David Villa

Villa was born in Tuilla, a small parish in Langreo, Asturias, a region in northern Spain, the son of José Manuel Villa, a miner. When Villa was four, his chances of becoming a footballer were put in jeopardy when he suffered a fracture to the femur in his right leg, but he made a complete recovery. Due to the injury, he and his father worked on strengthening his left leg and Villa ultimately became ambidextrous. He recalls his father being consistently supportive: "He would be there throwing me the ball over and over, making me kick it with my left leg when my right was in plaster after breaking it, I was four. I can barely remember a single training session when my dad wasn't there. I have never been alone on a football pitch." Villa admitted that he came close to giving up football at the age of 14 after growing disillusioned and falling out with his coach. However, thanks to his parents' encouragement, he persisted in pursuing his dream, realising his talent could earn him a living. "In those days I was a nobody, not earning a penny and after being made to sit on the bench all season I just wanted to get away and play with my friends" he said. "But my dad always supported me and cheered me up until my career turned round." He went on to begin his footballing career at UP Langreo and when he turned 17 he joined the Mareo football school.

Sporting Gijón

Villa attracted interest from many Asturian teams, but one of the province's bigger teams, Real Oviedo, declared that he was too short and that they did not believe he had sufficient potential. He subsequently got his professional breakthrough at his local club Sporting de Gijón, following in the footsteps of his childhood idol Quini. Starting out at the team's youth ranks, he made his first-team debut in the 2000–01 season. After scoring 25 goals in two seasons, he became a first team regular. Pepe Acebal, Sporting's manager at the time, said that Villa initially lacked the stamina to have a real impact and had to be given his chance bit by bit and that Villa's capacity for work was "unrivalled".

Real Zaragoza

2003–04 season

With his goal tally nearly reaching 40 goals after spending two full seasons in Sporting's main team, Villa got his chance in Spain's top-flight when Sporting were in financial difficulty – newly promoted Real Zaragoza signed him for approximately €3 million in the summer of 2003. The striker had no trouble adapting to playing at the higher level, netting 17 times in his first season at Zaragoza. His league debut came during Zaragoza's first La Liga game since his arrival, where the team were defeated 1–0 away by Galician side Deportivo de La Coruña while his first goal came two games later, an eighth-minute goal against Real Murcia which put Zaragoza 2–0 up in a match which ended 3–0. 4 December 2003 saw him…

On 13 November 2019, Villa announced that, once he retired, he would be investing as an owner of USL Championship side Queensboro FC, based in Queens, New York City, United States. The club would never get off the ground. On 6 May 2021, Indian Super League club Odisha FC announced him as the head of Global Football Operations as well as member of the technical committee along with former coach Josep Gombau and Victor Onate ahead of the 2021–22 Indian Super League. Their role includes advising the coaching staff, improving the Indian and youth players, providing general support to the on-field activities among others. After joining the club, Villa said: "I will try to bring my experience. Obviously, I didn't play in India but I played soccer for 20 years as a professional and before that in the academy. And in all of the projects that we (my team) are involved in, I try to give all of my experience that I have in soccer." On 28 March 2023, David Villa's DV7 Group completed the purchase of CF Benidorm, playing in the regional divisions of the Valencian Community, where he was announced as the vice-president along with his business partner Víctor Oñate. The team was subsequently promoted to the 2024–25 Tercera Federación season (5th division in Spanish football).

2006 World Cup

An occasional member of the Under-21 team, Villa marked his international début under Luis Aragonés on 9 February 2005 in a 2006 World Cup qualifier where Spain beat San Marino 5–0 at the Estadio del Mediterráneo while his first international goal came in the form of a late equaliser during a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia on 16 November. A successful season with Valencia saw him get called up as part of the 23-man squad to represent Spain at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Spain's first match at the tournament and Villa's World Cup debut resulted in a 4–0 win against Ukraine where Villa netted a brace, and also put his nation 1–0 up against France in the Round of 16, although Spain went on to lose the match 3–1. He and Fernando Torres finished as Spain's top scorers with three goals each.

Euro 2008

By the end of 2006, Villa had become an integral part of Luis Aragonés' plans and ousted Raúl from the team. Proving vital in Spain's qualification for Euro 2008, he scored six goals, including a bicycle kick against Liechtenstein. He was subsequently called up for the tournament where he formed a striking relationship with Torres, with whom he would often celebrate his goals. He scored a hat-trick in Spain's 4–1 win over Russia, making him the first player to do so at a UEFA European Championship since Patrick Kluivert in 2000, and only the seventh overall. After the third goal, he went out of his way to meet Torres, who was on the bench at the…