Víctor Ruiz (footballer, born 1989)

Víctor Ruiz Torre (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbiɣtoɾ ˈrwiθ ˈtore]; born 25 January 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Segunda División club Espanyol.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ruiz and the second or maternal family name is Torre.

Víctor Ruiz
Ruiz being presented by Napoli in 2011
Personal information
Full name Víctor Ruiz Torre[1]
Date of birth (1989-01-25) 25 January 1989[1]
Place of birth Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Espanyol
Number 4
Youth career
1998–2002 Barcelona
2002–2006 Cornellà
2006–2008 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Espanyol B 44 (0)
2009–2011 Espanyol 37 (2)
2011 Napoli 6 (0)
2011–2015 Valencia 59 (1)
2014–2015 → Villarreal (loan) 25 (0)
2015–2019 Villarreal 112 (3)
2019–2020 Beşiktaş 23 (0)
2020–2023 Betis 55 (2)
2023– Espanyol 0 (0)
International career
2006 Spain U17 1 (0)
2007–2008 Spain U19 3 (0)
2010–2011 Spain U21 5 (0)
2012 Spain U23 1 (0)
2010 Catalonia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 04:18, 6 June 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Espanyol

Born in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia, Ruiz arrived in RCD Espanyol's youth system in 2006 at the age of 17, from neighbouring UE Cornellà.[2] In the 2008–09 season he made his senior debut, helping the reserve side to win their Tercera División group and subsequently promote in the playoffs.[3][4]

Ruiz made his debut with the first team on 6 December 2009, starting and being booked in a 4–0 home loss against Racing de Santander.[5] Coach Mauricio Pochettino fielded him in a further 21 La Liga games that campaign, with the team finally finishing 11th; he added two goals, against Málaga CF (2–1 away defeat)[6] and Atlético Madrid (3–0, home).[7]

Napoli and Valencia

In 2010–11, Ruiz played all the minutes for Espanyol in the first 15 rounds.[8] On 31 January 2011, he was sold to SSC Napoli for €6 million cash in a four-and-a-half-year contract, with the Italians also ceding the sporting rights to Jesús Dátolo who was playing with the Spaniards on loan.[9][10]

Ruiz returned to his country on 30 August 2011, after signing a five-year deal with Valencia CF for €8 million.[11][12] He made his official debut on 10 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home victory over Atlético Madrid.[13]

On 12 December 2013, Ruiz was sent off in a 1–1 home draw against FC Kuban Krasnodar in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, for a professional foul on Djibril Cissé.[14]

Villarreal

On 1 July 2015, following a one-year loan there, Ruiz transferred to Villarreal CF also in the Valencian Community for an initial €2.7 million, potentially rising to €3 million.[15] He played his first competitive match for them in his second spell on 23 August, when he started and finished the 1–1 draw at Real Betis.[16]

Ruiz scored his first league goal for Villarreal on 7 April 2017, in a 3–1 home defeat of Athletic Bilbao where he also received his marching orders after a straight red card with 15 minutes left.[17]

Beşiktaş and Betis

On 7 August 2019, Ruiz joined Beşiktaş J.K. on a three-year contract.[18] He returned to the Spanish top flight one year later, however, with the free agent signing a one-year deal with Betis.[19]

Ruiz agreed to an extension until 2023 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín on 4 June 2021;[20] at its conclusion, he left.[21] In between, he won the 2021–22 edition of the Copa del Rey for his first major honour,[22] but contributed only three matches to this feat.[23]

Return to Espanyol

On 20 September 2023, Ruiz returned to his first professional club Espanyol on a one-year deal.[24]

International career

Shortly after making his debut with Espanyol, Ruiz was called to the Spain under-21 team by manager Luis Milla. On 8 February 2011, in the last minutes of a 2–1 friendly win over Denmark, he was sent off for punching Nicki Bille, who celebrated his goal in front of Ruiz's face.[25][26]

Career statistics
As of match played 12 June 2023[27][28]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Espanyol 2009–10 La Liga 22200—222
2010–11 La Liga 15030—180
Total 3723000402
Napoli 2010–11 Serie A 60001[lower-alpha 1]070
Valencia 2011–12 La Liga 220718[lower-alpha 2]1372
2012–13 La Liga 260502[lower-alpha 3]0330
2013–14 La Liga 111107[lower-alpha 1]0191
Total 591131171893
Villarreal (loan) 2014–15 La Liga 250308[lower-alpha 1]0360
Villarreal 2015–16 La Liga 3502014[lower-alpha 1]0510
2016–17 La Liga 281206[lower-alpha 4]0361
2017–18 La Liga 272205[lower-alpha 1]0342
2018–19 La Liga 2201010[lower-alpha 1]0330
Total 13731004301903
Beşiktaş 2019–20 Süper Lig 230201[lower-alpha 1]0260
Betis 2020–21 La Liga 27240—312
2021–22 La Liga 180302[lower-alpha 1]0230
2022–23 La Liga 10 0 1 0 3[lower-alpha 1] 0 14 0
Total 5528050682
Espanyol 2023–24 Segunda División 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Career total 317836167142010
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  4. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Espanyol B

Betis

Spain U21

Individual

  • UEFA La Liga Team of the Season: 2015–16[30]

References
  1. "Víctor Ruiz". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  2. Terrats, Juan (25 August 2010). "Víctor Ruiz confirma que se queda en el Espanyol" [Víctor Ruiz confirms he is staying at Espanyol]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  3. "El Espanyol B ya es campeón de Tercera" [Espanyol B are already Tercera champions]. Sport (in Spanish). 4 May 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  4. "Gimnástica y Espanyol B son ya equipos de Segunda B" [Gimnástica and Espanyol B are already Segunda B teams]. Marca (in Spanish). 31 May 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  5. Quixano, Jordi (6 December 2009). "El Espanyol es un juguete roto" [Espanyol are a broken toy]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  6. "Espanyol continue away day blues". ESPN Soccernet. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  7. "Espanyol boost survival hopes". ESPN Soccernet. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  8. Beldarrain, Andoni (28 January 2011). "Mercado de invierno: El Sevilla se refuerza y el Espanyol se debilita" [Winter market: Sevilla strengthen and Espanyol weaken] (in Spanish). EITB. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  9. "Napoli sign Ruiz from Espanyol". UEFA. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  10. SSC Napoli SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2011, PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA (in Italian)
  11. "Valencia complete deal for Ruiz". ESPN Soccernet. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  12. SSC Napoli SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2012, PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA (in Italian)
  13. Egea, Pablo (11 September 2011). "Soldado arma al Valencia" [Soldier ("Soldado" in English) arms Valencia]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  14. "Europa League: Kuban Krasnodar crash out despite 1–1 draw at Valencia". Sky Sports. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  15. Conn, Tom (1 July 2015). "Villarreal finalise transfer for Victor Ruiz". Inside Spanish Football. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  16. Melero, Delfín (24 August 2015). "Rubén Castro llega justo a tiempo" [Rubén Castro arrives just in time]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  17. "El Villarreal frena las aspiraciones del Athletic" [Villarreal halt Athletic's aspirations]. Deia (in Spanish). 7 April 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  18. "El Villarreal traspasa a Víctor Ruiz al Besiktas" [Villarreal transfer Víctor Ruiz to Besiktas]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  19. "Víctor Ruiz, nuevo jugador del Real Betis" [Víctor Ruiz, new player of Real Betis] (in Spanish). Real Betis. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  20. "Víctor Ruiz extends his contract with Real Betis". Real Betis. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  21. "Víctor Ruiz leaves Real Betis". Real Betis. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  22. "Real Betis 1–1 Valencia (5–4 on pens): Real Betis win Copa del Rey final on penalties". BBC Sport. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  23. Del Castillo, Alfonso (9 August 2022). "Los jugadores de la 2021–22 en la clasificación histórica" [The 2021–22 players in the historical ranking.] (in Spanish). Manquepierda. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  24. "Víctor Ruiz rejoins RCD Espanyol". RCD Espanyol. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  25. "Ten-man Spain defeat hosts Denmark". UEFA. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  26. "International Matches – Under 21". Soccer Spain. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  27. "Víctor Ruiz". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  28. Víctor Ruiz at FBref.com
  29. Rodrigálvarez, Eduardo (26 June 2011). "España tiene futuro" [Spain have a future]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  30. Casal, Rafa (16 May 2016). "Atletico dominate UEFA's La Liga team of the season". Marca. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.