Bio

Rubén Baraja Vegas (Spanish pronunciation: ; born 11 July 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer, currently manager of Valencia. A complete central midfielder with good tackling, technique, and offensive qualities, together with accurate passing and goalscoring ability, he played mostly for Valencia during a 17-year professional career, being an essential figure in five of the club's major titles, which included two La Liga championships. Baraja was also a consistent part of the Spain national team for five years, appearing in one World Cup and one European Championship and winning 43 caps. He began work as a head coach in 2015 and was hired by Valencia eight years later.