David Villa
[7] Nicknamed El Guaje (The Kid in Asturian) due to a reputation of playing football with children much older than him,[8][9] Villa sustained a serious injury as a child but managed to start his professional career with Sporting de Gijón in 2001.He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga debut, and won the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España.He left the club in 2013 after transferring to Atlético Madrid, where he won another La Liga title and reached the 2014 UEFA Champions League final.[28] Zaragoza reached the 2004 Copa del Rey final where he played a big part in the team's victory, scoring a crucial goal to put the Aragonese outfit 2–1 up against Real Madrid in a match which eventually ended 3–2.[32] After his success at Zaragoza, the team was in need of money;[20] as a result, Villa made his big move to one of Spanish football's heavyweights, as a new look Valencia under Quique Sánchez Flores parted with €12 million to secure his services in the summer of 2005.[39] Villa scored a goal against Deportivo La Coruña at the Riazor on 4 February 2006, later described as "superb" by ESPN and "his best" by Sid Lowe, who went on to credit it even more pointing out he achieved it "on the turn".[18][24] He also won the first professional trophy of his Valencia spell, winning the Copa del Rey for the second time in his career, beating Barcelona 3–2 in the semi-finals and then Getafe 3–1 in the final.[76] Villa quelled such rumours after announcing his desire to remain at the Mestalla to fulfil his contract, underlining that he "could not spend all summer refuting things, so I wanted to be quiet...His debut appearance would also see him win his first piece of silver-ware with the Catalonian side, as Barcelona won 4–0 and 5–3 on aggregate due to a hat-trick by teammate Lionel Messi.[94] His first goal came during the Joan Gamper Trophy (an annual friendly competition) against Milan; Barcelona won 3–1 on penalties after the match had ended 1–1 during normal time.[95] On 29 August 2010, Villa made his La Liga debut with Barcelona against Racing de Santander, where he scored the third goal of the match to help seal a 3–0 victory.Eight days later, he played his first competitive football match since December 2011 in Barcelona's first La Liga game of the season where he received a standing ovation while coming on as a substitute for Pedro.[112] Against A.C. Milan in the second leg of round of 16 of the Champions League, Villa scored the decisive third goal in Barcelona's 4–0 victory, helping his team overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit.[113] In the next round, Villa assisted Pedro's equalising goal against Paris Saint-Germain which took Barcelona through to the semi-final, where they were eventually knocked out 7–0 on aggregate by Bayern Munich.[114] David Villa ended the season with a large number of his appearances coming from the bench, partly due to the recovery time of his previous injury.He was handed the number 7 shirt on arrival, and stated, "I want to try to help MLS continue to grow and try to make New York City become the best team in the league.[citation needed] A week later, in their first home match at Yankee Stadium, Villa opened the scoring in a 2–0 win over the New England Revolution for the team's first competitive victory.Later, on 6 August, Villa scored his first MLS hat-trick in the Blues' 3–2 win over the New York Red Bulls in Yankee Stadium, taking him to 17 goals for the season and leading the goalscoring charts, surpassing Chicago Fire striker Nemanja Nikolić.On 13 November 2019, Villa announced that, once he retired, he would be investing as an owner of USL Championship side Queensboro FC, based in Queens, New York City, United States."[148] On 28 March 2023, David Villa's DV7 Group completed the purchase of CF Benidorm, playing in the regional divisions of the Valencian Community, where he was announced as the vice-president along with his business partner Víctor Oñate.[157] Reaching their first semi-final in 24 years, Spain went on to face Russia for the second time during the tournament, though during the early stages of the match, Villa sustained a thigh injury after taking a free kick and was replaced by Cesc Fàbregas.[178] Five days later, Spain defeated Honduras 2–0, where Villa scored both goals, but wasted his chance to complete a hat-trick when he was awarded a penalty kick – side-footing the ball just wide of the post.[198] Villa finished as top scorer of Group I with seven goals, however, after fracturing his tibia in December 2011, he was left out of Spain's final squad for Euro 2012 after telling Vicente del Bosque that he would not be fit for the tournament.[205] On 25 August 2017, Villa was included in Spain's squad for the 2018 World Cup qualification matches against Italy and Liechtenstein, three years after originally retiring from international football."[208] In February 2010, Bernd Schuster was asked if Raúl did not favour Villa moving to Real Madrid, to which he responded, "I have a cough," which caused many to believe that he was implying the rumour to be true.I'd be delighted to reach that tally as I'd help the national team achieve great victories and, in many years' time, I could see my name on a [scorers' list] that another young lad was trying to beat.[4][5][6] An opportunistic, versatile and well-rounded player, Villa is naturally right-footed,[4] but an accurate and powerful finisher with either foot, due to his ambidexterity, both inside and outside the area,[18][213] despite his lack of height or physicality;[20][154] he was also a set piece and penalty kick specialist.[20][6] Villa was a quick, agile, and mobile team player, with excellent technique and dribbling skills, who was also known for his work-rate and intelligent offensive movement, as well as his ability to either create space for teammates or make attacking runs into the area.[222] In 2010, Villa sang alongside Grammy Award-nominated Spanish singer Ana Torroja on the song "Insurrection" by El Último de la Fila.[226] DV7 Soccer was founded in 2016 and manages multiple football academies around the world in countries like United States, Puerto Rico, Spain, Japan and Dominican Republic.
Spanish namesurname2013 FIFA Confederations CupLangreoStrikerSporting GijónSporting Gijón BReal ZaragozaValenciaBarcelonaAtlético MadridNew York City FCMelbourne CityVissel KobeAsturiasSpain U21FootballFIFA World Cup2010 South AfricaUEFA European Championship2008 Austria–SwitzerlandFIFA Confederations Cup2013 Brazil2009 South Africafootballerall-time top goalscorerSpain national teamSpanishTercera FederaciónCF BenidormAsturianSporting de GijónLa LigaCopa del ReySupercopa de EspañaUEFA Champions League2011 final2014 UEFA Champions League finalNew York CityMLS MVP AwardUEFA Euro 20082010 FIFA World Cup2006 World CupSilver BootUEFA Team of the Year2014 World CupTuillaambidextrousUP LangreoReal Oviedoyouth ranksGalicianDeportivo de La CoruñaReal MurciaAthletic Bilbaohat-trickSevilla2004 Copa del ReyAragoneseReal Madridfootball chant2004–05 UEFA CupUtrechtAustria Wienaway goals ruleCamp NouCiutat Esportiva de PaternaQuique Sánchez FloresIntertoto CupBelgianReal BetisRubén BarajaVíctor ValdésSantiago Bernabéu StadiumRiazorSid LoweSan MamésSamuel Eto'oEdmundo Suárez2006–07 seasonFernando MorientesRed Bull SalzburgShakhtar DonetskInter MilanChelseaLondonBallon d'OrEspanyolRaúl Tamudo2007–08 seasonRonald KoemanGetafeAlmeríaUnai EmeryUEFA CupSchalke 04Joe ColeDidier DrogbaLevanteEuro 20082008–09 seasonMallorcaBernd SchusterCanal+2008 Ballon d'OrAndrés Iniesta2008 FIFA World Player of the YearCesc FàbregasMarítimoDynamo Kyivyellow cardDaniel AranzubiaReal ValladolidNumanciaRecreativo de HuelvaRacing de SantanderEl MolinónVillarrealArgentinianMario KempesMontenegrinPredrag MijatovićDiego ForlánPichichiConfederations CupLiverpool