Raul Albiol Biography

Raul Albiol, born on September 4, 1985, Vilamarxant, is a Spanish professional football player who plays mainly as a central defender, but can also play as a defensive midfielder or right back.

Albiol played his first competitive match for

in September 2003 in the UEFA Cup. In the 2004/05 season, the defender played on loan at

. After returning to Valencia CF in 2005, Albiol became a regular at the team. He scored in the first two official matches of the 2006/07 season against

in the La Ligaf and

in the

.

On 24 June 2009, it was announced that Albiol made the switch to

. The transfer would involve a fee of around fifteen million euros. In the summer of 2013, Albiol made the move to

. Since 2019, Albiol is playing for Villareal in his home country.

Albiol has a history of appearances for Spain's youth national teams. He played for the U-19, U-20 and U-21 teams, for which he played a total of 18 matches. In the senior national team, Albiol had his debut on 13 October 2007 during the victorious 3:1 match against

. The Spanish player was then called up to the team for Euro 2008, and together with the national team won the European Championship.

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All You Need to Know About Raul Albiol Biography

At the tournament, Albiol appeared in two group matches, in which he replaced the injured Carles Puyol. In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he won the tournament with the Spain national team. Albiol did not play a single game at the World Cup in South Africa and suffered an injury before the Spain-Portugal match in the 1/8 final.

Raul Albiol Information

In this section of

Raul Albiol biography

, to let you know him much better, we want to share some more general information about him such as

Raul Albiol nationality

and more, so stay tuned.

Raul Albiol Bio

• Full Name: Raul Albiol Tortajada

• Nickname: El Chori

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Raul Albiol Physical Stats

• Weight: 82 Kg

• Height: 1.90 m

• Eye Color: Dark Brown

• Hair Color: Black

Raul Albiol Football Information

• Position: Defender

• Jersey Number: 3

• Professional Debut: 2003

Raul Albiol Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 4 September 1985

• Birth Place: Vilamarxant, Spain

• Zodiac Sign: Virgo

• Nationality: Spanish

In this section of

Raul Albiol biography

, stay tuned as we want to share more information about

Raul Albiol childhood

.

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Raul Albiol Early Life

Raul was a slim youngster when he made his debut in the youth ranks of Ribarroja CF, but few people could have imagined that they were facing one of those chosen few who not only make their passion for football their profession but also go down in history with golden letters. It soon became clear that this slim boy was not going to go down as one of the broken dreams of every child who, at some point in their lives, fantasizes about becoming the best footballer in the world.

Valencia soon threw him into their nets. The 24th September 2003 was a date that Albiol will never forget, that day he made his debut in the shirt of his team, a first dream come true for any youth team player. It was not the most glamorous match in his history, against AIK Solna, but it was a date he will never forget.

Nor will he forget 2 August 2004. A day on which life played a dirty trick on him, but which now, with hindsight, was the day on which Raul was born again. A serious car accident, when he was on his way to Getafe to sign his loan contract with the Madrid club, almost cost him his life.

The player's spleen had to be removed and four months later he was able to make his debut in the Blue and Whites' shirt. A tough time that undoubtedly marked a before and after in his football career and made it clear, in case anyone had any doubts, that the elite sportsman is an earthly being. Something that Raul has never forgotten but which the accident reminded him of forever. The truth is that the defender has made the most of that second chance. Because his trajectory, since that day, has been unstoppable.

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Raul Albiol Profile

After settling in Getafe he returned to Valencia at the request of Quique Sánchez Flores. On 28 August 2005, Albiol made his first appearance for Valencia. The young defender, who represented the new generation of Valencia's youngsters, was brought on from the opening minutes of the game against Betis (2-1). He played a total of 29 games during the season, never sitting on the bench.

He later became Valencia's leading defender, being widely linked with the English and Italian sides, but continued to play for his home team over and over again. The 2006/07 season saw him help Valencia reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, as well as a third place in the La Liga. Raul scored two goals, both with a header.

Real Madrid tried to buy Albiol on 25 April 2006, but the defender extended his deal with Valencia until 2011. At the same time, he started playing for the Spanish national team and his price skyrocketed several times over. On 12 September 2006, he made his Champions League debut with a goal against Olympiacos (2-4).

During his four years with the FC Valencia, he also won his first trophy, the 2007-2008 Copa del Rey, which he won by beating Getafe 3-1 in the final, the team he had played for on loan before. In this section of Raul Albiol biography, stay tuned as we want to share more information about his Real Madrid career.

Real Madrid

On June 24, 2009, an agreement was reached between Valencia CF and Real Madrid for the transfer of Raul Albiol for a fee of approximately 15 million euros. The player signed a 5-year contract with the Merengues. His purchase was partly due to the suspension of Real Madrid defender Pepe, who had deliberately assaulted Getafe player Javier Casquero, who was to be suspended for the first four matches in Liga BBVA.

After Pepe's serious injury, Albiol gradually gained a place in the Real Madrid starting eleven, in direct competition with Argentine international Ezequiel Garay.

He scored some precious goals for Real Madrid, notably in the Champions League against Olympique de Marseille in December 2009 (final victory 3-1). In 2010, after Real recruited Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho, Albiol lost his starting place due to stiff competition in central defence.

During the 2010-2011 season, he regained his starting place alongside the experienced Ricardo Carvalho. He played a series of good matches thanks to Pepe's injuries and suspensions and Ezequiel Garay's poor performances.

José Mourinho declared on June 3, 2012, that his central defender (Raul Albiol) is "untransferable". After returning from Euro 2012, he extended his contract for two more years with Real Madrid.

During Raphaël Varane's injury, his performance as his replacement in the defensive line was very good. He played in the final of the

against

on 17 May 2013, but the Real Madrid team lost by a score of two goals to one.

On the 35th matchday of the

against

, he scored his first goal at the Santiago Bernabeu from a corner in the second minute for a final 6-2 win of his club. He left Madrid after four seasons and 119 matches played in all competitions.

In this section of

Raul Albiol biography

, stay tuned as we want to share more information about his career at Napoli.

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Napoli

His transfer to Italian side S.S.C. Napoli was made official on 21 July 2013 for a fee of 12 million euros, with former Real Madrid teammates Callejón and Higuaín and national team-mate Reina moving to Napoli with him. At the Azzurri club, he also reunited with his former Valencia coach Rafa Benítez. He played his Serie A debut on 25 August, on matchday 1 of the season, against Bologna (with the result 3-0 in favour of the Neapolitans).

On 25 January 2014, he scored his first goal in a Napoli shirt, against

. On 13 May of the same year, he won the

in the final against

at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The following 22 December he won the Italian Super Cup against Juventus.

After six seasons, playing 236 matches in all competitions and scoring 6 goals in Serie A for Napoli, Raul Albiol left Italy to get back to his country and signed for Villareal.

Villareal

Albiol returned to Spain on 4 July 2019 and joined Villarreal CF, signing a contract for three seasons. He plays his first match for

on 17 August 2019, on the first day of the 2019-2020 Liga season against Granada CF. He was named in the starting line-up for that match, which ended in a 4-4 draw.

As of 8 January 2021, Raul Albiol has played a total of 58 matches for Villareal in all competitions and scored one goal for them in La Liga. In this section of Raul Albiol biography, stay tuned as we want to share more information about his

national team career.

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Spain National Team

Raul Albiol began playing for the Spain national team on 13 October 2007 in a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Denmark (Spain won 3-1).

He was selected by Luis Aragonés for Euro 2008. Albiol played two matches in that tournament and was a substitute during the final. Spain won 1-0 against Germany and won the competition for the second time, after their victory in 1964. Albiol won the first 23 matches he has played for Spain national team, which is a world record.

He was called up for the 2010 World Cup, however, he did not play a match throughout the competition due to injury. La Roja lifted the world title for the first time in its history with a 1-0 win in the final against the Netherlands.

On 15 May 2012, he was selected in the preliminary list for Euro 2012 and then remained in the final list. Albiol was once again a bench player, missing all minutes during the tournament when Spain achieved a historic hat-trick by winning the competition.

For the 2014 World Cup, Albiol was invited to play in the national team. Spain was eliminated in the group stages, while the defender only took part in the last match against Australia (0-3 victory).

Since March 2015, Albiol has not been called up again, but in October 2018 he returned to play for La Roja in a friendly against Wales. His performances with Villarreal prompted Robert Moreno to call him up in October 2019. Albiol even captained the national team in a 1-1 draw with Sweden on 15 October.

In this section of Raul Albiol biography, stay tuned as we want to share more information about his playing style.

Style of Play

He has the natural attributes necessary for any central defender, that is, tall stature, robust physical structure and speed in his movements. But although he started out as a central defender, over time he has moved into other positions such as right-back and even played as a defensive midfielder. Raul Albiol is also very good at aerial play and zonal marking, two characteristics that are crucial for a good central defender.

Reception

Once he was playing for Valencia early in his professional football career, many believed that he was on his way to becoming one of the best Spanish defenders. His signing for Real Madrid in 2009 meant that he was on the right track to becoming that, however his performances with Real Madrid shirt was not good enough and he left Madrid four seasons later.

However, there are some football critics and fans that consider him as one of the best Spanish defenders in recent years and believe that he could have achieved much more during his football career.

Goal Celebration

With just 20 goals during his around 18-years old career, Raul Albiol is not into scoring goals as his main duty as a centre back is to stop the opponents from scoring goals. He does not have a signature goal celebration, but, especially at Napoli, one goal celebration that we have seen Albiol do a few times is when he runs to the fans, jumping and raising his right arm up.

Raul Albiol outside Football

Raul Albiol's life will always have a before and after 2 August 2004, the day on which he suffered a serious car accident that led to fears of the worst. That summer's day, the youth player was on his way from Valencia to Madrid by car with his father and his agent. Valencia FC had informed him in the morning that they had given the go-ahead for his loan move to Getafe. The car in which he was travelling with his father and his agent rolled over six times.

The Valencia player had to be rushed to the nearest hospital and there he showed what he is made of. Despite the seriousness of his condition, Albiol resisted and was able to recover after undergoing surgery a couple of times. However, he had to pay a very high price as he lost his spleen.

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Raul Albiol Personal Life

In this section of Raul Albiol biography, we want to take a look at his personal life and share some stories about him such as

Raul Albiol life story

,

Raul Albiol religion

and much more, so stay tuned.

Family, Children and Relationships

His parents Miguel Albiol Balaguer and Manuela Tortajada Trilles, have a lottery administration, Raul is the middle of three brothers, Miguel, 4 years older than him, Raul and little Brian who is 10 years younger than him.

In Raul's family football has always been very present, his father and uncle were footballers, and his brother Miguel has played for Valencia FC and played for Murcia before retiring from football.

Both his father and his uncle have played for Mestalla and Sabadell in Segunda A. His uncle José Luis is a member of the staff of Amedeo Carboni, the former Valencia FC sporting director, and previously Valencia B coach.

Raul Albiol and his wife Alicia Roig got married on 17 June 2011. The Valencian player and his bride tied the knot in a religious ceremony held in the Valencia Cathedral where they were accompanied by their closest family and friends, including teammates Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa from Real Madrid, who attended with their respective wives: Nagore Aramburu, and Carlota Ruiz.

The couple has four children, three daughters: Azahara (March 16, 2009 ), Alma ( January 7, 2010 ) and Mia (December 31, 2014), and a son, Romeo (July 24, 2013 ).

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Philanthropy

Raul Albiol, in 2008, together with two players from Villareal (his current club) Marcos Senna and Guille Franco, has founded an organization named Evangélico FC, consisting of a football team to promote Christian values between young footballers in Spain. They also participate in different charity events.

He is also involved in other charitable projects and has played on some charity matches, to raise funds for charitable causes.

Legal Issues

As a footballer who always pays attention to playing football and tries to stay away from media and any troubles, we haven’t heard of any legal issues or disputes regarding Raul Albiol and there are no such records on media. In this section of Raul Albiol biography, stay tuned as we want to share more information about his career stats.

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Raul Albiol Career Statistics

In this section of Raul Albiol biography, it is time to take a look into the Spaniard’s career as a footballer on a club and international level. Stay tuned.

Club

Since starting his career in the 2002-03 season at Valencia B, Raul Albiol has played for six clubs in Spain and Italy and made 646 appearances in all competitions. He has also scored 20 goals during all those matches.

He has played most of his club career matches for Napoli, where he appeared 236 times for them, scoring six goals.

International

Between 2007 and 2019, Raul Albiol has managed to play 56 matches for his country. In all these years he failed to score for Spain national team. His debut match for Spain was in a 3-1 win against Denmark in qualifications for the 2008 European football championship and he last played for his country in a 5-0 win over Romania, in the qualifications for the 2020 European football championship.

Raul Albiol Honors

The player has won many awards and titles at the club level both in Spain and Italy, including Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup with Valencia, La Liga, Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España with Real Madrid and Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana with Napoli.

At the international level, he is one of the most decorated defenders currently playing as he has won the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championship and the 2004 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He has also finished third-placed in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and runner-ups in 2013.

His individual awards and titles include 2006 La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year and the UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season which he won in the 2014-15 season.

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