Víctor Valdés

At 42 years old, Víctor Valdés has this physical status:

Vctor Valdés Arribas (Spanish pronunciation: [biktos a.m.] (born 14 January 1982) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. Valdés was considered fiercely competitive and demanding, with great physical endurance and focus to keep alert during long stretches of ball domination, and was an excellent at one-on-ones.

He spent the majority of his career with Barcelona in La Liga, and is recognized as one of the best goalkeepers in the club's history, winning 535 official games for the club, including six La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League championships. Valdés have also won the Zamora Trophy for a record five times. He currently holds the most appearances in the league and in official competition, surpassing Andoni Zubizarreta's records during the 2011-12 season. He joined Manchester United in January 2015 after leaving Barcelona at the end of his deal in July 2014. He played little at United, and after a brief loan at Standard Liège, he migrated to Middlesbrough. Valdés retired from professional football after being released by Middlesbrough at the end of the 2016–17 season.

Valdés made his international debut in 2010 and gained 20 international awards. He was a member of the Spain squads that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, as well as finishing second at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Personal life

Valdés was born to José Manuel Valdés and gueda Arribas and has two brothers, Ricardo and lvaro. In June 2017, he married Colombian model Yolanda Cardona. Dylan and Kai, the couple's two sons, and Vera, their daughter.

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Early career

Valdés, who was born in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia, started his career with FC Barcelona's youth team when he arrived from Pea Cinco Copas on July 1, 1992. He and his family moved to Tenerife in September and had to leave the club, but he returned three years later. He made quick strides in the youth teams after returning to school.

Club career

Valdés made his team debut against Legia Warszawa in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League on August 14, 2002. Valdés served as the assistant to Argentina's international Roberto Bonano in the early part of the 2002–03 season, but Valdés' arrival in January 2003 saw regular first-team appearances for Valdés.

He became Barcelona's first-choice goalkeeper in the 2003–04 season, and he played in almost every one of Barcelona's games, leading Barcelona to their first league championship in six years. He also won the Zamora Trophy as Spain's best goalkeeper of the season.

Valdés helped Barça to the continental double in Europe in 2005-06 season. He was a major participant in Barça's 2005–06 Champions League campaign, including the final against Arsenal, in which he denied Thierry Henry twice from point-blank range to help his team beat 2–1 at the Stade de France. He was singled out for praise from Barcelona's then-manager, Frank Rijkaard, despite his efforts. Valdés came third after Santiago Caizares and the winner, José Manuel Pinto, but the "Zamora" title eluded him.

Valdés matched a goalkeeping record set by former Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta by starting and never being recalled in all 38 matches of La Liga season on June 17th.

Valdés set the Barcelona club record for not conceding a goal in European competition with a clean sheet against Rangers on November 7, 2007, which saw him re-write the Barça record books after not conceding a goal for 466 minutes. Valdés was defeated twice by Lyon captain Juninho after a 45-yard free kick and a late penalty kick at the Stade de Gerland, snapping his streak. Barça did not win a major trophy in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons, but not in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons. Valdés captained Barcelona for the first time in a 1-0 league victory over Osasuna at home on February 3rd. Valdés made his 250th appearance for Barcelona on April 1, 2008.

Barcelona defeated Manchester United 2–0 in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, completing an unprecedented treble of La Liga, Champions League, and Copa del Rey. Valdés made two saves from Cristiano Ronaldo's attempts in both halves during the game. He saved a long-range free kick in the first half and saved the other from Ronaldo in the second half after a poor cross from Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov.

Valdés captured his fourth league title with Pep Guardiola's side on May 16, 2010, clinching their second consecutive Spanish league title in the season after winning by 99 points.

Valdés played his 410th game with Barcelona on August 29, 2011, equaling Andoni Zubizarreta's record as Barcelona's goalkeeper with the most appearances.

Valdés made a goalkeeping mistake against Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espaa in 2012, resulting in ngel Di Mara's scoring a decisive goal and narrowing Barcelona's two-goal lead. In the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid won the Super Cup for the second leg.

Valdés made his 100th appearance in the tournament on May 1, 2013 at Camp Nou, his 17th player to do so. Valdés also revealed that he would not renew his Barcelona contract, which was set to come to an end at the end of the 2013–14 season. He cited the pressure of representing the club and said he had expressed his desire to leave early enough for the club to find a replacement.

Valdés retrained his anterior cruciate ligament in the 22nd minute of the game and was suspended for the remainder of the season, essentially ending his Barcelona career and leaving him out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Valdés signed a pre-contract agreement with Barcelona in January 2014, ahead of his Barcelona stint; however, Monaco pulled out of the deal due to Valdés' suspension. Valdés was given the opportunity to return to fitness with the club on October 23rd. In January 2015, he was given a job, but on January 8, he signed an 18-month contract as a back-up for compatriot David de Gea. Monaco agreed to pay the difference between the £150,000 weekly salary he earned with them and the lower wage offered by Manchester United as part of a compensation package for reneging on their agreement with Valdés.

Valdés played his first match since his knee injury on January 26th, and he was on the Under-21 team for United's Under-21 squad in a 2–1 home win over Liverpool. He gave a team talk based on his former boss Guardiola's teachings before the game. On his first-team debut against Arsenal at Old Trafford on May 17th, replacing De Gea for the final 16 minutes and conceding an own goal by Tyler Blackett for a 1–1 draw. In the team's last game of the season against Hull City, he made his first appearance of the season, keeping a clean sheet in a goalless draw that relegated the opponents.

Valdés had been put on the transfer list after it was announced that he had declined to play in a reserve game on July 15, 2015. He did not have a squad number for the forthcoming season the month before. Since personal terms could not be agreed, a transfer to Beşyktaş, Turkey's Beşiktaş, fell through. Despite being named in Manchester United's Premier League squad later, Valdés was only selected to comply with Premier League rules and not offered a path back.

Valdés will be transfering to Standard Liège, Belgium, on a six-month loan contract, according to Manchester United's 23 January 2016. In the Belgian Pro League, he made his debut a week later in a 2–0 win over OH Leuven. Valdés defeated Club Brugge 2–1. His loan contract was cut short on April 29th after the club decided to provide more youth players the opportunity to play in games at the end of the season.

Valdés signed a two-year contract on a free transfer at recently promoted Middlesbrough, which was managed by compatriot Aitor Karanka on July 7, 2016. Valdés made his debut against Stoke City on August 13, 2016. Valdés held his first clean sheet of the season on a 0–0 draw against Arsenal on October 22nd. After a 2–0 loss to Stoke City in March 2017, the club entered the relegation zone in March 2017, with Karanka fired later this month. Valdés, as well as fellow goalkeeper Brad Guzan, all left the club on July 1. Valdés resigned from professional football in August 2017 after remaining without a club for the first half of the 2017–18 season, despite receiving offers from several clubs in Spain to prolong his career.

International career

Valdés was called up for a friendly match against Uruguay on August 16, 2005, but did not take the field. After being overlooked by various coaches of the Spanish national team for many years, he was named by Vicente del Bosque in Spain's final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as the second-choice goalkeeper behind captain Iker Casillas wearing the number 12 shirt.

Valdés earned his first cap in a friendly match between Spain and South Korea at Tivoli-Neu in Innsbruck, Austria, on June 3rd. Valdés was part of the Spanish squads that defeated the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, despite not being active in either tournament.

He was also in the Spanish squad that reached the final of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. In a 3–0 victory over Nigeria at the Estádio Castelo in Fortaleza, his sole appearance in a major tournament came in their last group game, keeping a clean sheet.

Coaching career

Valdés returned to football as a manager by buying his UEFA Pro Licence alongside compatriots including Xavi, Ral, and Xabi Alonso on June 1, 2018. Valdés began coaching amateur Moratalaz's youth team, where he earned two regional titles. Valdés returned to Barcelona on July 19 to guide its Juvenil A team. His return, however, was short-lived; he was suspended on October 7th due to a personal feud with La Masia director Patrick Kluivert. Valdés returned to the touchline in May 2020, shortly after he was promoted the boss of UA Horta. According to El Mundo Deportivo, he left in January 2021 in order to 'focus on Joan Laporta's presidential initiative.' If Valdes is elected president of the United States in March 2021, Laporta's proposal is to make them a member of the new board.

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