.jpg) Garay playing forZenit in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ezequiel Marcelo Garay González[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1986-10-10)10 October 1986 (age 39)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rosario, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Newell's Old Boys | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Newell's Old Boys | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2008 | Racing Santander | 60 | (12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | Real Madrid | 25 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | →Racing Santander (loan) | 24 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | Benfica | 78 | (9) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 50 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2020 | Valencia | 92 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 342 | (34) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Argentina U17 | 6 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Argentina U23 | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2015 | Argentina | 32 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ezequiel Marcelo Garay González (Spanish pronunciation:[eseˈkjelɣaˈɾaj]; born 10 October 1986) is an Argentine former professionalfootballer who played as acentral defender.
He started his career withNewell's Old Boys but moved to Spain at the age of 19, going on to amassLa Liga totals of 201 games and 21 goals over ten seasons withRacing de Santander,Real Madrid andValencia. In 2011 he signed withBenfica, winning four major titles, most notablythe domestic treble in2013–14.
Garay representedArgentina at the2014 World Cup and twoCopa América tournaments.
Garay was born inRosario, Santa Fe. At the early age of 18, he made his professional debut for hometown'sNewell's Old Boys, in thePrimera División. His first match was againstClub de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, as the local team eventually won theApertura championship in the2004–05 season.
Garay made another 12 league appearances for Newell's, scoring his first and only goal for the club in thelocal derby againstRosario Central, a 2–1 win.[4]
Garay joinedLa Liga clubRacing de Santander in December 2005, helping with seven complete matches as theCantabria sidebarely avoided relegation. Hisfirst full season was nothing short of spectacular as he netted nine league goals in 31 games, being the second top scorer in his position inEurope's major leagues only behindInter Milan'sMarco Materazzi (ten);[5][6] againstReal Madrid only, he scored three times – 2–1 home victory (both throughpenalties, as well as five other goals)[4] and 3–1 away loss – as Racing eventually finished tenth, their best sincereturning to the top flight in 2002.
On 19 March 2008, inthe semi-finals of theCopa del Rey againstGetafe CF, Garay suffered a serious leg injury which put him out of action for the remainder ofthe campaign.[7] He still scored three goals in 22 matches with his team finishing in a best-ever sixth position,qualifying for the first time to theUEFA Cup[8]– one of those came on 30 September 2007 in a 1–0 win atUD Almería.[9]
On 18 May 2008, Racing sold Garay to Real Madrid,[10] but received the player again on aseason-long loan.[11] Returned in July 2009, he made his league debut for the latter on 29 August, in the opening game ofthe campaign againstDeportivo de La Coruña, a 3–2 home win.[12] On 12 December, after coming on as asubstitute for severely injuredPepe, he scored his first goal for the club, heading in afree kick fromXabi Alonso to make it 3–2 atValencia CF with six minutes to go.[13]
Garay was only fourth-choice stopper in2010–11 under new managerJosé Mourinho,[14] only making five league appearances, adding two in theSpanish Cup (including one minute inthe final againstFC Barcelona, a 1–0extra-time triumph).[15]
On 5 July 2011, Garay transferred toS.L. Benfica[16] for a fee of €5.5 million,[17] signing a four-year contract; initially part of the deal that sentFábio Coentrão to Real Madrid,[18] Garay eventually signed a separate deal.[19] Real Madrid also remained eligible for 50% of any transfer fee Benfica would receive,[17] and the latter also sold part of his rights toBenfica Stars Fund for €1.175 million, making the club owner of 40%.[20]
During his spell inLisbon, Garay shared teams with a host of compatriots, and often partnered withLuisão in central defence.[21][22][23] On 24 April 2014, he scored his eighth official goal ofthe season, his team's first in a 2–1 home win overJuventus FC in the first leg of theEuropa League semi-finals.[24]
On 25 June 2014, Russian clubFC Zenit Saint Petersburg signed Garay in a transfer totalling €6 million, with Benfica receiving €2.4 million for their 40% part of the player's rights.[25][26]
He appeared in 42 games in all competitions in hisfirst season, helping the team to their fourthRussian Premier League championship.[27]
On 31 August 2016, Garay joined Valencia for a fee reported at around €20 million.[28][29] He scored four goals in hisdebut campaign, but his side could only finish 12th.[30]
Garay was on the starting XI in the2019 Copa del Rey final, a 2–1 defeat of Barcelona.[31] In February 2020, after suffering acruciate ligament injury to his right knee which would sideline him for up to six months,[32] he asked to be released so that another player in his position could be signed.[33]
Having been without a club for over one year, the 34-year-old Garay announced his retirement on 16 July 2021. He revealed that he had been suffering with a long-term injury since 2018 and had had offers since leaving Valencia, but felt that it would have been dishonest to accept them since the injury situation would have meant he would only have been available for one game out of every three.[34]
In2005, Garay helped theArgentine under-20s win theFIFA U-20 World Cup in theNetherlands. That side also includedSergio Agüero,Fernando Gago,Lionel Messi andOscar Ustari.[35]
Garay earned his firstcap forthe senior team cap in afriendly againstNorway, a 2–1 loss on 22 August 2007.[36][37] He had previously been called in May by coachAlfio Basile to a series of friendlies prior to the2007 Copa América, but injury prevented him from appearing in those matches and the official competition.[4]
Garay was selected by new national team managerSergio Batista to the2011 Copa América. He was also picked by the following coach,Alejandro Sabella, for his2014 FIFA World Cup squad, making his debut in the competition on 15 June by featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 group stage win overBosnia and Herzegovina.[38] He was first-choice in all the remaining games and, on 9 July, converted hispenalty shootout attempt against theNetherlands (0–0 after 120 minutes) to send his country to the final for the first time in 24 years.[39]
Garay made the list for the2015 Copa América,[40] starting in the team's opening fixture withParaguay inLa Serena (2–2).[41]
On 15 March 2020, Garay became the first La Liga player to test positive forCOVID-19.[42] On 21 September 2021, shortly following his retirement, he was reported to have startedreal estate development inValencia.[43]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Newell's Old Boys | 2004–05 | Argentine Primera División | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 2005–06 | 12 | 1 | — | 12 | 1 | |||||||||
| Total | 13 | 1 | — | 13 | 1 | |||||||||
| Racing Santander | 2005–06 | La Liga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||||
| 2006–07 | 31 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 9 | |||||||
| 2007–08 | 22 | 3 | 7 | 2 | — | 29 | 5 | |||||||
| Racing Santander (loan) | 2008–09 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[a] | 0 | — | 30 | 2 | |||
| Total | 84 | 14 | 10 | 2 | — | 4 | 0 | — | 98 | 16 | ||||
| Real Madrid | 2009–10 | La Liga | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[b] | 0 | — | 23 | 1 | ||
| 2010–11 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | — | 31 | 1 | ||||
| Benfica | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11[b] | 0 | — | 40 | 2 | |
| 2012–13 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14[c] | 1 | — | 46 | 2 | |||
| 2013–14 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14[c] | 2 | — | 49 | 8 | |||
| Total | 78 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 39 | 3 | — | 135 | 12 | |||
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 2014–15 | Russian Premier League | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 15[d] | 0 | — | 42 | 1 | ||
| 2015–16 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 6[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2 | |||
| 2016–17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[e] | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 50 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 75 | 3 | |||
| Valencia | 2016–17 | La Liga | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 28 | 4 | |||||
| 2017–18 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | |||||||
| 2018–19 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 8[f] | 0 | — | 35 | 2 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5[b] | 0 | 1[g] | 0 | 23 | 0 | |||
| Total | 92 | 6 | 8 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 114 | 6 | |||
| Career total | 342 | 34 | 34 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 81 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 466 | 39 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2007 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 0 | |
Newell's Old Boys
Real Madrid
Benfica
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Valencia
Argentina U17
Argentina U20
Argentina U23
Argentina
Individual
Argentina squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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