Juan Ángel Albín Leites (born 17 July 1986) is a Uruguayan

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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or a winger. After starting out at Nacional, he spent the first part of his career 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' ...

and went on acquire

Spanish citizenship Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and los ...

. He amassed league totals of 129 matches and 21 goals over seven seasons in the latter country, representing

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

and

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

in the competition. Other than Uruguay and Spain, Albín played professionally in Romania, Mexico and Cyprus.

Club career

Nacional

Born in Salto,

Salto Department Salto Department () is a department of the northwestern region of Uruguay. It has an area of and a population of 124,878. Its capital is the city of Salto. It borders Artigas Department to its north, Paysandú Department to its south, the depar ...

, Albín started his career at

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

, where he won two Primera División championships. His strong performances earned him a transfer to Spanish club Getafe CF in the 2006 summer

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

Getafe

Albín featured sparingly in his first season (13

games), but became first choice the following campaign as the

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 ...

outskirts team reached the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

and a mid-table league position. After a coaching change brought Míchel to the bench, however, he began appearing less regularly; on 29 November 2008, in a rare start, he scored in a 3–1 home win over Real Madrid. On 21 April 2009, also against Real Madrid, Albín was struck in the face by

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 ...

, in the mêlée which resulted after the Portuguese's aggression on

Javier Casquero Francisco Javier Casquero Paredes (born 11 March 1976) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played usually as a central midfielder. Over 11 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 322 matches and 43 goals, mainly with Getafe (six year ...

. He continued being used intermittently in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, netting a last-minute winner at home against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

on 11 December 2010 but also being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for lifting his shirt, in a second bookable offence.

Espanyol

In mid-April 2011, Getafe agreed to sell Albín to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

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 ...

3 million, as his contract was set to expire in June 2012. He spent several months of his first season on the sidelines, nursing a leg injury. Albín scored his first goal for the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

on 4 February 2012, netting in the 92nd minute for a 3–3 away draw against Athletic Bilbao. In January 2013, due to lack of playing time, he was loaned to his former club Nacional.

Later career

On 6 September 2013, Albín signed a one-year contract with

FC Petrolul Ploiești Asociația Clubul Sportiv Petrolul 52, commonly known as Petrolul Ploiești () or simply as Petrolul, is a Romanian professional football club based in Ploiești, Prahova County, which competes in the Liga I. Founded in 1924 in capital Bucharest ...

in Romania, rejoining his former Getafe teammate

Cosmin Contra Cosmin Marius Contra (; born 15 December 1975) is a Romanian football manager and former player. Primarily an attacking-minded right-back, he was also deployed as a midfielder. He played professionally in three countries his own notwithstanding, ...

who was now a manager. He made his

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

debut on the 21st, scoring his team's goal in a 1–1 draw at FC Dinamo București. On 31 March 2014, Albín chose to extend his link by one year even if at that time Contra had already left. He ended the campaign with 28 matches and ten goals in all competitions. Albín scored against GNK Dinamo Zagreb in the second leg of the Europa League play-off round, on 28 August 2014; however, his side lost 5–2 on aggregate and failed to progress to the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. On 16 December, as Petrolul faced financial issues which led to

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet ...

and ultimately bankruptcy, he was transferred to

C.D. Veracruz Club Deportivo Veracruz, commonly known as Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, was a Mexican professional football club based in the city of Veracruz. ''El Aston'' was founded in 1943, and played in the Liga MX of Mexico. Their nickname, "Tiburones ...

of Mexico. Albín returned to Romania and its top division nearly three years later, joining Dinamo București on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

-long loan with an option to buy. On 18 July 2018, the 32-year-old joined

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also tran ...

International career

Albín represented

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 ...

at under-17 and under-20 levels. In March 2009, he was called to the full side by

Óscar Tabárez Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (; born 3 March 1947), known as ''El Maestro'' (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player. He most recently coached the Uruguay national team. After an unassuming career as a ...

ahead of a

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, but remained unused in the 2–0 victory and never won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

Style of play

Albín was a left-footed

who could also be deployed as a winger. He was described as a footballer with "great speed and a very good technique". During his first stint in Romania, Albín was known as an excellent

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 ...

taker, and in 2016 former international

Adrian Mutu Adrian Mutu (; born 8 January 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder. Mutu star ...

went as far to state that he was the best foreigner that the league ever had.

Honours

Nacional *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional football league in Uru ...

: 2005, 2005–06 Getafe *

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 ...

runner-up: 2006–07, 2007–08 Veracruz *

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

: Clausura 2016

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albin, Juan Angel 1986 births Living people People from Salto, Uruguay Naturalised citizens of Spain Uruguayan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers Uruguayan Primera División players Uruguayan Segunda División players Club Nacional de Football players Rampla Juniors players Defensor Sporting players La Liga players Getafe CF footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Liga I players FC Petrolul Ploiești players FC Dinamo București players Liga MX players C.D. Veracruz footballers Cypriot First Division players AC Omonia players Uruguay men's youth international footballers Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Romania Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus