Ibáñez in action for Atlético Madrid |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pablo Ibáñez Tébar | ||
| Date of birth | 3 August 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Madrigueras, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Birmingham City | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1999 | Albacete | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1999–2002 | Albacete B | ||
| 2002–2004 | Albacete | 75 | (2) |
| 2004–2010 | Atlético Madrid | 156 | (9) |
| 2010–2011 | West Bromwich Albion | 10 | (1) |
| 2011– | Birmingham City | 5 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2002–2003 | Spain U21 | 10 | (0) |
| 2004–2008 | Spain | 23 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:24, 27 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Pablo Ibáñez Tébar (born 3 August 1981 in Madrigueras, Albacete, Castile-La Mancha), sometimes known as just Pablo, is a Spanish footballer who plays for English Football League Championship (second-tier) club Birmingham City as a central defender.
He played for many years in Spain for Albacete and Atlético Madrid, amassing La Liga totals of 193 games and ten goals, before joining English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion in 2010.
At international level, Pablo has 23 caps for the Spanish national team, representing the country at the 2006 World Cup.
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Having grown through the ranks of hometown Albacete Balompié, Pablo made his first team debuts while it played in Segunda División.
In 2003–04, he played his first La Liga encounter, on 30 September 2003, in a 0–2 home loss against CA Osasuna. He only missed one league game, helping the Castile-La Mancha side finish 14th.
The following summer, Pablo signed with Atlético Madrid, forming a centre back partnership with Colombian Luis Amaranto Perea, arrived in the same season. His early form led to rumoured interest from the likes of Liverpool,[1] Juventus[2] and Manchester United,[3] but nothing came of it.
In 2007–08, despite heavy criticism from Atlético fans, Pablo played in 34 league contests (netting in a 3–4 home defeat to Villarreal CF[4]), as the Colchoneros finished fourth, earning a return to the UEFA Champions League; in the subsequent seasons, with the consecutive arrivals of Tomáš Ujfaluši and countryman Juanito, his importance would be gradually diminished.
A few months after Quique Flores' appointment as manager – the coach arrived in late 2009 – Ibáñez did not make the list of 18 for almost any game at Atlético, not even through suspension or injury to teammates, finishing 2009–10 with only seven appearances.
In early June 2010, free agent Pablo signed with English club West Bromwich Albion – freshly returned to the Premier League – for three years, after a successful medical.[5] He made his competitive – and league – debut on 14 August, in a severe 6–0 loss at Chelsea; ten days later, in a 2–0 win at Leyton Orient in the League Cup, he scored his first goal for the "Baggies".[6]
Ibáñez signed a two-year contract with Championship (second-tier) club Birmingham City in August 2011, at the end of the summer transfer window. The fee was undisclosed.[7] He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 home defeat to S.C. Braga in the group stage of the Europa League.[8] Away to Club Brugge in the same competition, Ibáñez was knocked unconscious in a clash of heads with Joseph Akpala and received lengthy treatment; in the tenth minute of the resultant stoppage time, Chris Wood scored a winning goal for Birmingham.[9]
Pablo made his Spain debut on 17 November 2004 in a friendly match against England which was played in Madrid (1–0 win), and was Spain's first-choice centre back at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, alongside Barcelona's Carles Puyol.
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