Rodolfo Arruabarrena

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Personal information
Rodolfo Arruabarrena
Full name	Rodolfo Martín Arruabarrena
Date of birth	July 20, 1975 (age 31)
Place of birth	Marcos Paz, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.78 m
Nickname	El Vasco
Position	Left-back
Club information
Current club	Villarreal CF
Youth clubs
?-1993	Boca Juniors
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1993-1996 1996-1996 1997-2000 2000-	Boca Juniors Rosario Central Boca Juniors Villarreal CF	30(0) 15(0) 116(10) 165(9)
National team**
1994-2000	Argentina	4 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 2005. ** National team caps and goals correct as of July 2005.

Rodolfo Martín Arruabarrena (born July 20, 1975 in Marcos Paz) is an Argentine football defence player, currently playing at the Spanish first division Villarreal CF team.

"El Vasco" Arruabarrena (The Basque) debuted professionally in 1993 with Boca Juniors, where he played until 2000, except for the Apertura 1996, when he was loaned to Rosario Central for 6 months. After returning to Boca, he gained a place in the regular squad. From Boca he moved to Spanish Villarreal in mid 2000. Because of his reliability while playing as the team's left-back, he has been the team's captain in several occasions. He holds Villareal's record of appearances in La Liga, with 178 first division matches with El Submarino Amarillo (As of December 9, 2005). He has dual citizenship: Argentine and Spanish.

Arruabarrena, like most defenders, doesn't often score, but when he does, they are often memorable. His goals in the 2005-2006 Champions League have so far helped to eliminate Scottish giants Rangers FC and Italians Internazionale to reach the semi-finals in the club's first ever season in the competition.

El Vasco also played 4 matches with the Argentina national football team, as well as several with the youth team. After a friendly match in 2000, Arruabarrena was not convocated for the national team until September 2006, when Alfio Basile called him for a friendly match against Spain.

Whilst with Boca, Rodolfo Arruabarrena won the Apertura in 1998 and the Clausura in 1999 Argentine first division tournaments, as well as the Copa Libertadores 2000. With Villarreal CF he has also won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2003 and 2004, and played 200 league and international matches for the Spanish team (As of September 10 2006).