Rafael Márquez Álvarez (born
13 February 1979 in Zamora, Michoacán
) is a Mexican
football centre back and defensive midfielder, who is currently
playing for Barcelona in the Spanish
La Liga and the Mexico national football team,
where he is currently the captain.
Club career
Atlas
Márquez began his career at Mexican club
Atlas, for whom he debuted in 1996 at only 17
years old. Márquez rose to prominence while with Atlas, making 77
appearances for the team and being runner-up in the league losing
the final against
Deportivo
Toluca in penalties. In 1999, French club
AS Monaco purchased him for €6 million. Monaco
scouts had gone to see Chilean player
Pablo Contreras on a
Copa America match against Mexico, but they
were impressed with Márquez's performance, so they signed the two
defenders. Marquez was an immediate success with Monaco, helping
lead the team to the French title in his first season with the
club. Despite pressures from larger clubs, he would remain with the
Monegasque club until 2003, when
Barcelona signed him for €5 million to
revitalize their back line. In doing so, he became only the second
Mexican to play for Barcelona, after
Horacio Casarín.
Barcelona
In his first season with Barcelona, Márquez appeared 21 times,
helping the team to a second place finish in
La
Liga. During his second season, he was moved from his natural
position as a center back to a defensive midfield role, due to
injuries to players
Thiago Motta,
Edmílson and
Gerard López. He completed a great season,
being one of the main players that helped Barcelona win its 17th
Spanish League on 14 May 2005 after a 1-1 tie with
Levante. After an injury in his left knee, he
returned after a month to play against
Milan in the first leg of the
2006 UEFA Champions League
Semifinal.
Barcelona, playing away at the San Siro
, won
1-0.
Márquez in 2007.
Márquez was present in the
UEFA
Champions League final on 17 May 2006 for Barcelona, in which
they won the tournament over
Arsenal.
This achievement made him the first ever Mexican football player
ever to ever win this competition, something
Hugo Sánchez was not able to do during his
time in La Liga with
Real Madrid.
After the
2006 FIFA World Cup,
Barcelona extended his contract for the following 4 years to €38.5
million which will see his contract end in June 2010. Despite
sustaining injuries, he was rumored to be up for sale at the end of
the 2006-07 season. His future at Barça was up in the air until the
2007 Copa America, where Márquez
regained his best form and was one of the best players of the
competition, helping Mexico to an acceptable 3rd place.
In the 2007-08 season, Márquez got off to an excellent start, as he
managed to form a solid partnership with new signing
Gabriel Milito while captain
Carles Puyol was out injured. However, constant
injuries threw off his form. Márquez's success declined with the
rest of the season leading Barcelona to end up in 3rd place after a
miserable second half where injuries lead to his contribution being
negligible. Even so, it appears new coach
Josep Guardiola will continue to rely on his
contributions; with the departure of
Ronaldinho, Márquez has become the last original
signing of the
Rijkaard era to remain
on the team. He appears to be Guardiola's first choice at center
back along with captain Puyol for the 2008-09 season.On 13 December
2008, Márquez played his 200th match for Barcelona in the clash
against Real Madrid, which they won 2-0.On 28 April 2009, Márquez
got injured in a match against
Chelsea
in the
semi-final of the Champions League. Márquez was told he needed
surgery on his left knee, forcing him to miss the rest of the
season.
Barcelona would go on to win a
historic
treble after
winning the
2008–09 UEFA Champions
League, in which Márquez was present but was sidelined.
Márquez
also received an offer from Italian
side
Fiorentina. However, Márquez
admits he would like to end his career at Barcelona and insists he
is not concerned about the fact that his current contract runs out
during the summer of 2010. Márquez signed a new contract with Barca
in November 2009 that will keep him at the club until 2012. His
buy-out clause is $150.4 Million.
International career
Since making his international debut on 5 February 1997 against
Ecuador, but was not
chosen for the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad. Márquez has been one of
the Mexican national football team's most important players.
Márquez has played various tournament's with the Mexican team,
winning the
1999 FIFA
Confederations Cup and the
CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Márquez started all
four of Mexico's games during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea
/Japan
, where he
was given the Captain's Armband by then coach Javier Aguirre despite his young age of
23. Despite a strong performance during the group stage of
the tournament, he received a red card during Mexico's second round
2-0 loss to the
United States for a
deliberate midair head butt on
Cobi Jones
in the final minutes of the match.
Márquez was an integral part of Mexico's
subsequent World Cup qualification campaign and was selected by
Argentine
coach Ricardo
Lavolpe for the 2006 FIFA World
Cup in Germany
.
During the
2006 FIFA World Cup,
Márquez played in all of four of Mexico's opening round matches,
and scored the lone Mexican goal in a 2-1 loss to
Argentina in the second
round off a
Pável Pardo free kick
which was headed to the far post by
Mario Méndez,
allowing an unmarked Márquez to strike the ball into the back of
the net. Since Mexico's second round exit, he has spoken out about
the need to encourage future Mexican football players to play in
Europe to increase the competitiveness of the team.
Former Mexican coach
Hugo Sánchez
asked Márquez to participate in the
2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the
2007 Copa America. Rafael joined
up with the team Mexico for the Gold Cup's championship game
against the United States after the conclusion of
La Liga 2006-07; Rafa started the match, a
game that Mexico lost 2-1.
Playing style
One of Márquez's strengths is his versatility which allows him to
play in many positions such as right-back, centre-back or defensive
midfield. However, it is clear that his best position is in the
center of defense. Rafa relies on his ability to read the game and
vision. This gives the impression that he's always a step ahead of
the forwards. He is also known for his distinct ability at playing
the long cross field pass. This is a very useful asset for all his
team as it allows him to switch the attack from one side of the
field to another as well as changing the focal point of the
attack.
Honours
International:
Mexico
Club:
Monaco
Barcelona
Individual:
Statistics
Career stats
As of 31 October 2009
National team stats
All-Time National Performance
International goals
Personal
He was married to Mexican actress
Adriana
Lavat, the couple married in December 2001 and had 2 children,
Santiago Rafael and Rafaela, before separating in early 2007. He is
now dating
Jaydy Michel.
References
External links
|
| 1996-97 |
Atlas |
Primera División |
24 |
2 |
- |
- |
24 |
2 |
|
| 1997-98 |
20 |
1 |
- |
- |
20 |
1 |
|
| 1998-99 |
33 |
3 |
- |
- |
33 |
3
|
|
| 1999-00 |
Monaco |
Ligue 1 |
23 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
31 |
3 |
|
| 2000-01 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
19 |
1 |
|
| 2001-02 |
19 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
- |
22 |
0 |
|
| 2002-03 |
30 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
- |
30 |
1
|
|
| 2003-04 |
Barcelona |
La Liga |
22 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
31 |
1 |
|
| 2004-05 |
34 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
41 |
3 |
|
| 2005-06 |
25 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
0 |
37 |
1 |
|
| 2006-07 |
21 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
35 |
1 |
|
| 2007-08 |
23 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
36 |
2 |
|
| 2008-09 |
23 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
1 |
37 |
3 |
|
| 2009-10 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
0
77||6||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||77||6
87||5||5||0||10||0||102||5
153||8||28||2||43||1||224||11
317||19||33||2||53||1||403||22
|
|
|
| Nationality |
| Year |
| Games Played |
| Minutes Played |
| Goals Scored |
| Yellow Card |
| Red Card |
|
| Mexico |
| 1997 |
| 1 |
29 |
|
|
|
|
| 1999 |
| 13 |
1177 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
| 2000 |
| 10 |
902 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
| 2001 |
| 12 |
1020 |
|
5 |
1 |
|
| 2002 |
| 7 |
557 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
| 2003 |
| 7 |
299 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
| 2004 |
| 8 |
676 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
| 2005 |
| 11 |
710 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
| 2006 |
| 6 |
554 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
| 2007 |
| 10 |
810 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
| 2008 |
| 6 |
540 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
| 2009 |
| 2 |
155 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
| Career totals |
| 87 |
7429 |
10 |
21 |
4 |
|
| 1. |
February 5, 1999 |
Hong
Kong |
|
1–0 |
3–0 |
1999 Carlsberg Cup |
|
| 2. |
February 13, 2000 |
San
Diego , United
States |
|
1–0 |
4–0 |
2000 CONCACAF Gold
Cup |
|
| 3. |
September 3, 2000 |
Mexico
City , Mexico |
|
5–1 |
7–1 |
2002
FIFA World Cup qualification |
|
| 4. |
May 12, 2002 |
Mexico City, Mexico |
|
2–1 |
2–1 |
Friendly |
|
| 5. |
July 24, 2003 |
Mexico City, Mexico |
|
1–0 |
2–0 |
2003 CONCACAF Gold
Cup |
|
| 6. |
June 19, 2004 |
San
Antonio , United States |
|
3–0 |
10–0 |
2006
FIFA World Cup qualification |
|
| 7. |
September 7, 2005 |
Mexico City, Mexico |
|
2–0 |
5–0 |
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
|
| 8. |
June 24, 2006 |
Leipzig , Germany |
|
1–0 |
1–2 (a.e.t.) |
2006 FIFA World Cup |
|
| 9. |
March 28, 2007 |
Oakland , United States |
|
2–2 |
4–2 |
Friendly |
|
| 10. |
September 10, 2008 |
Tuxtla Gutiérrez , Mexico |
|
2–0 |
2–1 |
2010
FIFA World Cup qualification |
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