Osmar Ibáñez Barba (; born 5 June 1988), known simply as Osmar, 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 ...

who plays for South Korean club FC Seoul as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

or 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 ...

Football career

Racing Santander

Born in

Santoña Santoña is a town in the eastern coast of the autonomous community of Cantabria, on the north coast of Spain. It is situated by the bay of the same name. It is from the capital Santander. Santoña is divided into two zones, an urban plain, and ...

, Osmar was a product of local

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 ...

's youth system. After a successful loan stint with CD Salmantino in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

he returned to his first club for 2008–09, making his senior debut with the reserves in Segunda División B and being his team's top scorer;Osmar Barba, el capitán cántabro del Seoul surcoreano (Osmar Barba, the Cantabrian captain of South Korea's Seoul)
Marca, 22 June 2017 (in Spanish) he suffered relegation in the following season. On 8 November 2009, Osmar made his debut with 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 ...

ns' first-team, starting in a 2–0

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' ...

home loss against Athletic Bilbao. He was definitely promoted to the main squad for the 2010–11 campaign, but appeared in only 12 more games in two seasons combined, with the second ending in relegation. Osmar Barba

Buriram United

On 25 July 2012, Osmar signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Thai club Buriram United F.C. for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 1 August, appearing in a

Thai FA Cup The Thai FA Cup ( th, ไทยเอฟเอคัพ), known officially as The Football Association of Thailand Cup, is a football cup competition in Thailand. Thai FA Cup is an annual knockout association football competition in men's domest ...

match against Chonburi F.C. and going on to win both that tournament and the

Toyota League Cup The League Cup ( th, ไทยลีกคัพ) is a football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Toyota League Cup for sponsorship reasons. It was re-formed during the 2010 domestic football league season in Thailand and runs alon ...

in his first year. On 26 February 2013, Osmar made his debut in the AFC Champions League, in a match against

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in J2 League. The team is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club'', Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after p ...

, acting as

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 ...

and scoring a goal in the 1–1 away draw. On 1 May, Buriram became the first team from the nation in a decade to reach the knockout rounds of the AFC Champions League, and he topped his side's scorers list at three.

FC Seoul

On 31 December 2013, Osmar moved teams and countries again, joining FC Seoul on a three-year deal and becoming the first Spanish footballer to ever play in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. Ahead of the 2015 season he was appointed vice-captain, appearing in the all matches and minutes to set a new record for a foreign field player in the

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

. Before the start of the following campaign, Osmar was chosen as the new captain, becoming the first foreigner in the club's history to hold the position. On 21 February 2018, he joined J1 League's Cerezo Osaka on loan. On 18 December 2018, Osmar signed a new three-year contract with Seoul.

Career statistics

Honours

Buriram United *

Thai Premier League The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from Augu ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Doblete para el Buriram tailandés al ganar la "FA Cup" (Double for Thailand's Buriram after winning the FA Cup)

El Diario Vasco ''El Diario Vasco'' (English: ''The Basque Daily'') is a Spanish morning daily newspaper based in San Sebastián, Basque Country. History and profile ''El Diario Vasco'' was founded in 1934 by the Sociedad Vascongada de Publicaciones, led by co ...

, 11 November 2013 (in Spanish) *

: 2012, 2013 *

Thai League Cup The League Cup ( th, ไทยลีกคัพ) is a football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Toyota League Cup for sponsorship reasons. It was re-formed during the 2010 domestic football league season in Thailand and runs alon ...

: 2012, 2013 *

Kor Royal Cup Kor Royal Cup ( th, ถ้วยพระราชทาน ก. ; ถ้วย ก.), known as the Yai Cup ( th, ถ้วยใหญ่) until 1963, was the highest level of club football competition which competed in the tournament in Thailand ...

: 2013 FC Seoul *

: 2016Osmar Barba, primer campeón español en Corea del Sur (Osmar Barba, first Spanish champion in South Korea)

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns '' El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The paper particularly covers news of the Community of M ...

, 6 November 2016 (in Spanish) *

Korean FA Cup The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...

: 2015 Individual *Fans' Asian Champions League XI:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: Defender of the Year, Best XI 2013 *

: Best XI 2016

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Osmar 1988 births Living people People from Santoña Spanish footballers Footballers from Cantabria Association football defenders Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Rayo Cantabria players Racing de Santander players Thai League 1 players Buriram United F.C. players K League 1 players FC Seoul players J1 League players Cerezo Osaka players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Thailand Expatriate footballers in South Korea Expatriate footballers in Japan Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Japan