Cani training with Villarreal |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rubén Gracia Calmache | ||
| Date of birth | 3 August 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Zaragoza, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Villarreal | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Stadium Venecia | |||
| Zaragoza | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000–2002 | Zaragoza B | 31 | (6) |
| 2000–2001 | → Utebo (loan) | ||
| 2002–2006 | Zaragoza | 122 | (13) |
| 2006– | Villarreal | 171 | (17) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Rubén Gracia Calmache, aka Cani (born 3 August 1981 in Zaragoza, Aragon), is a Spanish footballer who plays for Villarreal CF. Usually a right midfielder, he can also play on the left.
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Hometown Real Zaragoza graduate Cani, after a loan stint with lowly Utebo FC (fourth level), was shining in the B team (which was then playing in Segunda División B). As the main side's fate was already decided in 2001–02 (relegation, ranking last), he received his first-team debut, playing 30 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against FC Barcelona.
After helping Zaragoza regain its top flight status (24 matches, five goals, his first coming on 23 March 2003, in a 2–0 win at Real Oviedo), Cani went on to become a vital element in the Aragonese side's midfield.
In 2003–04, he helped Zaragoza win the Spanish Cup, in a 3–2 extra time win over Real Madrid. He was also sent off during the match.[1]
During 2005–06, Cani was one of La Liga's best passers and, at the season's end, signed with Villarreal CF for €11 million.[2] He appeared in 32 contests for the 2007–08 runners-up, although he did not score.
In the 2008–09 season, after a shaky start, which included not being called to some matches by coach Manuel Pellegrini in spite of being healthy, Cani finished strongly, netting five times in the last nine games, including the final three: Real Madrid (3–2), Valencia CF (3–1) and RCD Mallorca (3–2), as Villarreal finished fifth; after the Chilean manager's departure to the Merengues, he again appeared in the starting XI regularly.
Cani continued to be an undisputed starter for Villarreal in the 2010–11 season - Robert Pirès had also left the team. On 9 January 2011, he scored the opener at Real Madrid with a subtle finish inside the box; already on the bench, he threw a water bottle at opposing manager José Mourinho after the coach celebrated Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick (which put the score at 3–2 for the hosts, eventually 4–2) in front of his team's bench, being immediately sent off.[3] The one-match suspension was later lifted, and he found the net in the next game, a 3–3 home draw against Sevilla FC for the season's Copa del Rey, and in the following, scoring from more than 50 metres in a 4–2 home win against CA Osasuna,[4] with the Valencian eventually finishing the league in fourth place; he added three goals in the club's UEFA Europa League semifinal run, including one in each leg of the last-four clash against F.C. Porto, in an eventual 4–7 aggregate loss.[5][6]
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