Francesc Xavier Arnau Grabalosa (23 March 1975 – 22 May 2021) was a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. In a 16-year professional career he played for

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, appearing in 126

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

games over the course of 12 seasons. He later worked as a

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

Club career

Barcelona

Born in

Les Planes d'Hostoles Les Planes d'Hostoles is a village and municipality in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The municipality covers an area of and the population in 2014 was 1,694. From 1900, Les Planes d'Hostoles was linked to Gi ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Arnau was a youth graduate from

powerhouse

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. He made his first-team debut in 1996–97, in a 3–3 home draw against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

on 9 November 1996. Arnau was second choice to

Vítor Baía Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which he started re ...

Ruud Hesp Rudolfus 'Ruud' Hubertus Hesp (born 31 October 1965) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Bussum, North Holland, Hesp started his career in the 1985–86 season at HFC Haarlem. He was recomme ...

and

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ca ...

for several seasons, while also registered with the reserves.

Málaga

For the 2001–02 campaign, Arnau moved to

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

2.1 million, also playing second-fiddle until the departure of

Pedro Contreras Pedro Contreras González (born 7 January 1972) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played in 246 La Liga games over the course of 13 seasons, representing in the competition Real Madrid, Rayo Vallecano, Málaga and ...

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

in 2003. He would eventually become

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

, but lost his job in 2007–08 in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, to

Iñaki Goitia Iñaki Goitia Peña (born 2 March 1982) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent most of his professional career in Segunda División, totalling 265 appearances for Málaga B, Málaga, Betis, Mirandés and Alavé ...

. Goitia was sold also to Betis in summer 2009, but

Gustavo Munúa Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Argentine club Unión de Santa Fe. After starting out at Nacional he spent most of his professional career in S ...

and Roberto Santamaría were also acquired, so Arnau was demoted to as low as third choice. He eventually finished as backup to the

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an, without making one single competitive appearance. After Munúa's departure, Arnau played the first game of the 2010–11 season – a 3–1 home loss against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

– as Rodrigo Galatto was not yet eligible. He continued appearing regularly for the side in the following weeks after the Brazilian performed poorly and another new signing, Rubén, went down with an injury. Arnau played his last match as a professional on 21 May 2011, coming on as a substitute for

Willy Caballero Wilfredo Daniel Caballero Lazcano (born 28 September 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Southampton. He spent most of his career in Spain, representing Elche and Málaga and competing in La Liga w ...

in the last minutes of a 1–3 home defeat to his first club Barcelona, with Málaga finally retaining its top-flight status.

International career

Arnau appeared for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at the

1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1996–98), had 46 entrants. Before the quarter-finals stage, Romania were chosen as the hosts of the final stages, consisting of four matches in total. The exclusion (for po ...

, being named the tournament's MVP as the country emerged victorious.

Post-retirement

After retiring at the age of 36, Arnau continued working with his last club as a youth coach, alongside former teammate Salva. The former became Málaga's new

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

on 15 December 2015, in replacement of

Armando Husillos Armando Mario Husillos Herrero (born 5 February 1959) is an Argentine football manager and former player who most recently was the director of football at English club West Ham United. He played as a striker during a career that began at Boca Ju ...

. In October 2017, after a poor start to the season saw the side placed last in the top tier, he was dismissed and replaced by his predecessor. Arnau signed with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

on 3 December 2019 in the same capacity, on a deal until June 2022.

Death

On 22 May 2021, Arnau was found dead in

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

's railway station of La Corredoria, aged 46. It was later revealed that he committed suicide.

Honours

Barcelona *

: 1998–99 Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnau, Francesc 1975 births 2021 deaths 2021 suicides People from Garrotxa Sportspeople from the Province of Girona Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Málaga CF players Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Catalonia international footballers Málaga CF non-playing staff Real Oviedo non-playing staff Suicides by train Suicides in Spain