David Villa

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Villa and the second or maternal family name is Sánchez.
David Villa
Villa with Spain at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup
Personal information
Full name David Villa Sánchez[1]
Date of birth (1981-12-03) 3 December 1981 (age 42)[1]
Place of birth Langreo, Spain
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1991–1999 Langreo
1999–2000 Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Sporting Gijón B 36 (14)
2001–2003 Sporting Gijón 80 (38)
2003–2005 Real Zaragoza 73 (32)
2005–2010 Valencia[2][3] 166 (108)
2010–2013 Barcelona 77 (33)
2013–2014 Atlético Madrid 36 (13)
2014–2018 New York City FC 117 (77)
2014 → Melbourne City (loan) 4 (2)
2019–2020 Vissel Kobe 28 (13)
Total 617 (330)
International career
2001–2002 Asturias 2 (1)
2002–2003 Spain U21 7 (0)
2005–2017 Spain 98 (59)
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Spain
FIFA World Cup
Winner 2010 South Africa
UEFA European Championship
Winner 2008 Austria–Switzerland
FIFA Confederations Cup
Runner-up 2013 Brazil
Third place 2009 South Africa
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Villa Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈβið ˈbiʎa santʃeθ]; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation,[4][5][6] Villa is the all-time top goalscorer of the Spain national team. He is currently the vice-president of Spanish Tercera Federación club CF Benidorm.[7]

Nicknamed El Guaje (The Kid in Asturian) due to a reputation of playing football with children much older than him,[8][9] Villa sustained a serious injury as a child but managed to start his professional career with Sporting de Gijón in 2001. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga debut, and won the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. He joined Valencia in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and captured another Copa del Rey title.

After a five-season tenure in Valencia where Villa elevated into one of the best players in La Liga, he signed for Barcelona for €40 million in 2010. In his first season, he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles, scoring in the 2011 final. He left the club in 2013 after transferring to Atlético Madrid, where he won another La Liga title and reached the 2014 UEFA Champions League final. After a single season in the Spanish capital, Villa departed to join new MLS franchise New York City, where he became the club's record goalscorer and appearance maker, winning the MLS MVP Award for best player in 2016.[10] In 2018, Villa announced his departure from New York, to join Vissel Kobe in Japan before retiring in 2020.[11]

Villa made his international debut for Spain in 2005. He participated in four major tournaments, and was an integral member of the Spain teams that won UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was the top scorer at Euro 2008, and earned the Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup. His displays for Spain and Valencia saw him named in the FIFPro World XI and UEFA Team of the Year for 2010. Having scored at the 2014 World Cup, Villa established himself as Spain's top scorer in World Cup history, with nine goals.[12][13] He became the first Spanish player to ever reach 50 international goals and, after a brief comeback in 2017,[14] he retired from the national team with 59 goals in 98 matches.

  1. ^ a b c "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players: Spain" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference SW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "David Villa Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference theguardian.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference giornaledioggi.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Goleadores y... mucho más was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "La sociedad de David Villa y Víctor Oñate adquiere la propiedad del CF Benidorm" (in Spanish). cfbenidorm.es. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  8. ^ "David Villa - Barcelona FC". Archived from the original on 16 July 2013.
  9. ^ "David Villa Sánchez - FC Barcelona player". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference MVP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "David Villa: Ex-Barcelona striker to join Andres Iniesta at Vissel Kobe". BBC Sport. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  12. ^ "David Villa breaks Spain's scoring record". Stamford Advocate. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010. [dead link]
  13. ^ "Goalscoring for Spain National Team". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference VillaRecall was invoked but never defined (see the help page).