 Helguera withReal Madrid in 2003 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Iván Helguera Bujía[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1975-03-28)28 March 1975 (age 50)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Santander, Spain[1] | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back,defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Racing Santander | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1995 | Racing B | 4 | (0) |
| 1995 | Revilla | ||
| 1995–1996 | Manchego | 13 | (2) |
| 1996–1997 | Albacete | 14 | (2) |
| 1997–1998 | Roma | 8 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Espanyol | 37 | (2) |
| 1999–2007 | Real Madrid | 229 | (18) |
| 2007–2008 | Valencia | 25 | (1) |
| Total | 330 | (25) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998–2004 | Spain | 47 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2020 | Las Rozas | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Iván Helguera Bujía (Spanish pronunciation:[iˈβanelˈɣeɾaβuˈxi.a];[2] born 28 March 1975) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer.
Playing as either acentral defender ordefensive midfielder, with both good defensive and offensive skills,[3] he represented five clubs during his professional career, notablyReal Madrid – achieving team success as an important player – andValencia. In his early 20s, he also had an unassuming abroad spell withRoma, going on to amassLa Liga totals of 291 games and 21 goals over 11 seasons.
ASpanish international on nearly 50 occasions, Helguera represented the country at the2002 World Cup and in twoEuropean Championships.
Born and raised inSantander,Cantabria and brought up at localRacing Club,[4] Helguera started playing professionally forManchego CF andAlbacete Balompié, appearing in 14Segunda División games in the1996–97 season for the latter. He was purchased bySerie A sideAS Roma after that, alongside compatriotCésar Gómez,[5] but left after one disappointingcampaign to joinRCD Espanyol, where his stellar performances as a defender under coachMarcelo Bielsa led to aReal Madrid deal even before1998–99 had finished.[6]
With Real Madrid from July 1999, Helguera was an instant first choice, and scored five and sixLa Liga goals in hissecond andfourth seasons (both ended with the national championship conquest) alternating between defender and midfielder. He was also instrumental in thecapital team's twoUEFA Champions League conquests: in the2000 final, against fellow SpaniardsValencia CF, he started the match as asweeper in a3–0 win,[7] appearing as stoppertwo years later in the 2–1 victory overBayer 04 Leverkusen.[8]
Not a starter in his final two years, Helguera still made a total of 42 appearances, scoring in a 3–1 away defeat ofGimnàstic de Tarragona on 28 October 2006.[9] At the start of hislast season he was surprisingly stripped of his No. 6 jersey which went to new signingMahamadou Diarra, given No. 21 and made to train with the youth team in anticipation of his leaving theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium, even though his contract ran until June 2009.[10] However, he later managed to fight his way back into the starting eleven, being somewhat influential in helping the club to the 2007 domestic league.
On 20 July 2007, Helguera signed for Valencia on a three-year deal – upon joining, he stated that he had wanted to come to Valencia for a "long time" and was "delighted" to arrive at the club.[11] He was relatively important during hisdebut campaign, also helping theChe towin theCopa del Rey.
However, after having appeared very rarely in the first part ofthe following season,[12] Helguera's contract was cancelled on 12 December 2008,[13] and bothFC Dinamo București[14] andLos Angeles Galaxy declared interest in signing the player,[15] but nothing came of it and he retired from football later that year.[16]
Helguera wascapped 47 times forSpain, the first coming on 18 November 1998 in an awayfriendly withItaly (2–2).[17] He played for his country atUEFA Euro 2000, the2002 FIFA World Cup andEuro 2004,[18] missing the2006 World Cup after being omitted from the squad in the months before the tournament by national team coachLuis Aragonés.[19]
Helguera's younger brother,Luis, was also a professional footballer. A midfielder, he played in the first division forReal Zaragoza andDeportivo Alavés, and also in Italy.[20]
He married his longtime girlfriend Lorena, and welcomed his first baby, a boy named Luca, on 30 November 2005.[21][22]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchego | 1995–96 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1996–97 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 2 | ||||||
| Total | 13 | 2 | 13 | 2 | ||||||
| Albacete | 1996–97 | Segunda División | 14 | 2 | 14 | 2 | ||||
| Roma | 1997–98 | Serie A | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Espanyol | 1998–99 | La Liga | 37 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 2 |
| Real Madrid | 1999–2000 | La Liga | 33 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 54 | 2 |
| 2000–01 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 49 | 11 | ||
| 2001–02 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 44 | 5 | ||
| 2002–03 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 51 | 6 | ||
| 2003–04 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 43 | 3 | ||
| 2004–05 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 45 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 27 | 1 | ||
| 2006–07 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||
| Total | 229 | 18 | 27 | 0 | 87 | 15 | 343 | 33 | ||
| Valencia | 2007–08 | La Liga | 24 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 37 | 2 |
| 2008–09 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 25 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 43 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 326 | 25 | 39 | 0 | 97 | 16 | 462 | 41 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1998 | 1 | 0 |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 47 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 March 2001 | José Rico Pérez,Alicante, Spain |  Liechtenstein | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 28 March 2001 | Mestalla,Valencia, Spain |  France | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 2 April 2003 | Reino de León,León, Spain |  Armenia | 2–0 | 3–0 | Euro 2004 qualifying |
Real Madrid
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