Raúl Bravo

Football player infobox
playername = Raúl Bravo


fullname = Raúl Bravo Sanfélix
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|4|14
cityofbirth = Gandia
countryofbirth = Spain
height = height|m=1.76
currentclub = Olympiacos
clubnumber = 15
position = Left/centre-back
years=2000-2001 2001-2002 2001-2007 2003 2007-
clubs = Real Madrid C Real Madrid B Real Madrid →Leeds United "(loan)" Olympiacos
caps(goals) = 7 (0) 28 (2) 77 (5) 5 (0) 5 (0)
nationalyears = 2002-2004
nationalteam = Spain
nationalcaps(goals) = 14 (0)
pcupdate = 27 August 2008
ntupdate = 30 July 2008

Raúl Bravo Sanfélix (born April 14, 1981 in Gandia, Valencia) is a Spanish football defender, who currently plays for Olympiacos FC. Mainly a left back, he can also play in the centre.

Club career

Bravo's football career began in 1995-96. He joined Real Madrid's teenagers the following season and then the "Junior B" team. He was subsequently part of the "Junior A" side, and played for them 2 more seasons (1998-2000), before arriving at the reserve team, then in the third division (2000-01), playing in the "Segunda División B" the following season.

International call-ups of some players in the first team gave him the chance to debut against Athletic Bilbao, on October 6, 2001 at the Bernabéu (71 minutes in a 2-0 win). Bravo ended up training with the first team, then under Vicente Del Bosque's management, very often. That eventually led to his permanent stay with the main side, starting in 2002-03.

In January 2003, Bravo served an unsuccessful loan spell at Leeds United. However, during Euro 2004 in which he appeared for Spain, Mick McCarthy, whilst commentating for the BBC, remarked that Bravo looked a different player to the one in his Leeds stint. Roberto Carlos' presence, however, restricted his playing time in the Real first team. With a chance to retain UEFA Champions League status, Bravo signed a four-year contract with Olympiacos FC on August 2007, with the transfer fee estimated in the region of €2.3 million, while the player received an annual salary of €1.3 million.

International career

Bravo was capped for Spain on the under-16 level in 1997-98, when the national team won the "Algarve Tournament". With the under-17s, he played in the "Nymburk International Tournament", scoring two goals in three matches.

Bravo's senior national team debut was against Hungary in an August 21, 2002 friendly. Subsequently, he was a participant at UEFA Euro 2004, playing every minute in Spain's group stage exit campaign, against Portugal, Russia and eventual champions Greece. He was not recalled since, receiving a total of 14 caps.

External links

* [http://www.lfp.es/historico/primera/plantillas/historial.asp?jug=7070 Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional] es icon
* [http://futbol.sportec.es/seleccion/ficha_jugador.asp?j=542&n=raul/bravo/raul/bravo/sanfelix National team data] es icon