Gerónimo Rulli (; born 20 May 1992) is an Argentine

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 ...

who plays 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 ...

for Spanish club

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

and the Argentina national team.

Club career

Estudiantes

Born in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Rulli graduated from local Estudiantes' youth setup, being promoted to the first-team squad in 2012, being initially assigned as a backup to

Justo Villar Justo Wilmar Villar Viveros (born 30 June 1977) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Other than in his own country, he also played in Argentina, Spain and Chile, in a senior career that lasted 22 years. A ...

and Agustín Silva. On 8 April 2013, after profiting from Villar's departure to Nacional and Silva's injury, he played his first match as a professional, starting in a 0–1 loss at

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. Rulli appeared in further 11 matches during the campaign, and established a record of 588 minutes without suffering a goal. He appeared in all league matches in 2013–14, overtaking Silva in the pecking order.

Real Sociedad and loan to Montpellier

On 24 July 2014 Rulli was loaned to

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 Real Sociedad for one year from

Deportivo Maldonado Club Deportivo Maldonado is a football club from Maldonado, Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Primera División following their promotion from the Uruguayan Segunda División at the end of the 2019 season. History Club Deportivo ...

, which bought the player's rights a month earlier. He made his debut for the club on 28 August, starting and being replaced in the 85th minute of a 0–3 away loss against

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

in the

2014–15 UEFA Europa League The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League was the 44th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2015 UEFA Europa League Final was ...

due to an

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joi ...

injury. Rulli returned to action in November, and made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 20 December 2014, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Levante. On 4 January of the following year, he made several key saves which granted the ''Txuri-urdin'' a 1–0 home win against

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 ...

. On 4 July 2015, Rulli's loan was extended for a further year. On 19 July 2016, Rulli was signed by

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side Manchester City for £4 million. He was shortly afterwards loaned back to Real Sociedad, before moving permanently in January 2017. On 14 August 2019, Rulli joined Ligue 1 club Montpellier on a season-long loan with the option to make the transfer permanent.

Villarreal

On 4 September 2020, after his loan ended with Montpellier, Rulli agreed to a four-year deal with

. In his first season, manager

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Aston Villa. After a career spent playing mostly in Spain's Segunda División, Emery transitioned into coa ...

preferred to play

Sergio Asenjo Sergio Asenjo Andrés (; born 28 June 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Real Valladolid as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with Valladolid in 2007, making 47 senior appearances in his first spell. He then ...

in goal in the league, and Rulli in the Europa League. He made his league debut for the club on 21 April in a 2–1 loss at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

, having been chosen to prepare for the European semi-final against Arsenal. On 26 May 2021, Rulli scored the winning penalty kick and then saved

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...

's penalty in his side's 11–10

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory over Manchester United in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League after the game finished 1–1 at

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

to win the first European title for Villarreal. In the second leg of the

2021–22 UEFA Champions League The 2021–22 UEFA Champions League was the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Real Madri ...

semi-finals, Villarreal was leading 2–0 against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in the first half to level the tie 2–2 on aggregate. In the second half, he made goalkeeping errors and conceded three goals, in which his team eventually lost 3–2 in the Estadio de la Cerámica, and was knocked out of the competition.

International career

On 20 March 2015, Rulli was called up to the Argentina national team for the matches against El Salvador and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, but he did not play in either fixture. In 2016, Rulli was included in the preliminary squad for

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

but was eventually excluded. Rulli was chosen as the overage player for the Argentina under-23 squad at the 2016 Olympic tournament in Brazil. He played all three games in a group stage elimination, and filled in for the suspended Víctor Cuesta as captain in the last of those, a 1–1 draw with Honduras. After Jorge Sampaoli took charge in May 2017, Rulli was consistently called up to Argentina's senior squad, but did not play. Under manager Lionel Scaloni, he made his first team debut against Guatemala on 8 September 2018, in a 3–0 friendly win in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. On 1 June 2022, Rulli remained as an unused substitute as Argentina won 3–0 against reigning European Champions

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in the 2022 Finalissima. He was named in Argentina's final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

by Scaloni. He did not play a single minute in the tournament as Argentina won the World Cup by defeating France 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out to win

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Villarreal *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

: 2020–21 Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

* CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions:

Individual * Ubaldo Fillol Award: 2014 Torneo Final *

Squad of the Season: 2020–21

References

External links

Real Sociedad official profileESPN Deportes profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rulli, Geronimo 1992 births Living people Footballers from La Plata Argentine footballers Association football goalkeepers Argentine Primera División players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers La Liga players Real Sociedad footballers Villarreal CF players Manchester City F.C. players Ligue 1 players Montpellier HSC players Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in France Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics 2022 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Olympic footballers of Argentina Argentina international footballers UEFA Europa League winning players