Manuel Almunia
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Almunia Rivero | ||
| Date of birth | 19 May 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Pamplona, Spain | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Arsenal | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1997–1999 | Osasuna B | 44 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Osasuna | 0 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | → Cartagena (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Sabadell | 25 | (0) |
| 2001–2004 | Celta Vigo | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | → Eibar (loan) | 35 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | → Recreativo Huelva (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | → Albacete (loan) | 24 | (0) |
| 2004– | Arsenal | 104 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:43, 16 April 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Manuel Riviera Almunia (born 19 May 1977) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Arsenal.
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Club career
Early career
Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Almunia started his senior career with Osasuna's reserve team in 1997, playing two seasons with the team in Segunda División B. He went on to spend two more seasons in the category, with Cartagena and Sabadell, joining the top flight in 2001–02, with Real Club Celta de Vigo.
However, shortly after joining Celta, Almunia was loaned out to Segunda División side Eibar, where he spent 2001–02 as first-choice goalkeeper. During the 2002–03 season, Celta loaned him out to first-division club Recreativo de Huelva, where he played understudy to José Antonio Luque and César, only making two league appearances. Almunia's debut in the first division came on 17 November 2002, following a red card to the latter, in a 0–3 defeat at Deportivo Alavés.[2]
He then returned to Celta, being loaned for the third and final time, now to Albacete Balompié on 1 November 2003. He made his club debut the following week, in a 1–0 loss at Málaga. Almunia achieved first-choice status, making a total of 24 league appearances until the end of the season, while helping Albacete finish 14th.[3]
Arsenal
Almunia signed for Arsenal for an undisclosed fee on 14 July 2004. He was given the number one after Jens Lehmann left for Stuttgart at the beginning of the 2008–09 season.[4] In 2008, Almunia signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.[5] Doubt has been cast on Almunina's continued role in the squad following the 2009–2010 season. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has publicly stated that he is looking to improve the defensive line up of the first eleven. This has exacerbated public speculation that Almunia will be sold.[6]
2010/2011 Season
Despite all the speculation that Almunia would be sold on, Arsene Wenger decided that after having two £2,000,000 bids rejected for Mark Schwarzer that Almunia would keep the no.1 jersey. He started off the season against Liverpool where despite having a decent game, came under some criticism after conceding a questionable goal from David N'Gog. He kept a clean-sheet against Blackpool, and had a strong performance against Blackburn Rovers where he was the man of the match. Although he has to go along way to prove his critics wrong, he's had a good strong start for Arsenal
International career
Almunia has not played in any international matches, and stated on more than one occasion about his wish to play for England, but only provided that he didn't receive a call-up from the Euro 2008-winning Spain first. He was not called up to Spain's national team for Euro 2008 so the option of playing for England is still available to him.[7]
Honours
Club
Winner
- FA Cup: 2005
- FA Community Shield: 2004
Runner-up
Individual
References
- ↑ "PFA Profile". PFA. 2008-11-04. http://www.givemefootball.com/player-profiles/manuel-almunia. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ↑ "Almunia – Primera División 2002/2003" (in German and English). Weltfussball.de. http://www.weltfussball.de/spieler_profil/almunia/esp-primera-division-2002-2003/recreativo-huelva/3/. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ↑ "Almunia – Primera División 2003/2004" (in German and English). Weltfussball.de. http://www.weltfussball.de/spieler_profil/almunia/esp-primera-division-2003-2004/albacete/3/. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ↑ "Almunia joins Arsenal". BBC Sport. 2004-07-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/3877979.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ↑ "Almunia agrees Arsenal deal". Sky Sports. 2008-06-03. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3379955,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ↑ "Arsenal set to move for Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic". www.goal.com. 9 Jul 2010. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/07/09/2017471/arsenal-set-to-move-for-udinese-goalkeeper-samir-handanovic. Retrieved 10-07-2010.
- ↑ "Almunia eyes international call". Sky Sports. 2008-01-16. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3052410,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
External links
- Arsenal.com profile
- Manuel Almunia career stats at Soccerbase
- FootballDatabase profile and stats
- Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
- Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
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