Álvaro Arbeloa
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Álvaro Arbeloa Coca | ||
| Date of birth | 17 January 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Salamanca, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Real Madrid | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–2000 | Zaragoza | ||
| 2000–2003 | Real Madrid | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2006 | Real Madrid B | 84 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Real Madrid | 2 | (0) |
| 2006 | Deportivo La Coruña | 20 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Liverpool | 66 | (2) |
| 2009– | Real Madrid | 103 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001 | Spain U17 | 1 | (0) |
| 2001 | Spain U19 | 4 | (0) |
| 2005 | Spain U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2008– | Spain | 45 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:26, 2 March 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2012 |
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This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Arbeloa and the second or maternal family name is Coca.
Álvaro Arbeloa Coca (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalβaɾo arβeˈloa ˈkoka]; born 17 January 1983), is a Spanish football player currently playing for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. He is predominantly a right back, although he can play as a left back or a central defender.Arbeloa trained with Real Madrid as a youth player, and worked his way up to the first team, making his debut in the 2004–05 season. However, he mostly played for the Real Madrid B team. He moved to Deportivo La Coruña to play first team football in La Liga in 2006, but moved to Liverpool after half a season. He cemented his place in the Liverpool first team and played in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, which Liverpool lost to Milan in the final. Arbeloa made 93 appearances in his three seasons at the club. He returned to Madrid in 2009 for a fee of £3,500,000.
Internationally, he made his senior debut in 2008 and has played for Spain at UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the former tournament. Also part of the winning FIFA 2010 World Cup squad.
He married his childhood sweetheart Carlota Ruiz in July 2009, and their daughter, Alba, was born 26 April 2010.
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Club career
Real Madrid
After signing as a teenager for Real Madrid. Arbeloa began playing with the youth team. He later graduated to the reserve team, and played with the first team twice.Deportivo La Coruña
On 24 July 2006, Arbeloa signed for Deportivo La Coruña, following in the footsteps of teammate Roberto Soldado. Arbeloa said: "This is a strange situation for me; I have been playing for Real Madrid for five years, since I was 16-years-old. Real was nothing but good to me, but it's time for me to go. Madrid has the best players in the world and although that is great for the club, unfortunately that's not so great for cantera players; only a few of us can find their place in the first team, and even those who do find their place in the first team like Álvaro Mejía and Paco Pavón are only third or fourth pick, and that is why I want to leave the club to a club where I can get some regular playing time, in La Liga of course. Deportivo La Coruña is one of the best clubs in Spain and with Joaquín Caparrós as head coach I will certainly get more experience, and get better, what is most important is that he will have confidence in me. I have enjoyed my time at Real, and I thank everybody who helped me. I'm leaving Real Madrid to play more football, no other reason."Liverpool
Arbeloa's squad number changed from 2 to 17 as a personal preference for the 2007–08 season. Continuing his good form from the latter stages of the 2007–08 season, Arbeloa cemented a first team place in the Liverpool team following good performances during Liverpool's victories over fierce rivals Manchester United and Chelsea.
On 18 May 2009, in a match against West Bromwich Albion, Arbeloa was involved in an on-field clash with Liverpool teammate Jamie Carragher after continuous blips from Arbeloa and the two had to be separated by Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina, Daniel Agger, and Emiliano Insúa. Carragher later explained that he clashed with Arbeloa as a moment of poor defending from the latter threatened the clean sheet. The Liverpool vice-captain explained, "we want to keep a clean sheet and we want Pepe to have a chance of the Golden Glove for the fourth season running." Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez refused to comment about the incident.
Return to Real Madrid
On 29 July 2009, it was announced that Real Madrid and Liverpool had reached an agreement on the transfer of Arbeloa to the Spanish club. A fee of £5 million had been agreed between the clubs.[5] Arbeloa signed a five-year contract after completing the deal.[6] After the departure of fellow full backs Míchel Salgado and Miguel Torres, Arbeloa was handed the number 2 jersey. During his first season at Madrid, Arbeloa played mainly at the left back position due to Los Blancos lack of experienced and dependable options in that area of the field. Arbeloa scored his first Real Madrid goal on 13 February 2010 in a 3–0 away win against Xerez. His second goal in the white jersey came in El Derbi madrileño on 28 March, scoring a right-foot goal past David de Gea in the 3–2 win over Atlético Madrid.[7] Arbeloa also scored a goal in Champions League against Ajax with a shot from outside the penalty area. During the 2010–11 season under José Mourinho, he was used at both right-back and left-back, and was praised by his coach for his efforts. In the 2011–12 season, Arbeloa won himself a place as a regular starter, appearing exclusively at right-back due to Carvalho's lengthy injury and Sergio Ramos' shift to centre-back . He was sent off against Málaga during his 100th match for Real Madrid . On 1 August 2012, Real Madrid announced that they have extended contract with Arbeloa which will tie him with the club till 2015–16 season.[8]International career
Arbeloa's versatility saw him being called up for the 2009 Confederations Cup, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. Because of his ability to comfortably play as a full back on either side of the pitch, Vicente Del Bosque often chose to use him as the only back up full-back, allowing there to be more space available in the squad for attacking players. However, with regular centre back Carles Puyol unavailable for Euro 2012 due to injury, Sergio Ramos played in the centre of defense and Arbeloa started all six games at right back as Spain won the tournament for the third time.
