Sergio Busquets

Sergio Busquets

Personal information
Full name	Sergio Busquets Burgos
Date of birth	16 July 1988 (1988-07-16) (age 22)
Place of birth	Sabadell, Spain
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Barcelona
Number	16
Youth career
1999–2003	Lleida
2003–2005	Unió Jabac
2005–2007	Barcelona
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2007–2008	Barcelona B	32	(1)
2008–	Barcelona	57	(1)
National team‡
2008–2009	Spain U21	3	(1)
2009–	Spain	21	(0)
2008–	Catalonia	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 June 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 August 2010

Sergio Busquets Burgos (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈserxjo βusˈkets], Catalan: [ˈsɛrʑi βusˈkɛts]; born 16 July 1988) is a Spanish footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, as a defensive midfielder.

He was a relatively obscure player when he arrived in FC Barcelona's first team in July 2008, but eventually made a name for himself in a relatively short period of time, reaching the Spanish national team in less than one year after making his professional club debuts.

Club career

Busquets during 2008's Joan Gamper Trophy

Busquets was born in Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia. In 2005–06, he joined local Barcelona's youth ranks, scoring seven goals in 26 matches for the Juvenil A team in the following season. Two years later, he was promoted to the B team under Josep Guardiola, and helped it achieve promotion to the third level, with one goal in his 32 appearances.^[1] In that same season, Busquets would make his first team debut, in a Catalonia Cup match, coming on as a substitute.

On 13 September 2008, Busquets played his first top flight match, 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Racing de Santander.^[2] During Barcelona's UEFA Champions League match against FC Basel at St. Jakob-Park on 22 October 2008, he scored the second goal in the 15th minute in a 5–0 win.^[3] In early December, in another start, he scored his second goal with Barça in the competition, netting in the 83rd minute of a 2–3 home loss against FC Shakhtar Donetsk.^[4] On 22 December, Busquets signed a contract extension until 2013, with a buy-out clause of €80 million.^[5][6]

On 7 March 2009, Busquets netted his first goal in the La Liga in a 2–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao. On 27 May, having been regularly used in the league as he competed for the spot with internationals Seydou Keita and Yaya Touré, he also featured in Barcelona's starting XI in the Champions League final, a 2–0 win over Manchester United. With that victory, Carles and Sergio Busquets became only the third father and son combo to both have won Europe's top club competition playing for the same team, joining Manuel Sanchís Martínez and Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo (won it with Real Madrid) and Cesare Maldini and Paolo Maldini (A.C. Milan).

Busquets' fine form continued in the 2009–10 season,^[7][8] with Guardiola preferring him to Touré as Barcelona's holding midfielder. In the Champions League semi-final against F.C. Internazionale Milano at Camp Nou, on 28 April 2010, he exaggerated a push which caused Thiago Motta to be sent off. The television replays show him theatrically falling and holding his face, and later peeking to see if his simulation was being believed.^[9][10]

International career

On 11 October 2008, Busquets earned his first cap for Spain's under-21, in their 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification play-offs first leg match, against Switzerland. He scored in the 17th minute but Spain lost the match 2–1, eventually emerging victorious 4–3 on aggregate.

On 6 February 2009, he was called-up to the senior squad for the friendly against England, on 11 February.^[11] Busquets finally made his debut for La Furia Roja on 1 April 2009, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Turkey, playing 16 minutes in a 2–1 win in Istanbul, after replacing David Silva. Four days earlier, he had been named as a substitute when the same sides met in Madrid, where Spain ran out 1–0 winners, with a goal from team mate Gerard Piqué.

Busquets was selected by manager Vicente del Bosque for the finals in South Africa, assuming the holding midfielder role naturalized Brazilian Marcos Senna had previously had in the conquest of UEFA Euro 2008: he played all the matches and minutes for the eventual World champions (save for the last 30 minutes of the 0–1 group stage loss against Switzerland).^[12]

Club statistics

As of 9 May 2010^[13][14]

Honours

Barcelona

• Spanish League: (2) 2008–09, 2009–10
• Spanish Cup: (1) 2008–09
• Spanish Supercup: (2) 2009, 2010
• UEFA Champions League: (1) 2008–09
• UEFA Super Cup: (1) 2009
• FIFA Club World Cup: (1) 2009

Spain

• FIFA World Cup: (1) 2010
• FIFA Confederations Cup: Third-place 2009

Individual

• La Liga's Breakthrough Player: 2009

Personal

Busquets' father, Carles, was also a footballer, having played as goalkeeper for Barcelona for several years during the 1990s, although almost exclusively as a backup.

References

External links

• FC Barcelona profile
• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• 2010 FIFA World Cup profile

Spain Squad Spain squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place 1 Casillas (c) • 2 Albiol • 3 Piqué • 4 Marchena • 5 Puyol • 6 Pablo • 7 Villa • 8 Xavi • 9 F. Torres • 10 Fàbregas • 11 Capdevila • 12 Busquets • 13 López • 14 Alonso • 15 Ramos • 16 Llorente • 17 Güiza • 18 Riera • 19 Arbeloa • 20 Cazorla • 21 Silva • 22 Mata • 23 Reina • Coach: del Bosque Spain squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Casillas (c) • 2 Albiol • 3 Piqué • 4 Marchena • 5 Puyol • 6 Iniesta • 7 Villa • 8 Xavi • 9 F. Torres • 10 Fàbregas • 11 Capdevila • 12 Valdés • 13 Mata • 14 Alonso • 15 Ramos • 16 Busquets • 17 Arbeloa • 18 Pedro • 19 Llorente • 20 Martínez • 21 Silva • 22 Navas • 23 Reina • Coach: Del Bosque