Iván Balliu Campeny (born 1 January 1992) is a 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

right-back 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 ...

for

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 ...

club

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 Lig ...

and the Albania national team. After starting out at

Barcelona B Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, he went on to compete professionally in Spain, Portugal and France. Balliu represented his native Spain at youth level before declaring for

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, for which he qualified via his father. He was first included in an Albanian senior squad in 2017, making his debut in October of that year.

Club career

Barcelona

Born in

Caldes de Malavella Caldes de Malavella is a municipality of the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Selva in Catalonia, Spain. In 2014, its population was 7,130. The place was formerly very famous for its thermal baths. Transport Public transport is generally acces ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

to an Albanian father and a Spanish mother, Balliu joined

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

's youth system in 2004, aged 12. He made his senior debut in the 2010–11 season, playing two

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 ...

games with the reserves and starting against

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

for a 2–0 away win. In that year, he was also

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the treble-winning '' Juvenil A'' team.

Arouca

On 30 May 2013, Balliu's contract expired and he was told by Barcelona that he would be released. One month later, he signed with F.C. Arouca in Portugal for two seasons, making his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

debut on 1 September in a 1–0 home victory over

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

(90 minutes played).

Metz

Balliu joined French club

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

on 17 July 2015, on a two-year deal. He scored his first goal as a professional on 16 October, helping the hosts come from behind in the 2–2 home draw with Clermont Foot. After contributing 24 appearances in his first season to help his team to return to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

after a one-year absence, Balliu's first match in the competition occurred on 13 August 2016, in a 3–2 home win over

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

Almería

On 12 August 2019, Balliu agreed to a two-year contract with

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

of the Spanish second division. He scored his first goal in his country of birth on 7 March 2020, helping the hosts defeat

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

4–0.

Rayo Vallecano

Balliu moved to newly-promoted

on 14 July 2021, on a two-year deal. He made his

debut on 15 August at the age of 29, playing the entire 3–0 defeat at

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

. His first goal came the following 9 January, when he closed the 1–1 home draw against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

International career

Of Albanian descent on his father's side, Balliu was eligible to represent

, speaking of his interest in an interview on 24 October 2016. On 22 August 2017 he received Albanian citizenship, thus becoming eligible to play for the national team. He was handed his first call shortly after when newly appointed coach

Christian Panucci Christian Panucci (; born 12 April 1973) is an Italian former association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager. In his playing career he played as a Defender (association football), defender. A versatile footballer, he ...

selected him for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

and Macedonia on 2 and 5 September, and earned his first

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 ...

also during that stage, playing the first half of the 3–0 loss against

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 ...

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

on 6 October.

Personal life

On 17 June 2017, Balliu married Marta Soler.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

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archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balliu, Ivan 1992 births Living people People from Selva Spanish people of Albanian descent Spanish men's footballers Albanian men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Girona Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players FC Barcelona Atlètic players UD Almería players Rayo Vallecano players Primeira Liga players F.C. Arouca players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players FC Metz players Spain men's youth international footballers Albania men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Albanian expatriate sportspeople in France