David Villa

David Villa Sánchez (born 3 December 1981) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a striker. He last played for Vissel Kobe of the J1 League. Best known for his ability to understand, and control the game, he was considered to be one of the best strikers of his generation.

David Villa

David Villa
Personal information
Full name	David Villa Sánchez[1]
Date of birth	(1981-12-03) 3 December 1981 (age 42)[1]
Place of birth	Langreo, Spain
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1991–1999	Langreo
1999–2000	Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2001	Sporting Gijón B	36	(14)
2001–2003	Sporting Gijón	80	(38)
2003–2005	Real Zaragoza	73	(32)
2005–2010	Valencia[2][3]	166	(108)
2010–2013	Barcelona	77	(33)
2013–2014	Atlético Madrid	36	(13)
2014–2018	New York City FC	117	(77)
2014	→ Melbourne City (loan)	4	(2)
2019–2020	Vissel Kobe	28	(13)
Total		617	(330)
National team
2001–2002	Asturias	2	(1)
2002–2003	Spain U21	7	(0)
2005–2017	Spain	98	(59)
Honours Men's football Representing  Spain FIFA World Cup Winner 2010 South Africa Team UEFA European Championship Winner 2008 Austria–Switzerland Team FIFA Confederations Cup Runner-up 2013 Brazil Team 2009 South Africa
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Villa also played for the Spanish national team from 2005 to 2017.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup[nb 1]		Continental[nb 2]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sporting Gijón B	2000–01	Segunda División B	35	13	—		—		35	13
	2001–02	Segunda División B	1	1	—		—		1	1
	Total		36	14	—		—		36	14
Sporting Gijón	2000–01	Segunda División	1	0	—		—		1	0
	2001–02	Segunda División	40	18	4	2	—		44	20
	2002–03	Segunda División	39	20	1	1	—		40	21
	Total		80	38	5	3	—		85	41
Zaragoza	2003–04	La Liga	38	17	8	4	—		46	21
	2004–05	La Liga	35	15	3	0	10	3	48	18
	Total		73	32	11	4	10	3	94	39
Valencia	2005–06	La Liga	37	25	4	2	6	1	47	28
	2006–07	La Liga	36	16	2	0	11	5	49	21
	2007–08	La Liga	28	18	6	3	7	3	41	24
	2008–09	La Liga	33	28	5	2	5	1	43	31
	2009–10	La Liga	32	21	2	0	11	7	45	28
	Total		166	108	19	5	40	17	225	130
Barcelona	2010–11	La Liga	34	18	6	1	12	4	52	23
	2011–12	La Liga	15	5	3	1	6	3	24	9
	2012–13	La Liga	28	10	5	5	10	1	43	16
	Total		77	33	14	7	28	8	119	48
Atlético Madrid	2013–14	La Liga	36	13	4	2	7	0	47	15
Melbourne City (loan)	2014–15	A-League	4	2	0	0	—		4	2
New York City FC	2015	MLS	30	18	0	0	—		30	18
	2016	MLS	33	24	2	0	—		35	24
	2017	MLS	31	24	3	0	—		34	24
	2018	MLS	23	14	4	1	—		27	15
	Total		117	77	9	3	—		126	80
Vissel Kobe	2019	J1 League	28	13	1	0	—		29	13
Career total			617	330	63	24	85	28	765	382

1. Includes Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, U.S. Open Cup, MLS Cup Playoffs, Emperor's Cup and J.League Cup.
2. Includes UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, CONCACAF Champions League and AFC Champions League.

International

Further information: List of international goals scored by David Villa

Appearances and goals by year and competition

Team	Year	Competitive		Friendly		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Spain[4]	2005	4[lower-alpha 1]	1	–		4	1
	2006	7[lower-alpha 2]	6	7	2	14	8
	2007	8[lower-alpha 3]	3	2	0	10	3
	2008	8[lower-alpha 4]	9	5	3	14	12
	2009	8[lower-alpha 5]	5	5	6	13	11
	2010	10[lower-alpha 6]	7	6	2	16	9
	2011	5[lower-alpha 7]	5	7	2	12	7
	2012	1[lower-alpha 8]	0	2	2	3	2
	2013	6[lower-alpha 9]	3	4	0	10	3
	2014	1[lower-alpha 10]	1	1	2	2	3
	2015	–		–		–
	2016	–		–		–
	2017	1[lower-alpha 11]	0	–		1	0
Total		59	40	39	19	98	59

1. Appearances in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. Four appearances and three goals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, three appearances and three goals in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
3. Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
4. Four appearances and four goals at UEFA Euro 2008, four appearances and five goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
5. Three appearances and two goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, five appearances and three goals in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
6. Seven appearances and five goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, three appearances and two goals in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
7. Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
8. Appearance in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
9. Three appearances in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, three appearances and three goals in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup
10. Appearance in the 2014 FIFA World Cup
11. Appearance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

^[2][5]

Zaragoza

• Copa del Rey: 2003–04
• Supercopa de España: 2004

Valencia

• Copa del Rey: 2007–08

Barcelona

• La Liga: 2010–11, 2012–13
• Copa del Rey: 2011–12
• Supercopa de España: 2010, 2011
• UEFA Champions League: 2010–11
• UEFA Super Cup: 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2011

Atlético Madrid

• La Liga: 2013–14

Vissel Kobe

• Emperor's Cup: 2019

Spain

• FIFA World Cup: 2010
• UEFA European Championship: 2008

Individual

• FIFA FIFPro World11: 2010
• UEFA Team of the Year: 2010
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe^[6]
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball^[7]
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Dream Team^[8]
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Man of the Match: Spain vs Honduras
• UEFA Euro 2008 Golden Boot^[9]
• UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament^[10]
• UEFA Euro 2008 Man of the Match: Spain vs Russia, Spain vs Sweden
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Shoe
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament.^[11]
• Spanish Player of the Year: 2005–06
• Zarra Trophy: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10
• USSA Male Athlete of the Year: 2010
• MLS MVP Award: 2016^[12]
• Best MLS Player ESPY Award: 2017
• MLS Best XI: 2016,^[13] 2017^[14]
• MLS All-Star: 2015,^[15] 2016, 2017,^[16] 2018
• Ride of Fame: September 2015^[17]
• NYCFC Most Valuable Player: 2015,^[18] 2016,^[19] 2017^[20]
• NYCFC Goal of the Year: 2015
• NYCFC Offensive Player of the Year: 2016^[21]
• MLS Player of the Month: June 2017^[22]
• MLS Player of the Week 2015: Week 2, Week 15
• NYCFC Etihad Airways Player of the Month: July 2015,^[23] April 2016,^[24] September 2016,^[25] November 2017
• J1 League Goal of the Year: 2019^[26]

Achievements

• Valencia Top Scorer: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
• La Liga's Top Assisting Player: 2006–07^[27]
• Spain all-time top scorer: 59 goals
• Spain's all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup matches: 9 goals
• New York City FC all-time top scorer: 80 goals
• Most goals scored in one World Cup (by a Spanish international): 5 in 2010
• Most goals scored in one calendar year (by a Spanish international): 12 (2008, 2009)^[28]
• Largest streak of games having scored (by a Spanish international): 6^[29]

Decorations

• Prince of Asturias Awards: 2010
• Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2011^[30]

References

1. "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players: Spain" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
2. "David Villa". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
3. "David Villa Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
4. Mamrud, Roberto (11 January 2018). "David Villa - Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
5. "David Villa, Club info & Prize List". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
6. "Golden Boot". FIFA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
7. "World Cup Best Players (Golden Ball)". Topend Sports. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
8. "Spaniards dominate Dream Team". fifa.com. 15 July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
9. "adidas Golden Boot goes to Villa". UEFA. 9 September 2008. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
10. "Spain dominate Team of the Tournament". UEFA. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 31 August 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
11. "Users pick Top 11". UEFA. 30 June 2009. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
12. Rodriguez, Alicia (6 December 2016). "New York City FC forward David Villa wins 2016 Landon Donovan MLS MVP". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
13. "MLS Best XI revealed: Who was the best at each position in 2016?". MLS Soccer. 5 December 2016. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
14. "2017 MLS Best XI revealed: Who was the best in 2017?". MLS Soccer. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
15. "Sebastian Giovinco, Kei Kamara among 22 players named to 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star Game roster". Major League Soccer. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
16. "Bradley, Giovinco to represent TFC at MLS All-Star game - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
17. "Frank Lampard finally finding form, scoring touch with NYCFC". NYDailyNews.com. 22 September 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
18. "David Villa named New York City FC's Most Valuable Player for the 2015 Season". New York City FC. 30 October 2015. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
19. Booth, Mark (16 November 2016). "Villa Named NYCFC MVP for 2016". New York City FC. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
20. "David Villa: Most Valuable Player of the Year 2017". New York City FC. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
21. Booth, Mark (14 November 2016). "Villa Named Offensive Player of the Year". New York City FC. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
22. Boehm, Charles (5 July 2017). "NYCFC's David Villa voted Alcatel MLS Player of the Month for June". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
23. "Etihad Airways Player of the Month (July): David Villa". New York City FC. 11 August 2015. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
24. "Etihad Airways Player of the Month (April): David Villa". New York City FC. 10 May 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
25. "Etihad Airways Player of the Month: August: David Villa". New York City FC. 15 September 2016. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
26. "Teruhito Nakagawa named J. League MVP, with Iniesta joining Marinos and Tokyo players in Best XI". The Japan Times. 7 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
27. Sid Lowe (12 August 2009). "David Villa: the born goalscorer the giants failed to net". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
28. "Villa, mejor goleador de la selección en un año natural". Marca (in Spanish). 20 November 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
29. KS Leong (12 February 2009). "Spain Hotshot David Villa Delighted With Goal Against England". goal.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
30. Bruña, Manel (5 October 2011). "Las campeones del mundo de fútbol ya tienen la Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo". Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 25 July 2013.