Rubén Baraja

Baraja made his debut for Spain on 7 October 2000, in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 2–0 defeat of Israel. Consequently, he was picked for the final stages, where the team reached the quarter-finals before being sent out by co-hosts South Korea on penalties, though the player, as the year before with Valencia, once again scored on his attempt; he scored from a header during regulation time, but saw his goal disallowed for alleged shirt pulling and pushing in the Korean penalty area. Baraja also took part in the disappointing UEFA Euro 2004 tournament, where Spain was eliminated in the group stage by eventual finalists Portugal and Greece. He was left out of the 2006 World Cup squad, as his club presence was also diminished due to recurrent injuries.

Early years

In June 2011, Baraja returned to former team Atlético Madrid as part of newly appointed manager Gregorio Manzano's staff. In the summer of 2013, he returned to main club Valencia, first coaching the youths. On 22 December 2013, Baraja took interim charge of the reserves in the Segunda División B, as Nico Estévez was doing the same for the first team, and achieved a 2–1 win at Sant Andreu.

Segunda División

Baraja was appointed manager of Elche, newly relegated to the second tier, on 12 July 2015. On 6 June of the following year, he resigned after failing to agree new terms. On 8 November 2016, Baraja took the reins at fellow second-division Rayo Vallecano. After only three wins from 13 games, he was sacked on 20 February 2017, as they sat a point above the relegation places. Baraja was appointed at Sporting de Gijón on 12 December 2017. Towards the end of the season, he received a four-match ban and a €3,005 fine for preventing Barcelona B's Sergi Palencia from taking a throw-in; this included the first game of the play-offs, in which eventual champions Valladolid eliminated the Asturians 5–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. On 18 November 2018, Baraja was dismissed after losing the Asturian derby against Real Oviedo, leaving the team in 14th position with a streak of only one win from 11 matches. In December of the following year, he became coach of Tenerife in the same league, managing to avoid relegation, but still left on 20 July…

Born in Valladolid, Castile and León, Baraja started his career at local Real Valladolid before moving to Atlético Madrid, where he would spend two and a half seasons with the reserves, first appearing with the first team on 7 February 1999 by playing the second half of a 2–1 away defeat against Salamanca. In 1998–99, with the B's in the Segunda División, he scored a career-best eleven goals. When Atlético was relegated at the end of 1999–2000, Baraja left the club in a 2,000 million pesetas transfer to that year's UEFA Champions League finalists Valencia, who were looking to strengthen their central midfield following the sale of first-team players Gerard and Javier Farinós. In his first season, he was a key element in the Che's Champions League run, as they were beaten in the final for the second year running, this time losing in a penalty shootout to Bayern Munich, with the player scoring on his attempt. 2001–02 would see Baraja's first trophy win, where his goals late in the campaign helped Valencia to their first La Liga title in 31 years – he finished as team top scorer in the league, netting seven in only 17 league games after recovering from a knee injury. 2003–04 was another big year, winning both the domestic championship (with eight league goals from him) as well as the UEFA Cup, beating Marseille 2–0 in the final. In 2006–07, Baraja only made 14 league appearances, as Valencia finished fourth, and continued to be constantly bothered by physical problems in the…

Baraja's younger brother, Javier, was also a professional footballer. A defender, he too graduated at Valladolid, and went on to spend most of his senior career there.