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David Villa Sánchez ( ; born 3 December 1981), nicknamed El Guaje (The Kid in Asturian) is a Spanish

footballer, who currently plays as a striker for Valencia CF and Spain.

Despite sustaining a career threatening injury as a child, he started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón and made his debut in 2000 in Spain's Segunda División. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, after a total of 38 goals and 80 appearances for Gijón. He made his La Liga debut at Zaragoza and scored 31 goals in 73 appearances in the next two seasons, winning the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España, his first senior honours. He joined his current club Valencia in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million. He was the second highest scorer in the 2005–06 season with 25 goals, and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey for a second time in the 2007–08 season.

Villa plays as a Spanish international and made his debut for the team against San Marino in 2005. He has since participated in two major tournaments: 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup and was top scorer at Euro 2008 with four goals. He is the second top scorer of all time for Spain behind only Raúl. Statistics demonstrate Villa to be the most prolific goalscorer in the world since 2005, seeing the back of the net over 156 times. Villa has two children with his wife Patricia and often attends charity events supported by sports personalities.

Childhood and early career

David Villa was born on 3 December 1981, the son of a miner, in Tuilla, a small village in Langreo

, Asturias

, a region in northern Spain

. His professional career was put in jeopardy when he suffered a fracture to his femur, but made a complete recovery.

Due to the injury to his right leg, he and his father José Manuel Villa worked on strengthening his left leg and he ultimately became an ambidextrous footballer. 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.

Club career

Sporting de Gijón and Real Zaragoza

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 debut 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 €3million 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. His league debut came during Zaragoza's first La Liga game since his arrival where the team were defeated 1–0 away from home at the hands of Galicia

side Deportivo de La Coruña while his first goal came two games later, an eighth minute goal against Real Murcia which put Zaragoza 2–0 up in a match which ended 3–0. 4 December 2003 saw him net his first brace (2 goals) in a 2–2 draw against Athletic Bilbao and on 25 April 2004, David Villa scored his first hat-trick in a tight 4–4 draw against Sevilla FC which saw Villa score all four of Zaragoza's goals, putting his team ahead on two occasions.

Zaragoza reached the 2004 Copa del Rey final where he played a big part in the team's victory, scoring a crucial goal to put the Aragonese

outfit 2–1 up against Real Madrid in a match which eventually ended 3–2. Soon after he earned his first international call-up and cap which resulted in Zaragoza fans becoming so proud of his achievements, they invented the football chant "illa illa illa, Villa maravilla" which is a play on the words "Villa" and "maravilla" which is as "marvel" but can also mean "wonderful" or "great" in that context. After Zaragoza's triumph in the Copa del Rey, they were granted a place in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup; this was Villa's first time playing in a European competition.

In the team's opening group game against FC Utrecht, Villa netted a brace in the dying minutes of the game which subsequently ended 2–0 in Zaragoza's favour. In the round of 16, Zaragoza faced Austria Wien. The first leg ended 1–1, Villa scored in the second leg, however, the match ended 2–2 which saw the team from Vienna

go through to the next stage on the away goals rule. Meanwhile, in La Liga, Villa excited Zaragoza fans on 23 September 2004 by putting the team 1–0 up against Barcelona at the Camp Nou

, however, it was not to be as Barcelona came back to win the game 4–1. On 17 April 2005, Villa scored a brace which helped see off Sevilla in a 3–0 victory.

Valencia

2005–06 season

After his success at Zaragoza, the team were in need of money, as a result, Villa made his big move to one of Spanish football's heavyweights, as a new look Valencia under Quique Sánchez Flores parted with €12 million (£8.2 million) to secure his services in the summer of 2005. During his first game in a Valencia shirt, an Intertoto Cup match against Belgian

outfit K.A.A. Gent, Villa scored the first goal in a game which Valencia won 2–0. He made his league debut for Valencia coming on as a substitute against Real Betis in a 1–0 win on 27 August 2005. The next match would see his previous team, Real Zaragoza, leading 2–1 for the majority of the match, however, on the 81st minute, Villa came on as a late substitute for Rubén Baraja and scored the equalizer within the space of a minute, earning Valencia a point as the game ended 2–2.

On 21 September, Villa would once again save Valencia a vital point by netting a brace against Barcelona at Camp Nou, actually giving his team the lead at one point after Víctor Valdés' clearance rebounded off Villa's back and into the net. On 23 October, Villa scored the winning goal against another Spanish giant, this time Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

and would once again score against Barcelona, on 12 February 2006, his one goal proving enough to secure all three points in a 1–0 victory. Villa scored a goal against Deportivo de La Coruña (at the Riazor

on 4 February 2006), described as "superb" by ESPN and "his best" by Sid Lowe who went on to credit it even more pointing out he achieved it "on the turn". Hitting the ball from the half way line (50 yards out) it sailed over the keepers head and into the net.

He scored his first hat-trick for Valencia against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés

in La Liga on the 23 April 2006. Villa managed the hat-trick in just over five minutes (80th to the 85th minute) making it one of the quickest hat-tricks ever recorded. Valencia won that game 0–3. That season saw him score 25 goals in 35 league matches for Valencia, finishing one goal behind the league's top scorer Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona. Villa's goal tally that year was the best that any Valencia player had ever achieved since Edmundo Suárez over 60 years beforehand.

2006–07 season

David Villa after converting a penalty against Sevilla

Villa's form continued into the 2006–07 season, with the striker forming a partnership up front with former Real Madrid star Fernando Morientes. Between them, Villa and Morientes netted 43 goals in all competitions. That year also saw Villa debut in the UEFA Champions League; his first match was a qualifying match, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 first leg loss against FC Red Bull Salzburg. He went on to start the second leg and scored in a 3–0 win which saw Valencia qualify for the Champions League group stages. Crucial goals against Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk helped Valencia qualify for the knock out stages where they faced Inter Milan. Villa scored a free kick goal in the second leg while one of Inter's defenders complained that Villa had "made us look like idiots, all on his own". Valencia went through to the quarter finals where they faced Chelsea. Villa featured in both games but failed to make the score sheet. Valencia subsequently got knocked out by the London

team 3–2 on aggregate. In October 2006 he was included among the 50 nominees for the Ballon d'Or (often referred to as the European Footballer of the Year Award).

A crucial goal against Espanyol and a brace against Sevilla helped him reach 16 goals that season and would see him come 6th in La Liga's top scorer list that season (scoring the same amount of goals as fellow international Raúl Tamudo) while he created more assists than anyone.

2007–08 season

The 2007–08 season was not easy for Villa nor for his teammates. Early in the season, their manager, Quique Sánchez Flores, was fired and replaced by Ronald Koeman. Valencia finished 10th under Koeman's reign and he was subsequently sacked and replaced by the highly rated UD Almería coach, Unai Emery, at the end of the season. Under Koeman, Villa managed to see the back of the net 18 times in his 26 appearances. He also won the first professional trophy of his Valencia spell, winning the Copa del Rey for the second time in his career, beating Barcelona 3–2 in the semi-finals and then Getafe CF 3–1 in the final. giving the team a place in the UEFA Cup. He signed a new six-year contract with Valencia, committing his future to the club until 2014.

That season, Villa once again saw himself playing Champions League football. He scored the only goal in a 0–1 win against Schalke 04 and went on to put Valencia 1–0 up against Chelsea, however, goals from Joe Cole and Didier Drogba saw Valencia lose 2–1. Valencia finished bottom of the group and were knocked out. On his 100th league appearance for Valencia, Villa scored a hat-trick against Levante; his 54th, 55th and 56th league goals for the club. Another two goals on the final day of the season against Atletico Madrid completed his tally of 18 goals that season.

2008–09 season

After finishing as the top scorer at Euro 2008, Villa continued his form into the 2008–09 season where he scored the first goal in a 3–0 win against Mallorca in what was the opening game of the season. After failing to sign the player, Real Madrid manager at the time, Bernd Schuster, accused Villa of having "no ambition", Villa responded by saying "Footballing ambition Is not about your mouth, It is about your feet. You can accuse me of lots of things - of having a bad day, of missing chances, of many things- but I have always had ambition and always will have. I think I have proved that on the pitch with Zaragoza, Sporting, UD Langreo, and the national team." In October 2008, Kaká praised Villa, speaking to Canal+, he claimed that Villa is "the best Spanish footballer" adding that "The player with whom I would most like to play is David Villa of Valencia." On 2 December 2008, Villa came 7th in the Ballon d'Or 2008 rankings and on 12 January, 2009, Villa was announced as the joint 9th best player of 2008 alongside international team mate and Barcelona player Andrés Iniesta, according to the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

Valencia finished second in their UEFA Cup group, however, Villa was not featured heavily and was often an unused sub or a late sub. He scored a late winner against Maritimo and was used in the Round of 32 against Dynamo Kyiv, however, he did not make the score sheet. The two legs resulted in a 3–3 aggregate score, Dynamo Kyiv went through as the away goal rule went in their favour.

Hitting a consistent goal scoring form during mid season, he scored against Deportivo de la Coruña; however, he was sent off during the match after his second yellow card, received due to a foul on Daniel Aranzubía and as a result missed Valencia's next match against Real Valladolid, a game which Valencia lost 2–1 at home. Ready to return from suspension, Villa suffered from an inflammation in the joint in his left knee due to a partial dislocation and would be out for the next 15 days, missing games against Numancia, Recreativo de Huelva and Racing de Santander. When he finally returned from injury on 5 April 2009, he had no trouble recovering form, netting a brace in a match against Getafe, which Valencia won 4–1. On 12 April, Villa was set to return to El Molinón

, the home ground of Sporting de Gijón where he started his career. He admitted that the encounter would be very emotional for him but went on to score the second Valencia goal in a 3–2 win and kept a pre-match promise by not celebrating the goal. His goal against Villarreal brought his tally to 26, he then scored another two against Athletic Bilbao finishing with 28 goals after the last game of the season, thus equalling records set by the Argentinian

Mario Kempes and the Montenegrin Predrag Mijatović, who also scored 28 goals in a Valencia shirt in 1978 and 1996, respectively. Kempes reached his tally of 28 goals in 34 games while Mijatović achieved it in 40, ultimately seeing Villa beat their percentages, as he achieved the 28 goals in 33 games, recording a goal ratio of 0.84 goals per game. That season saw Villa's best season at Valencia as far as goal scoring is concerned.

With the season over Villa had marked his fourth year at Valencia, with only Eto'o scoring more goals than him in that period (six more). British columnist Sid Lowe points out that Eto'o achieved this "in a team that racked up 129 [goals] more than Villa's side" and noted that "most of that time he [Villa] has taken Valencia's corners and free-kicks – and however good a player is he can't head in his own crosses." Villa also ended the season as the third top scorer in La Liga with a total of 28 goals, just behind Eto'o (30) and Diego Forlán (32). After recording the best goal tally for a Valencia player in 60 years back in the 2005–06 season, he went three better in the 2008–09 season. The 28 league goals plus 3 more in other competitions that season, acumulated a total of 101 goals in 180 official games with the Valencian outfit.

2009–10 season

After the shock exit from the Confederations Cup with the Spain team, Villa returned from his holidays on 27 July, amidst much media speculation linking him with top clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United. Villa put to bed such rumours announcing his desire to remain at the Mestalla

to fulfil his contract underlining that he "could not spend all summer refuting things, so I wanted to be quiet... I was told I should leave Valencia for the good of the club, soon after that everything changed and from that moment on I never saw myself out of here. There is no train missed because all that I have achieved is because of Valencia and the Spanish national team." When questioned on whether or not he should apologise to Valencia fans, he simply replied, "I did not kill anyone, I do not think I have to ask for forgiveness."

On 20 August 2009, Villa scored in his first official match of the season, a 0–3 UEFA Europa League qualifer against Stabæk. He followed this up with two goals against Real Valladolid on 13 September, these were Villa's first league goals of the 2009–10 season. He scored twice more a week later against former club Sporting Gijón in a 2-2 draw at the Mestalla where he performed duties as the team's captain. After the match, Villa hinted towards being unhappy with Unai Emery's managerial decisions, stating "The approach for the second half was not right. We relaxed and ended up with the same result as last year. What has happened, has happened, but their goalkeeper was good, unlike our approach, which was not good", however, a day later he denied being critical of Emery pointing out that "When I talked about the approach, I was referring to the whole team, I spoke in the heat of the moment, I was annoyed at the way we lost two points and I said what I thought, but I have clarified everything that needed to be cleared up."

On 18 October, Villa was nominated for the Ballon D'Or, while nearly two weeks later, on 30 October, he was nominated for the FIFA World Player Of The Year.

International career

World Cup 2006

An occasional member of the Under 21 team, Villa marked his international debut under Luis Aragonés on 9 February 2005 in a 2006 World Cup Qualifier where Spain beat San Marino 5–0 at the Estadio del Mediterráneo

while his first international goal came in the form of a late equaliser during a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia.

A successful season with Valencia saw him get called up as part of the 23-man squad to represent Spain at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Spain's first match at the tournement and Villa's World Cup debut resulted in a 4–0 win against Ukraine where Villa netted a brace, and also put his nation 1–0 up against France in the Round of 16, although Spain went on to lose the match 3–1. He and Fernando Torres finished as Spain's top scorers with three goals each.

Euro 2008

By the end of 2006, Villa had become an integral part of Luis Aragonés' plans and ousted Raúl from the team. Proving vital in Spain's qualification for Euro 2008, he scored six goals, including an infamous bicycle kick against Liechtenstein. He was subsequently called up for the tournament where he formed a striking relationship with Torres, with whom he would often celebrate his goals. He scored a hat-trick in Spain's 4–1 win over Russia, making him the first player to do so at a UEFA European Championship since Patrick Kluivert in 2000, and only the seventh overall. After the third goal he went out of his way to meet Torres, who was on the bench at the time, to celebrate with him, "I had just scored a hat-trick and I knew people would be talking about me, but I wanted them to see that I had benefited from Torres's work, just as he sometimes benefits from mine. We complement each other very well. We get on well on the pitch and very well off it too. We're a good partnership. We both chase down defenders, put pressure on and fight to create chances for each other. We work well together." In the next match, he secured a 2–1 win against Sweden with a goal in the 92nd minute. Rested for the next match against Greece, he started once again in the quarter finals where Spain beat Italy 4–2 on penalties, Villa took the first penalty and scored.

Reaching their first semi-final in 24 years, Spain went on to face Russia for the second time during the tournement, however, during the early stages of the match, Villa sustained a thigh injury after taking a free kick and was replaced by Cesc Fàbregas. The injury meant that he could not participate the final where Spain beat Germany 1–0 to claim their second win at the European Football Championships. Despite missing the final and the majority of the semi-final, Villa's 4 goals in the 4 games he played were enough for him to be top scorer of the tournament and was awarded the Golden Boot. He also made the UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament alongside striking partner Torres.

2009 Confederations Cup and World Cup 2010 qualification

Spain's first match during qualification for the 2010 World Cup was against Bosnia and Herzegovina where Villa scored the only goal of the game. He would go on to score four goals in Spain's next three games, including a last minute winner against Belgium. Another goal during a friendly match against Chile saw him end the year with 12 goals, breaking Raúl's record of 10 goals held since 1999. Villa began 2009 with a goal against England in a 2–0 friendly. With this goal, Villa broke another record and became the first Spanish international to have scored in 6 consecutive games, seeing off records set by Telmo Zarra and Ladislao Kubala. Speaking of the goal he said, "I am very happy with the goal. Truth is, I really want to see it on TV. The record is very nice. I would never have imagined in years that I would be able to obtain it. I am very proud and I hope I can continue breaking records".

On 1 June 2009, Vicente del Bosque named Villa in his 23 man squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. In a friendly match before the tournament, Villa scored his second international hat-trick against Azerbaijan, nearly exactly a year after his hat-trick against Russia at Euro 2008. He debuted at the Confederations Cup with a goal, the last of the five goals in Spain's 5–0 victory over New Zealand, while in the next game he scored the decisive goal against a defensive Iraqi team. Against South Africa, he missed a penalty, but within a minute made up for the miss by putting Spain ahead, helping them equal the records of most consecutive wins and most consecutive matches undefeated before making way for Pablo Hernández. The goal was his last of the tournement but was enough to see him win the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Shoe, he would also go on to make the team of the tournament.

Villa earned his 50th cap during a friendly against the Republic of Macedonia in a match where Spain won 3–2.

On 5 September 2009, Villa added two more goals to his goal tally for Spain, while assisting twice during the World Cup Qualifier against Belgium, in A Coruña

. The match ended 5–0 to Spain where Villa also had a first-half penalty saved by the 30 year old A.S. Bari goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet. He finished the year with his sixth international brace against Austria in the Ernst-Happel-Stadion

, the setting where Spain were crowned European Champions the previous year. With these two goals, Villa equalled the record he set last year of most goals scored in one calender year by a Spanish international.

Succeeding Raúl as Spain's number 7

The Spanish media has often compared Villa with Raúl, to the point where Villa was accused of taking the #7 jersey away from the Real Madrid player. In March 2009, Villa spoke out saying, "I have not taken anything away from anybody, I was simply playing well for my club and the national coach gave me an opportunity. Too much has been said about the number issue. I’m not looking to cause any controversy. In fact, Raul and I were in the national squad together in the past. I haven’t forced anybody out." When questioned on whether the whole uproar created over Raúl's omission was affecting him personally, he said, "I’ve never liked it because I think it has been damaging for the both of us. We’ve always got on well together whenever we’ve met up for international duty, so I’m not concerned. I just work hard for myself. All I want is to be in the squad for every game, to have the Spain badge on my chest and to score as many goals as I can."

Speaking of Raúl's record with the Spanish national team as the nation's leading top scorer, Villa said, "I've got 25 goals but he's got 44 and is still playing. I'd be delighted to reach that tally as I'd help the national team achieve great victories and, in many years' time, I could see my name on a [scorers' list] that another young lad was trying to beat. That would be great."

Personal life

David Villa supporting the "Doi la cara pola oficialidá" campaign

David Villa is a private person and prefers to keep his personal life out of the spotlight, but there was publicity in 2003 when he married his childhood sweetheart Patricia (who had also been a footballer in her teenage years). On 7 December 2005, their first child was born, a girl who they named Zaida. Her name is engraved on his personalised Adidas F50's, while one boot bears the Spanish flag, the other has the Asturian flag

. On 18 August 2009, his second child was born, a daughter named Olaya. Villa featured on the Spanish box art for video game FIFA 07.

In 2008, Villa joined a campaign called "Doi la cara pola oficialidá", which is an attempt to make the Asturian language one of the official languages in Spain

.

Villa frequently attends charity events. On 15 December 2008, alongside Valencia team-mates David Silva, Rubén Baraja, Nikola Žigić and Hedwiges Maduro, Villa visited the children's ward of the Clinical Hospital of Valencia to wish the patients a "Merry Christmas" while on Christmas Eve he, alongside Formula One racing driver Fernando Alonso, footballers Santi Cazorla and Juan Manuel Mata and road bicycle racer Samuel Sánchez, attended a charity event in Oviedo

to raise money for the "Oviedo Economic Kitchen Association". He is also actively involved with the campaigns of the UNICEF charity.

Beginning in July 2008, a "David Villa Camp" is held annually, where children receive training from professional footballers. Villa also participates in a training session with the children.

Statistics

All stats correct as of November 28, 2009.

Club

International

International appearances

As of 18 November 2009.

International goals

As of 18 November 2009.

Honours

Club

Real Zaragoza

Copa del Rey: 2004
Supercopa de España: 2004

National team

1999–2000	Sporting de Gijón B	División de Honor	30	12	-		-		30	12
	Sporting de Gijón B
2000–01	Segunda División B	35	13	-		-		35	13

2000–01	Sporting de Gijón	Segunda División
1			0	-		-		1	0

2001–02	40	18	4	2	-		44	20

2002–03	39	20	1	0	-		40	20

2003–04	Real Zaragoza	La Liga
38	Real Zaragoza	La Liga	16	8	4	-		46	20

2004–05	35	15	1	0	10	3	46	18

2005–06	Valencia CF	La Liga
35			25	4	2	6	1	45	28

2006–07			35	16	2	0	10	5	47	21

2007–08	28	18	6	1	7	3	41	22

2008–09	33	28	2	1	5	1	40	31

2009–10	11	10	0	0	4	2	15	12 360\|\| 192\|\| 28\|\| 10 \|\|41\|\| 15\|\|428\|\| 216


National team	Year
Friendly
Competitive
Total
	Year
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Ratio

Spain
	2004–05
	-		1	0	1	0

	2005–06
	5	1	7	4	12	5

2006–07
2	1	7	6	11	7

2007–08
5	2	9	4	12	6

2008–09
4	5	10	8	14	13

2009–10
2	2	2	2	4	4

Career Total
18	11	36	24	54	35


#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition

1.	16 November 2005	Tehelné pole , Bratislava , Slovakia		1 – 1	1–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

2.	1 March 2006	Estadio José Zorrilla , Valladolid , Spain		1 – 1	3–2	International Friendly

3.	13 June 2006	Zentralstadion , Leipzig , Germany		2 – 0	4–0	2006 FIFA World Cup

4.	13 June 2006	Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany		3 – 0	4–0	2006 FIFA World Cup

5.	27 June 2006	AWD-Arena , Hannover , Germany		1 – 0	1–3	2006 FIFA World Cup

6.	2 September 2006	Estadio Nuevo Vivero , Badajoz , Spain		2 – 0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

7.	2 September 2006	Estadio Nuevo Vivero, Badajoz, Spain		3 – 0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

8.	6 September 2006	Windsor Park , Belfast , Northern Ireland		1 – 2	3–2	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

9.	11 October 2006	Nueva Condomina , Murcia , Spain		2 – 1	2–1	International Friendly

10.	24 March 2007	Santiago Bernabéu , Madrid , Spain		2 – 0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

11.	2 June 2007	Skonto stadions , Riga , Latvia		0 – 1	0–2	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

12.	6 June 2007	Rheinpark Stadion , Vaduz , Liechtenstein		0 – 1	0–2	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying

13.	26 March 2008	Manuel Martínez Valero , Elche , Spain		1 – 0	1–0	International Friendly

14.	31 May 2008	Nuevo Colombino , Huelva , Spain		1 – 0	2–1	International Friendly

15.	10 June 2008	Tivoli Neu , Innsbruck , Austria		1 – 0	4–1	UEFA Euro 2008

16.	10 June 2008	Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, Austria		2 – 0	4–1	UEFA Euro 2008

17.	10 June 2008	Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, Austria		3 – 0	4–1	UEFA Euro 2008

18.	14 June 2008	Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, Austria		1 – 2	1–2	UEFA Euro 2008

19.	6 September 2008	Nueva Condomina, Murcia, Spain		1 – 0	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

20.	10 September 2008	Estadio Carlos Belmonte , Albacete , Spain		2 – 0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

21.	10 September 2008	Estadio Carlos Belmonte, Albacete, Spain		3 – 0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

22.	11 October 2008	A. Le Coq Arena , Tallinn , Estonia		0 – 2	0–3	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

23.	15 October 2008	King Baudouin Stadium , Brussels , Belgium		1 – 2	1–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

24.	19 November 2008	El Madrigal, Villarreal , Spain		1 – 0	3–0	International Friendly

25.	11 February 2009	Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán , Sevilla , Spain		1 – 0	2–0	International Friendly

26.	9 June 2009	Tofik Bakhramov, Baku , Azerbaijan		1 – 0	6–0	International Friendly

27.	9 June 2009	Tofik Bakhramov, Baku, Azerbaijan		2 – 0	6–0	International Friendly

28.	9 June 2009	Tofik Bakhramov, Baku, Azerbaijan		3 – 0	6–0	International Friendly

29.	14 June 2009	Royal Bafokeng Stadium , Rustenburg , South Africa		5 – 0	5–0	2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

30.	17 June 2009	Free State Stadium , Bloemfontein , South Africa		1 – 0	1–0	2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

31.	20 June 2009	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa		1 – 0	2–0	2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

32.	5 September 2009	Estadio Riazor , A Coruña , Spain		2 – 0	5–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

33.	5 September 2009	Estadio Riazor, A Coruña, Spain		5 – 0	5–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

34.	18 November 2009	Ernst-Happel-Stadion , Vienna , Austria		1 – 2	1–5	International Friendly

35.	18 November 2009	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria		1 – 3	1–5	International Friendly