David Albelda Aliqués (; born 1 September 1977) is a Spanish retired

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 ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He played mainly for local

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

during his extensive professional career, being

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

for over a decade and appearing in 480 competitive matches. A Spanish international in the 2000s, Albelda won 51

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the country, representing it in two World Cups and at

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

Club career

Born in

La Pobla Llarga La Pobla Llarga (; es, Puebla Larga ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Ribera Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain. Well known of the orange growth and its flourishing commerce in the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently, its inhabitants ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous comm ...

, Albelda started his career as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

with local UD Alzira and, after having served two separate loans with

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

, also in the region, returned for good to first professional club

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

in the 1999–2000 season, playing a major role in a squad that was crowned

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

champions in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, adding to that the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

; since summer 2001, with Gaizka Mendieta's departure, he was also awarded team captaincy. Albelda, along with teammates Santiago Cañizares and Miguel Ángel Angulo was axed from the squad on 20 December 2007 by recently arrived coach

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was ca ...

; in the captain's case, he had ironically just renewed his link with the ''Che'' until 2011. In response, on 2 January 2008, Albelda's lawyer claimed that Valencia had ignored his client's plea for an amicable end to the player's contract, with legal recourse the only possible avenue left. With news of this hitting the media, several teams, although he would not be able to join any Spanish team for the remainder of the season, having played more than four league games, studied the possibility of signing him in the winter transfer window, with hopes of a free transfer. In late April 2008, however, with Koeman's dismissal, all three were reinstated by new manager Voro in a squad seriously threatened with relegation, with five remaining rounds. He returned to action in the second half of the 6–0 away loss against

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

on 4 May, and received his first post-reinstatement start in a 5–1 victory in the derby away at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in Segunda División, holding home games at Ci ...

the following week, as the side mathematically retained top-flight status. For 2008–09, Albelda remained a regular fixture alongside longtime central midfield teammate Rubén Baraja. On 10 January 2009 he delivered an outstanding performance at right back, replacing suspended Miguel in a 3–3 home

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

against Villarreal. Albelda 2012

Albelda was played intermittently by Valencia from 2010 to 2013, also suffering several injury problems. On 10 June 2013, it was announced that the 35-year-old would not renew his contract with the club, leaving as a free agent; he announced his retirement two months later. On 29 May 2019, Albelda was appointed manager of

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

side Atzeneta UE. He led them to their first-ever promotion to

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

on 26 July 2020, after beating CD Alcoyano in the play-offs. On 24 May 2021, after being immediately relegated, Albelda left the club.

International career

A Spanish international since 5 September 2001, in 2–0 away win against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

qualifiers, Albelda was part of the Spanish squad in the 2002 and 2006

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

s. He also played in

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

. After having been ousted from the Valencia squad, Albelda would still be called by national team boss Luis Aragonés to a 6 February 2008

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. He would eventually not make the final cut for

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

, as Spain emerged victorious. Albelda also

won Won may refer to: *The Korean won from 1902–1910 *South Korean won, the currency of the Republic of Korea *North Korean won, the currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea * Won (Korean surname) * Won (Korean given name) * Won Buddhis ...

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, e ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, and represented his nation at the

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 in Malaysia. It was t ...

Personal life

Albelda married Spanish model and presenter Vicen Fernández in 2007.

Career statistics

Club

¹ Included 5 appearances and 1 goal in Segunda División promotion play-off 1996 ² Included 2 appearances in La Liga relegation play-off 1999 ³ Included 2 appearances and 1 goal in Supercopa de Espana 1999 ⁴ Included 2 appearances in Supercopa de Espana 2004 and 1 appearance in UEFA Super Cup 2004 ⁵ Included 2 appearances in Supercopa de Espana 2008

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

Valencia *

: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

: 2003–04 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

runner-up: 1999–2000, 2000–01 Spain U23 *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

silver medal:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

References

External links

*
CiberChe stats and bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albelda, David 1977 births Living people People from Ribera Alta (comarca) Sportspeople from the Province of Valencia Spanish footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players Villarreal CF players UEFA Cup winning players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Spain international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players Olympic footballers of Spain Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Spain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers