Armando Ribeiro de Aguiar Malda (born 16 January 1971), known simply as Armando, is a Spanish former 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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He spent most of his 20-year senior career with

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

(nine seasons and 273 games, appearing in all three major levels of Spanish football), finishing it with

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

where he played three of his four

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

campaigns, totalling 44 matches.

Playing career

Armando was born in

Sopelana Sopela, formerly known as Sopelana, is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The town is roughly 820 hectares in size, located in the comarca Mungialdea on the ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

. After representing several clubs in the lower leagues, with an unassuming three-year

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

spell at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

, he spent nine years of his career at

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

, being the second tier's

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy () is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' Marca'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ice hockey or earned run average in b ...

in 2004–05 and first-choice throughout most of the following season's

, as the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns were immediately relegated. In January 2008, Cádiz loaned Armando to

, who had lost first-choice

Gorka Iraizoz Gorka Iraizoz Moreno (born 6 March 1981) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Gernika Club. He spent most of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 392 official games. In La Liga h ...

for six months due to a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury. In an away match against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

on 15 March, he was hit by a bottle thrown by an opposing fan, with his team leading 2–1 and 20 minutes left; he needed six stitches to a wound just inches below the eye, and Athletic were later awarded the win by the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the natio ...

. At the end of the campaign, the loan move was made permanent by the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

and, with Iraizoz recovered, Armando beat competition from

Iñaki Lafuente Iñaki Lafuente Sancha (born 24 January 1976) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He appeared in 146 La Liga games over ten seasons, mainly with Athletic Bilbao. He also represented Espanyol and Sporting de ...

and served as backup. His only two appearances in 2008–09 were on 28 February 2009 in a 2–1 home loss to

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

, as manager

Joaquín Caparrós Joaquín de Jesús Caparrós Camino (born 15 October 1955) is a Spanish football manager currently in charge of La Liga club Sevilla. After winning the Segunda División with Sevilla in 2001, Caparrós was a regular on the La Liga sidelines for ...

rested the entire starting squad for the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

semi-final second leg, coincidentally also against Sevilla, and against

also at San Mamés in a 1–0 win, for the same reason (the upcoming

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

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

Post-retirement

Armando retired at the end of 2009–10, having appeared in three matches (two in the cup and the last round of the league). His final appearance – on 15 May 2010 against

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, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

– set a record as the club's oldest player in the league, aged 39 years and 119 days. He immediately joined the coaching staff for the next season. In that capacity, Armando remained several years at Athletic.

Personal life

In October 2016, Armando was acting as goalkeeping coach for

CD Basconia Club Deportivo Basconia is a Spanish football club based in Basauri, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded on 14 March 1913, it currently plays in , holding home games at the ''Artunduaga Sports Centre'', in the town o ...

(Athletic Bilbao's youth

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

) in a match against

CD Vitoria Club Deportivo Vitoria is a football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1945, the club has a senior side and a full youth system within its football section, as well as a basketball section. ...

in which one of the opposition goalscorers was his son Alain. The latter, a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, repeated the feat in the return fixture in March 2017. Armando's younger son, Iban, also spent time in Athletic's

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

Lezama Lezama is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is home to the training headquarters of the football team Athletic Bilbao, and is accessible by bus - Bizka ...

and played for

Danok Bat CF Danok Bat Club de Fica is a Spanish football team based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1972, the club is mainly known for their successful youth setup, which helps players to develop and join other senior clu ...

Honours

Cádiz *

: 2004–05 Individual *

(Segunda División): 2004–05

References

External links

*
Stats and bio at Cadistas1910
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armando Ribeiro 1971 births Living people People from Mungialdea 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Biscay Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CD Logroñés footballers Sporting de Gijón B players Deportivo Alavés players Bermeo FT footballers Barakaldo CF footballers Cádiz CF players Athletic Bilbao footballers Basque Country men's international footballers Association football goalkeeping coaches Athletic Bilbao non-playing staff