Javier Ángel Balboa Osa (born 13 May 1985) is a former professional
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 played as a
winger, most notably for
Real Madrid and
Benfica.
After emerging at
Real Madrid's youth system, he could never establish himself in its first team. In 2008 he signed with
Benfica, being loaned several times over his contract and leaving three years later.
Balboa represented
Equatorial Guinea at the
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
and
2015 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...
.
Club career
Real Madrid
Born in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, Balboa arrived at
Real Madrid Castilla in the summer of 2005. He eventually settled down, although he missed a part of
their season due to
first team duty; he still finished his first year with 32 games and one goal, in
Segunda División.
After having toured with the Real Madrid first team in its Austrian tour during the 2006–07 pre-season, Balboa signed a one-year loan deal with
Racing de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...
in
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' ...
in order to gain first team experience, after being told he was not going to be part of the former's plans by manager
Fabio Capello. He was an integral part of the
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
n side for
the season's duration, scoring in a 2–1 win at
RCD Mallorca in the 88th minute, on 16 December 2006.
Balboa was praised by Capello's replacement,
Bernd Schuster
Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a m ...
, upon his return from loan, and his contract was extended until 2011. During the 2007 pre-season he was played as a right and left winger, and did well in several games, scoring against
FC Lokomotiv Moscow
FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three o ...
.
Balboa came on in the second half of the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
home match against
Olympiacos F.C. on 24 October 2007 and, during injury time, scored his first goal in the competition and for Real after being set up by
Robinho
Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002 ...
, in a 4–2
group stage home win. On 19 December, he scored his first goal in the
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
, in a 1–1 draw against
Alicante CF for
the fourth round. The previous month, he had come to blows with teammate
Pepe
Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname.
*
People
Mononyms
* Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer
*Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...
during a training session; he was not called up for Real Madrid's next match, while the Portuguese was.
Benfica
On 25 June 2008, Balboa signed a four-year deal with
S.L. Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.
Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...
for €4 million, as the Portuguese club was managed by
Quique Sánchez Flores
Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Getafe.
He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 ga ...
. He made 17 competitive appearances in
his first season, being ousted from the squad in
the second
''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the orig ...
following a wages dispute.
On 28 January 2010, Balboa was loaned to
FC Cartagena
Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...
in the second level until the end of
the campaign. Returning to Benfica, he found himself limited to training with the first team, and subsequently joined
Albacete Balompié
Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...
on a five-month loan.
Beira-Mar
On 13 August 2011, Balboa terminated his contract with Benfica. Two days later he signed with
S.C. Beira-Mar
Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...
also in Portugal's
Primeira Liga, leaving on 21 June 2013 after the
Aveiro team's
relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
.
Later years
On 16 September 2015, after two seasons with
G.D. Estoril Praia, Balboa moved to
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
after agreeing to a one-year deal with
Al-Faisaly FC
Al-Faisaly FC ( ar, نادي الفيصلي) is a Saudi Arabian football team playing in the Saudi Professional League, based in Harmah City with a population of around 15,000 people. The club is named after King Faisal (r. 1964–75); he wa ...
. On 25 January 2017 he moved clubs and countries again, joining
Trikala F.C. in the
Football League (Greece)
The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Le ...
.
International career
Balboa made his debut with
Equatorial Guinea on 2 June 2007, in a 0–2 loss to
Rwanda for the
2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying stage. Also, he appeared in B games against the
Region of Murcia
The Region of Murcia (, ; es, Región de Murcia ), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in ...
and
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
in 2007, against
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
on 2 June 2011 and against French side
FC Issy-les-Moulineaux.
On 21 January 2012, Balboa scored the inaugural goal in the
2012 Africa Cup of Nations, the game's only as the co-hosts defeated
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
. In the
2015 edition of the tournament, also hosted by his country, he won a
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
after being fouled by
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...
's
Lloyd Palun
Lloyd Palun (born 28 November 1988) is a professional association football, footballer who most recently played for Ligue 2 club SC Bastia, Bastia. Born in France, he represents Gabon national football team, Gabon at international level. He play ...
, and converted it to open a 2–0 win which put Equatorial Guinea into the quarter-finals. In the last-eight encounter, against
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, he converted a late penalty to tie the game at 1–1 and eventually take it to
extra time, where he scored a
free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
to take his country to its first ever semi-final.
Balboa missed the first penalty in
the shootout of the third-place playoff lost to the
DR Congo, but with three goals was the tournament's joint top scorer alongside four other players.
Personal life
Balboa came from a notable Equatorial Guinean family. His paternal great-grandfather, Abilio Balboa Arkins, was mayor of
Santa Isabel (renamed Malabo) during the 1960s. Balboa Arkins' sons were also footballers: Norberto (Javier's paternal grandfather), Armando – both were killed after participating in a failed
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
against
Francisco Macías Nguema
Francisco Macías Nguema ( Africanised to Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong; 1 January 1924 – 29 September 1979), often mononymously referred to as Macías, was an Equatoguinean politician who served as the first President of Equatorial Guinea ...
– and Abilio Jr., the most prominent of the three who played with his national team. Turn, a daughter of Armando, formed a family in Spain with the son of
Domènec Balmanya
Domènec Balmanya i Perera (; 29 December 1914 – 14 February 2002), also referred to as Domingo Balmaña, was a former Spanish football midfielder and manager who spent most of his playing career at FC Barcelona. As a manager, he guided CF Barc ...
, and they had a son, Israel Balmanya, who was a professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player.
Balboa had another cousin
Richard Nguema, a basketball player who played with, amongst others,
Real Madrid and the
Equatorial Guinea national team.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Equatorial Guinea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Balboa goal.''
Honours
Real Madrid
*
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' ...
:
2007–08
*
Supercopa de España runner-up:
2007
Benfica
*
Taça da Liga:
2008–09
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balboa, Javier
1985 births
Living people
Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent
Footballers from Madrid
Citizens of Equatorial Guinea through descent
Spanish footballers
Equatoguinean footballers
Association football wingers
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Tercera División players
RSD Alcalá players
Real Madrid C footballers
Real Madrid Castilla footballers
Real Madrid CF players
Racing de Santander players
FC Cartagena footballers
Albacete Balompié players
Primeira Liga players
S.L. Benfica footballers
S.C. Beira-Mar players
G.D. Estoril Praia players
Saudi Professional League players
Al-Faisaly FC players
Botola players
Football League (Greece) players
Trikala F.C. players
Qatari Second Division players
Mesaimeer SC players
Equatorial Guinea international footballers
2012 Africa Cup of Nations players
2015 Africa Cup of Nations players
Equatoguinean expatriate footballers
Spanish expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Portugal
Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia
Expatriate footballers in Morocco
Expatriate footballers in Greece
Expatriate footballers in Qatar
Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia
Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Morocco
Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Qatar
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Morocco
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Qatar