David Villa Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation; born 3 December 1981), nicknamed El Guaje (Asturian: The Kid), is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a forward for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team.Despite sustaining a serious injury as a child, he started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga début, winning his first senior honours—the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. He joined Valencia CF in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey in the 2007–08 season. In 2010 he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles. Villa made his international début in 2005. He has since participated in three major tournaments, becoming an integral member of the Spain teams that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was top scorer at Euro 2008 and earned Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup. With 46 goals, Villa is Spain's all-time top goalscorer and has also scored more World Cup goals than any other player in Spain's history.His goals-to-games ratio at World Cup matches is higher than the competition's all-time top scorer, Ronaldo, while the goals-to-games ratio he has achieved for the national team has not been matched by any player since Alfredo Di Stéfano. Villa was born in Tuilla, a small village in Langreo, Asturias, a region in northern Spain, the son of José Manuel Villa, a miner. When Villa was four, his professional career was put in jeopardy when he suffered a fracture to the femur in his right leg, but made a complete recovery. Due to the injury, he and his father worked on strengthening his left leg and Villa ultimately became ambidextrous. He recalls his father being consistently supportive: "He would be there throwing me the ball over and over, making me kick it with my left leg when my right was in plaster after breaking it, I was four. I can barely remember a single training session when my dad wasn't there. I have never been alone on a football pitch." Villa admitted that he came close to giving up football at the age of 14 after growing disillusioned and falling out with his coach. However, thanks to his parents' encouragement, he persisted in pursuing his dream, realising his talent could earn him a living. "In those days I was a nobody, not earning a penny and after being made to sit on the bench all season I just wanted to get away and play with my friends" he said. "But my dad always supported me and cheered me up until my career turned round." He went on to begin his footballing career at UP Langreo and when he turned 17 he joined the Mareo football school. Villa attracted interest from many Asturian teams, but one of the province's bigger teams, Real Oviedo, declared that he was too short and that they did not believe he had sufficient potential.He subsequently got his professional breakthrough at his local club Sporting de Gijón, following in the footsteps of his childhood idol Quini. Starting out at the team's youth ranks, he made his first-team début in the 2000–01 season. After scoring 25 goals in two seasons, he became a first team regular. Pepe Acebal, the Sporting Gijon manager at the time, said that Villa initially lacked the stamina to have a real impact and had to be given his chance bit by bit and that Villa's capacity for work was "unrivalled". With his goal tally nearly reaching 40 goals after spending two full seasons in Gijón's main team, Villa ultimately got his chance in Spain's top-flight when Sporting were in financial difficulty and newly promoted Real Zaragoza signed him for approximately €3 million in the summer of 2003. The striker had no trouble adapting to playing at the higher level, netting 17 times in his first season at Zaragoza.
David Villa Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation; born 3 December 1981), nicknamed El Guaje (Asturian: The Kid), is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a forward for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team.Despite sustaining a serious injury as a child, he started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga début, winning his first senior honours—the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. He joined Valencia CF in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey in the 2007–08 season. In 2010 he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles.
Villa made his international début in 2005. He has since participated in three major tournaments, becoming an integral member of the Spain teams that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was top scorer at Euro 2008 and earned Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup. With 46 goals, Villa is Spain's all-time top goalscorer and has also scored more World Cup goals than any other player in Spain's history.His goals-to-games ratio at World Cup matches is higher than the competition's all-time top scorer, Ronaldo, while the goals-to-games ratio he has achieved for the national team has not been matched by any player since Alfredo Di Stéfano.
Villa was born in Tuilla, a small village in Langreo, Asturias, a region in northern Spain, the son of José Manuel Villa, a miner. When Villa was four, his professional career was put in jeopardy when he suffered a fracture to the femur in his right leg, but made a complete recovery. Due to the injury, he and his father worked on strengthening his left leg and Villa ultimately became ambidextrous. He recalls his father being consistently supportive: "He would be there throwing me the ball over and over, making me kick it with my left leg when my right was in plaster after breaking it, I was four. I can barely remember a single training session when my dad wasn't there. I have never been alone on a football pitch."
Villa admitted that he came close to giving up football at the age of 14 after growing disillusioned and falling out with his coach. However, thanks to his parents' encouragement, he persisted in pursuing his dream, realising his talent could earn him a living. "In those days I was a nobody, not earning a penny and after being made to sit on the bench all season I just wanted to get away and play with my friends" he said. "But my dad always supported me and cheered me up until my career turned round." He went on to begin his footballing career at UP Langreo and when he turned 17 he joined the Mareo football school.
Villa attracted interest from many Asturian teams, but one of the province's bigger teams, Real Oviedo, declared that he was too short and that they did not believe he had sufficient potential.He subsequently got his professional breakthrough at his local club Sporting de Gijón, following in the footsteps of his childhood idol Quini. Starting out at the team's youth ranks, he made his first-team début in the 2000–01 season. After scoring 25 goals in two seasons, he became a first team regular. Pepe Acebal, the Sporting Gijon manager at the time, said that Villa initially lacked the stamina to have a real impact and had to be given his chance bit by bit and that Villa's capacity for work was "unrivalled".
With his goal tally nearly reaching 40 goals after spending two full seasons in Gijón's main team, Villa ultimately got his chance in Spain's top-flight when Sporting were in financial difficulty and newly promoted Real Zaragoza signed him for approximately €3 million in the summer of 2003. The striker had no trouble adapting to playing at the higher level, netting 17 times in his first season at Zaragoza.
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