Ricardo Cabanas-Rey (born 17 January 1979) is a Swiss former professional

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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He played 51 international matches for the Switzerland national team. At club level, he played mainly for Grasshoppers Zürich but has also played abroad, in France with

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

and in Germany with 1. FC Köln.

Club career

Born in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Cabanas started his career with Grasshoppers Zürich and played there for several seasons, winning two league titles, before moving to 1. FC Köln. During this period, he also enjoyed a

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spell at En Avant de Guingamp. In June 2007, 1. FC Köln announced that Cabanas was to return to his previous club Grasshoppers for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Cabanas is a member of the Switzerland national team and was called up to the squad which participated in the 2006 World Cup and the Euro 2008. At the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

he missed a spot-kick during his side's

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, who emerged victorious. Cabanas has also played for the (non-official) Galicia national team against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Personal life

His father, also called Ricardo Cabanas, played for

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...

, and for SC Kriens in the 1980–81 season. His brother, Christian Cabanas Rey, also briefly played in the professional league. His cousin, Raúl Cabanas, played with Ricardo at Grasshoppers. He has two children with his wife Deby.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabanas, Ricardo 1979 births Living people Swiss people of Galician descent Swiss people of Spanish descent Spanish people of Swiss descent Footballers from Zurich Men's association football midfielders Swiss men's footballers Swiss expatriate men's footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France En Avant Guingamp players 1. FC Köln players Grasshopper Club Zurich players Swiss Super League players Ligue 1 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in France