Jesús Rueda Ambrosio (born 19 February 1987) is a Spanish 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 le ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or defensive midfielder for

CD San Roque de Lepe Club Deportivo San Roque de Lepe, SAD is a Spanish football team based in Lepe, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1956 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at ''Estadio Ciudad de Lepe'', with a ...

. He spent most of his career with

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

, playing 163 competitive matches mostly in

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 ...

Club career

Valladolid

Born in

Corte de Peleas Corte de Peleas is a Spanish municipality in the province of Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Port ...

Province of Badajoz The province of Badajoz () is a province of western Spain located in the autonomous community of Extremadura. It was formed in 1833. It is bordered by the provinces of Cáceres in the north, Toledo, Ciudad Real in the east, Córdoba in the so ...

, Extremadura, Rueda played youth football with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

. He made his senior debut with the reserve team, spending four full seasons with the side in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

; on 12 November 2008 he made his first official appearance with the main squad, featuring 34 minutes in a 2–2 draw against

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

in the

round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of 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 footbal ...

, and his first

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 ...

match was on the following 26 April, also at the

Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla A stadium (plural, : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to ...

, a 0–0 draw with CA Osasuna in which he came on as a late substitute. After spending the 2009–10 campaign on loan to

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

, Rueda returned to Valladolid which were now in the same level. He totalled 3,867 minutes of action in the second year in his second spell – playoffs included – scoring in the 1–1 draw at Recreativo de Huelva on 15 October 2011 as the

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

side went on to return to the top flight.

Later career

On 13 August 2015, after appearing regularly as the club fluctuated between the first and second tiers, Rueda terminated his contract with the ''Blanquivioletas''. He subsequently moved abroad for the first time, receiving offers from teams in Bulgaria and Israel, eventually signing for

Beitar Jerusalem F.C. Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

and becoming a regular in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

team alongside compatriot

Pablo de Lucas Pablo de Lucas Torres (; born 20 September 1986) is a former Spanish professional footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder, currently video analyst at Romanian Liga II club Chindia Târgoviște. Club career De Lucas was born in El ...

; manager

Slobodan Drapić Slobodan Drapić ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Драпић, he, סלובודאן דראפיץ'; born 28 February 1965) is a Serbian-Israeli football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Bnei Sakhnin. Playing career Drapić w ...

stated "I wish I had eleven like Rueda", and he was among a growing contingent of Spaniards playing in the relatively obscure Israeli Premier League, gaining media attention back home. Rueda moved countries again in June 2017, when he signed a two-year deal for APOEL FC of the Cypriot First Division, a club whose director Juanjo Lorenzo was from

. His debut season in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

ended at the halfway point when he suffered a knee injury in training, ruling him out for six months. On 21 July 2019,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Rueda returned to Spain and joined second division team Extremadura UD. The following 25 January, after only five official games, he cut ties with the club and signed a 18-month contract with third-tier Gimnàstic de Tarragona four days later. On 5 August 2021, Rueda signed a one-year deal with

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Las Gaunas ...

, recently relegated to the Primera División RFEF.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rueda, Jesus 1987 births Living people People from Tierra de Barros Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Badajoz Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players Real Valladolid Promesas players Real Valladolid players Córdoba CF players Extremadura UD footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers UD Logroñés players Zamora CF footballers CD San Roque de Lepe footballers Israeli Premier League players Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players Cypriot First Division players APOEL FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus