Ruslan Elá Eyene (born 7 November 1983), known as Elá, is an Equatoguinean 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

left back 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 ...

or 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 ...

Club career

Elá was born in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. In his nine-year senior career he never played in higher than the Spanish fourth division, representing

CF Sporting Mahonés Club de Fútbol Sporting Mahonés was a Spanish football team based in Mahón, Menorca, in the autonomous community of Balearic Islands prior to its 2012 dissolution. The club has a successor called ''Sporting Mahón'' in the local Menorcan leagu ...

CD Villanueva Club Deportivo Villanueva was a Spanish football team based in Villanueva de Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 and dissolved in June 2009, it held home matches at ''Estadio San Miguel'', with a capacity of 4,500 ...

, CD Lumbreras,

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in ''Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

(two spells),

CF Villanovense Club de Fútbol Villanovense is a Spanish football team based in Villanueva de la Serena, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1992 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at ''Estadio Romero Cuerda'' ...

CD Benicarló Club Deportivo Benicarló, commonly referred to as Benicarló, is a Spanish football team based in Benicarló in the autonomous Valencian Community. Founded in 1921, it plays in ''Regional Preferente – Group 2'', holding home games at ''Estadi ...

CD Blanes Club Deportiu Blanes is a football team based in Blanes, Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1913, it plays in Segona Catalana The Segona Catalana is the seventh tier of the Spanish football league system and the second highest league in the auton ...

CF Gavà Club de Futbol Gavà is a Spanish football team based in Gavà, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1922 it plays in 1ª Catalana – Group 2, holding home games at ''Estadi La Bòbila'', with a capacity of 2,550 seats. History ...

CD Masnou Club Deportiu Masnou is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in El Masnou, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1920 it plays in the regional Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in Catalonia, Segona Catalana, ...

and

FC Levante Las Planas Fútbol Club Levante Las Planas ( Catalan: ''Llevant Les Planes'') is a Spanish football club from Sant Joan Despí, Barcelona currently playing in Liga F. History Levante Las Planas was founded in 1983 in Las Planas district as a merge of lo ...

, retiring at only 27.

International career

Elá earned six

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 Equatorial Guinea. Two of those arrived during the

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

qualifiers, in the tie against

Togo national football team The Togo national football team (French: Équipe nationale de football du Togo) represents Togo in international football and is controlled by the Togolese Football Federation. The national football team of Togo made their debut in the FIFA Wo ...

(1–0 home win, 0–2 away loss).

Personal life

Elá's older brother,

Jacinto Jacinto is a Spanish and Portuguese name meaning Hyacinth, which can refer to Saint Hyacinth, a Roman martyr (Hyacinth and Protus), or the Hyacinth flower itself. Common English nicknames for "Jacinto" are "Chinto" and "Jesse". Jacinto has onl ...

, was also a footballer. A winger, he too played mostly in Spanish amateur football, having an unsuccessful spell with

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

. Ruslan also worked at ''Admissions Test de Nivell'' in

Esplugues de Llobregat Esplugues de Llobregat () is a municipality of the Barcelona metropolitan area. Formerly in the ''Barcelonès'', since 1990 it has been part of the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Baix Llobregat. During recent decades Esplugues has evolved fro ...

.Llistat d'admissions test de nivell (List of level tests admissions)
at XTec (in Catalan)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ela, Ruslan 1983 births Living people Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Footballers from Las Palmas Citizens of Equatorial Guinea through descent Spanish footballers Equatoguinean footballers Association football defenders Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CF Damm players CD Logroñés footballers CF Villanovense players CF Gavà players CD Masnou players Equatorial Guinea international footballers