencia; UEFA.com, 21 August 2006
  13. ↑ Valencia get bad news on Baraja; UEFA.com, 8 March 2007
  14. ↑ Baraja blow deepens Valencia woe; UEFA.com, 25 January 2008
  15. ↑ "Rubén Baraja, dispuesto a escuchar al Valladolid" [Rubén Baraja, willing to listen to Valladolid] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Baraja: Rubén Baraja Vegas Matches 2013–14". BDFutbol. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Baraja: Rubén Baraja Vegas Matches 2015–16". BDFutbol. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "Baraja: Rubén Baraja Vegas Matches 2016–17". BDFutbol. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
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