Rubén Belima Rodríguez (born 11 February 1992) is a 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

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Born in Spain to an Equatoguinean father, he

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

for the Equatorial Guinea national team.

Club career

Belima was born in

Móstoles Móstoles () is a municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. With over 200,000 inhabitants, it is the region's second most populated municipality after Madrid. Móstoles was a small town for a long time, but ...

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

, Spain. He began his career with FC Torrevieja before joining the youth ranks of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, and making his way into their C-team. He made his professional debut with the reserve team in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

on 4 May 2014, as an 85th-minute substitute for

Burgui Jorge Franco Alviz (born 29 October 1993), known as Burgui (), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left winger. Club career Real Madrid Born in Burguillos del Cerro, Province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Burgui joined hometown club ...

in a 1–1 home draw with fellow strugglers

Real Jaén CF Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, rath ...

. After 18 months in Slovenia with

FC Koper Football Club Koper, commonly referred to as FC Koper or simply Koper, is a Slovenian football club based in Koper that competes in the Slovenian First League, the top flight of Slovenian football. The club was founded in 1920. They won the Sl ...

, Belima returned to the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

on 31 July 2017, signing for

Leixões S.C. Leixões Sport Club (), commonly known as Leixões, is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as athletics, boxing, football, futsal, handball, karate, swimming, volleyball, wat ...

of Portugal's

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...

for one year with the option of a second. He scored four times in 24 games for the club from

Matosinhos Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...

– including the only one of a home victory over F.C. Paços de Ferreira in the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

groups on 20 September – before making the journey back to the previous country to

NK Domžale Nogometni klub Domžale (), commonly referred to as NK Domžale or simply Domžale, is a Slovenian professional Association football, football club based in the town of Domžale that competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of Slovenian ...

. On 28 January 2019 Belima was back in Portugal's second tier, with

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese professional sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its Association football, football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home g ...

. He scored once in the remainder of the season, albeit in the 4–2 loss at

Penafiel Penafiel ( or ) is a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the Norte Region, Portugal, northern Portugal, Portuguese Porto District, district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion ...

that ended the team's hope of promotion to the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

International career

Belima made his international debut for

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

on 16 November 2013 in a friendly against his birth country Spain in

Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approxim ...

; he was a last-minute substitute for

Juvenal Edjogo Owono Juvenal Edjogo Owono Montalbán (born 3 April 1979), known mononymously as Juvenal, is a football manager and former professional player who operated as a midfielder. Born and raised in Spain to an Equatoguinean father and a Spanish mother, he ...

in the 2–1 loss. The game was however stricken from the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

records as the host team had not given sufficient notice that the referee would be a compatriot. Equatorial Guinea were given the hosting rights to the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

when Morocco withdrew due to the Ebola virus epidemic, and Belima was named in their squad. He was a substitute in the opening match against the Congo and the quarter-final, before starting the semi-final and play-off as the team came fourth.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belima, Ruben 1992 births Living people Footballers from Móstoles Spanish men's footballers Equatoguinean men's footballers Men's association football wingers Tercera División players Segunda División B players Segunda División players CD Torrevieja players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers SD Logroñés players Slovenian PrvaLiga players FC Koper players NK Domžale players Liga Portugal 2 players Leixões S.C. players G.D. Estoril Praia players Hércules CF players CD Móstoles URJC players Segunda Federación players Tercera Federación players Equatorial Guinea men's international footballers International sportspeople born abroad 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Equatoguinean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Equatoguinean sportspeople of Spanish descent Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 20th-century Spanish people 21st-century Equatoguinean sportsmen 21st-century Spanish sportsmen