Iván Helguera

Iván Helguera

Helguera with Real Madrid in 2003
Personal information
Full name Iván Helguera Bujía
Date of birth (1975-03-28) 28 March 1975
Place of birth Santander, Spain
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Centre back / Defensive midfielder
Youth career
Racing Santander
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1995 Racing B
1995 Revilla
1995–1996 Manchego 13 (2)
1996–1997 Albacete 14 (2)
1997–1998 Roma 8 (0)
1998–1999 Espanyol 37 (2)
1999–2007 Real Madrid 229 (19)
2007–2008 Valencia 25 (1)
Total 326 (26)
National team
1998–2004 Spain 47 (3)

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


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

Iván Helguera Bujía (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈβan elˈɣeɾa βuˈxi.a];[1] born 28 March 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer.

Playing as either a central defender or defensive midfielder, with both good defensive and offensive skills,[2] he represented five clubs during his professional career, notably Real Madrid – achieving team success as an important player – and Valencia; during his early 20's, he also had an unassuming abroad spell, with Roma.

A Spanish international on nearly 50 occasions, Helguera represented the country at the 2002 World Cup and in two European Championships. Over the course of 11 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 291 games and 21 goals.

Club career

Early years / Real Madrid

Born in Santander, Cantabria, Helguera started playing professionally for Manchego CF and Albacete Balompié, appearing in 14 second division games in the 1996–97 season for the latter. He was purchased by Serie A club A.S. Roma after that, alongside compatriot César Gómez, but left after one disappointing campaign to join RCD Espanyol, where his stellar performances led to a Real Madrid deal even before 1998–99 had finished.

With Real Madrid from July 1999, Helguera was an instant first-choice, and scored five and six La Liga goals in his second and fourth seasons (both ended with the national championship conquest) alternating between defender and midfielder. He was also instrumental in the capital team's two UEFA Champions League conquests: in the 2000 final, against fellow Spaniards Valencia CF, he started the match as a sweeper in a 3–0 win,[3] appearing as stopper two years later in the 2–1 triumph over against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Not an undisputed starter in his final two years, Helguera still managed 42 appearances combined, scoring in a 3–1 win at Gimnàstic de Tarragona on 28 October 2006.[4] At the start of his last season he was surprisingly stripped of his No. 6 jersey which went to new signing Mahamadou Diarra, given No. 21 and made to train with the youth team in anticipation of his leaving the club, even though his contract ended in June 2009;[5] however, he later managed to fight his way back into the starting eleven, being somewhat influential in helping the club to the 2007 domestic league.

Valencia

On 20 July 2007, Helguera signed for Valencia on a three-year contract – upon joining, he stated that he had wanted to come to Valencia for a "long time" and was "delighted" to arrive at the club.[6] During his debut campaign he was relatively important, also helping the Che to the conquest of the Copa del Rey.

However, after having appeared very rarely in the first part of the following season, Helguera's contract was cancelled on 12 December 2008,[7] and both FC Dinamo Bucureşti[8] and Los Angeles Galaxy declared interest in signing the player,[9] but nothing came of it and he retired from football later into 2009.

International career

Helguera was capped 47 times for Spain, the first coming on 18 November 1998 in an away friendly with Italy (2–2).[10] He played for his country at UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004,[11] missing the 2006 World Cup after being omitted from the squad in the months before the tournament by national team coach Luis Aragonés.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 24 March 2001 José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain  Liechtenstein 1–0 5–0 2002 World Cup qualification
2. 28 March 2001 Mestalla, Valencia, Spain  France 1–0 2–1 Friendly
3. 2 April 2003 Reino de León, León, Spain  Armenia 2–0 3–0 Euro 2004 qualifying

Personal life

Helguera's younger brother, Luis, was also a professional footballer. A midfielder, he played in the first division for Real Zaragoza and Deportivo Alavés, and also in Italy.[12]

He married his longtime girlfriend Lorena, and welcomed his first baby, a boy named Luca, on 30 November 2005.

Statistics

Club

[13]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total
1995/96Manchego0000
1996/97132132
1996/97AlbaceteSegunda División142142
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1997/98RomaSerie A8080
Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total
1998/99EspanyolLa Liga3723000402
1999/00Real MadridLa Liga33060152542
2000/01325101664911
2001/0226360123446
2002/0333610170516
2003/042916082433
2004/0534310101454
2005/061904041271
2006/072312050301
2007/08ValenciaLa Liga2416071371
2008/0910203060
Country Spain 31826380971645341
Italy 80
Total 32626

International

Spain
YearAppsGoals
199810
199920
2000100
200162
2002110
200381
200490
Total473

Honours

Real Madrid
Valencia

References

  1. ↑ In isolation, Bujía is pronounced [buˈxi.a]
  2. ↑ "Iván Helguera". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Real Madrid 3–0 Valencia". The Guardian. 24 May 2000. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Gimnastic de Tarragona 1–3 Real Madrid". ESPN Soccernet. 28 October 2006. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Otro desprecio a Helguera" [Helguera scorned again] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 2 September 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "El Valencia ficha a Iván Helguera hasta 2010" [Valencia signs Iván Helguera until 2010] (in Spanish). El País. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Rescisión de contrato de Iván Helguera" [Iván Helguera's contract termination] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "Un milion pentru Helguera!" [One million for Helguera!] (in Romanian). ProSport. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  9. ↑ "Ivan Helguera attracts LA Galaxy interest". Goal.com. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  10. ↑ "Notable alto" [B Plus] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 19 November 1998. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "Sáez selects Spain squad". UEFA.com. 20 May 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "El exzaragocista Luis Helguera apuesta por su hermano Iván" [Former zaragocista Luis Helguera bets on brother Iván] (in Spanish). El Periódico de Aragón. 16 March 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Iván Helguera". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
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