Rubén Baraja Vegas (; born 11 July 1975) is a Spanish retired

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 ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. A complete

central 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 ...

with good tackling, technique, and offensive qualities, together with accurate passing and goalscoring ability, he played mostly for

during a 17-year professional career, being an essential figure in five of the club's major titles, which included two

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' ...

championships. Baraja was also a consistent part of the Spain national team for five years, appearing in one

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and one European Championship and winning 43

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. He began work as a head coach in 2015 and was hired by Valencia eight years later.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

, Castile and León, Baraja started his career at local

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 c ...

before moving to Atlético Madrid, where he would spend two and a half seasons with the reserves, first appearing with the first team on 7 February 1999 by playing the second half of a 2–1 away defeat against

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...

. In 1998–99, with the B's in the Segunda División, he scored a career-best 11 goals. When Atlético was relegated at the end of 1999–2000, Baraja left the club in a 2,000 million '' pesetas'' transfer to that year's

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 ...

finalists

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

, who were looking to strengthen their central midfield following the sale of first-team players Gerard and Javier Farinós. In his first season he was a key element in the ''Ches Champions League run, as they were beaten 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 cont ...

for the second year running, this time losing in a

penalty shootout 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 ...

to FC Bayern Munich, with the player scoring on his attempt. 2001–02 would see Baraja's first trophy win, where his goals late in the campaign helped Valencia to their first

title in 31 years – he finished as team top scorer in the league, netting seven in only 17 league games after recovering from a knee injury. 2003–04 was another big year, winning both the domestic championship (with eight league goals from him) as well as 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 ...

, beating Olympique de Marseille 2–0 in

. In 2006–07, Baraja only made 14 league appearances as Valencia finished fourth, and continued to be constantly bothered by physical problems in the following years. After two respectable seasons, often partnering longtime central midfield partner

David Albelda David Albelda Aliqués (; born 1 September 1977) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. He played mainly for local Valencia during his extensive professional career, being team captain for ...

, he was again greatly troubled by injuries in the 2009–10 campaign, featuring in only 18 matches (two complete). Baraja closed his chapter at the

Mestalla Stadium Mestalla Stadium ( es, Estadio de Mestalla , ca-valencia, Estadi de Mestalla ) is a football stadium in Valencia, Spain. The stadium is the home of Valencia Club de Fútbol and has a capacity of 48,600 seats, making it the 8th-largest stadium i ...

after one full decade on 16 May 2010, receiving homages before and after the 1–0 home win over

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

and being replaced to a

standing ovation A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...

in the 89th minute. The 35-year-old announced his retirement shortly after, having appeared in 338 top-flight games over 15 seasons and scored 47 goals.

International

Baraja made his debut for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 7 October 2000, in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

2–0 defeat of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Consequently, he was picked for the final stages, where the team reached the quarter-finals before being sent out by co-hosts

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 ...

on penalties, though the player, as the year before with Valencia, once again scored on his attempt; he scored from a header during regulation time, but saw his goal disallowed for alleged shirt pulling and pushing in the Korean penalty area. Baraja also took part in the disappointing

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

tournament, where Spain was eliminated in the group stage by eventual finalists

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. He was left out of the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

squad, as his club presence was also diminished due to recurrent injuries.

Coaching career

Early years

In June 2011, Baraja returned to former team Atlético Madrid as part of newly appointed manager

Gregorio Manzano Gregorio "Goyo" Manzano Ballesteros (; born 11 March 1956) is a Spanish football manager. Football career Born in Bailén, Jaén, Andalusia, Manzano's training career started in 1983 at the age of 27. He took charge of several teams in his nat ...

's staff. In the summer of 2013 he returned to main club Valencia, first coaching the youths. On 22 December 2013, Baraja took interim charge of the reserves in the Segunda División B as

Nico Estévez Nicolás "Nico" Estévez Martínez (born 29 January 1980) is a Spanish football manager, who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. Career Born in Valencia, Estévez began his career with the youth categories of loca ...

was doing the same for the first team, and achieved a 2–1 win at

UE Sant Andreu Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu () is a Spanish football team based in the city of Barcelona in the district of Sant Andreu, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 5, holding home ma ...

Segunda División

Baraja was appointed manager of

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

, newly relegated to the second tier, on 12 July 2015. On 6 June of the following year, he resigned after failing to agree new terms. On 8 November 2016, Baraja took the reins at fellow league team

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

. After only three wins from 13 games, he was sacked on 20 February 2017 as they sat a point above the relegation places. Baraja was appointed at

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

on 12 December 2017. Towards the end of the season, he received a four-match ban and a €3,005 fine for preventing

FC Barcelona B FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

Sergi Palencia Sergi Palencia Hurtado (born 23 March 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Formed at Barcelona, where he was only a reserve, he played in Ligue 1 for Bordeaux and S ...

from taking a throw-in; this included the first game of the play-offs, in which eventual champions Valladolid eliminated the

Asturians Asturians ( ast, asturianos) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage Asturians are directly descended from the Astures, who wer ...

5–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. On 18 November 2018, Baraja was dismissed after losing the Asturian derby against Real Oviedo, leaving the team in 14th position with a streak of only one win from 11 matches. In December of the following year, he became coach of

in the same league, managing to avoid relegation but still leaving on 20 July 2020. Baraja replaced

Víctor Fernández Víctor Fernández Braulio (born 28 November 1960) is a Spanish football manager. He had three spells with his hometown team Zaragoza, winning the Copa del Rey in 1994 and the Cup Winners' Cup a year later. He also led Tenerife, Celta, Be ...

at the helm of

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

on 20 August 2020. He was relieved of his duties on 9 November, after a poor start to the season.

Valencia

On 14 February 2023, Baraja returned to his former club Valencia as head coach, taking over a team that had slipped from 14th to 18th since the dismissal of

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as manager of La Liga club Valencia. He was born in Corigliano (Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the cent ...

; long-time teammate Carlos Marchena was part of his coaching team. His first top-flight game as a manager came six days later in a 1–0 loss at Getafe CF.

Personal life

Baraja's younger brother,

Javier Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * Javier (album), ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier ...

, was also a professional footballer. A defender, he too graduated at Valladolid, and went on to spend most of his senior career there.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Baraja goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Valencia *

: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

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 ...

: 2007–08 *

: 2003–04 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

: 2004 Individual *

ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...

: 2001–02 *UEFA Super Cup Man of the Match: 2004

References

External links

* *
CiberChe biography and stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baraja, Ruben 1975 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Valladolid Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Valladolid Promesas players Real Valladolid players Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers Valencia CF players UEFA Cup winning players Spain youth international footballers Spain international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Valencia CF Mestalla managers Elche CF managers Rayo Vallecano managers Sporting de Gijón managers CD Tenerife managers Real Zaragoza managers Valencia CF managers Valencia CF non-playing staff