Spanish soccer player Michel Salgado: biography, statistics

Miguel Angel Salgado Fernandez (better known as Michel Salgado) is a Spanish footballer who became famous for his game on the right flank of the defense for Real Madrid. Mitchel is rightfully considered one of the best right-wing defenders in the history of not only the "royal" club and the Spanish national team, but the whole world football.

Michel Salgado: rating, statistics

Fans gave Salgado the nickname Il Due, which means "two" in Italian. Such a title he received for his, on the one hand, selfless actions in the defense, and, on the other hand, for constant productive connections to the attack. Steve McManaman, Michel's friend in Real Madrid, said that Salgado is the most harsh person in the world, "a real psycho" in his business, both in matches and in training.

Michel Salgado spent more than 15 years in Spain, for which he appeared in 343 games of La Liga, scoring 7 goals, simultaneously winning four times La Liga and twice the Champions League. Footballer also represented the Spanish national team, having played for her more than 50 matches, including at the 2006 World Championships and European Championships 2000. Injuries prevented him from playing at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.

"Celta"

The future football player was born on October 22, 1975 in the town of As-Neves (Pontevedra province, Galicia autonomous community). Michel Salgado, whose biography is given in this article, played only 4 football clubs. He began his professional career in "Celta" from the town of Vigo, located in the native province of Michel. Passing all levels of youth teams, including playing for several teams of Spain of different age categories, Michel Salgado played on January 22, 1995 his debut match in La Liga. In it the club from Vigo lost with a score of 0-4 to the club, in which later the beginning defender will become a legend - Madrid "Real". In the course of the season, he was leased to Salamanca from Segunda, and after returning he became the first number in his position.

During performances for Celta, Salgado was involved in the incident with midfielder of Madrid Atletico Juninho Paulista: in February 1998, the right-back defender injured a heavy Madrid midfielder, after which he missed 6 months and did not qualify for the 1998 World Cup.

During the performances for the club from Vigo, Michel scored 3 goals, and in the 1998-1999 season made an invaluable contribution to the success of Celta, who finished in fifth place and received a ticket to the UEFA Cup.

"Real"

In 1999, Salgado was bought by Real Madrid for 11 million euros. In the first season for the royal club, Michel became the best in his position, playing in 29 league games, and also helped Madrid win the UEFA Champions League. For 7 years he was the undisputed first number on the right flank of the defense of "Real", until in the 2006-2007 season a new young player of the academy of the "royal" club pushed him to the bench.

After that, Michel Salgado played not so much, but in the same season he played 16 of the 30 matches of La Liga, but mainly because of the injury Pepe, as a result of which Ramos was moved to the center of defense. In the next two seasons he played very seldom (only 17 matches for all time). The last match for "cream" Salgado played in the final game of the 2008-2009 season against "Osasuna", which ended with a score of 1-2 not in favor of "Real".

"Blackburn Rovers"

At the age of almost 34 years, Salgado moved to the "Blackburn Rovers", who played in the English Premier League. The first match in the Premier League, Michel played in September against Wolverhampton, coming on as a substitute. The first and final goal for Blackburn, the legendary defender scored in the English League Cup match against Peterborough United (the game ended 5-2 in favor of Rovers).

In January 2011, Michel agreed to extend the contract, but due to frequent injuries, the club management in 2012 activated the option of automatic termination of the contract, since during this time the player played less than 10 games in the 2011-2012 season. After that, Michel Salgado, the "defender-ram", decided to end his professional career.

International career

Michel Salgado, whose performance statistics at the international level are not as impressive as the club, having passed all levels of the Spanish youth teams, played his first match for the adult national team on September 5, 1998 in the notorious match of the qualifying round for the European Championship 2000 against Cyprus, With a score of 2-3 in favor of the Cypriots. He was an integral part of the national team at the European Championship 2000, and also went on to replace in the matches of the 2006 World Cup, then gave way to his youngest friend in Real Madrid Sergio Ramos and completed performances for the national team of Spain.

Very frequent injuries prevented Salgado from playing both for Real Madrid and for Spain, in full force. At the last moment, the player was injured before the formation of applications for the 2002 World Cup, held in Japan and South Korea, and the 2004 European Championships, held in Greece, as a result of which he missed these tournaments. In addition to playing for Spain, Salgado defended the colors of the national team of Galicia with players such as Diego Lopez, Pablo Alvarez and Ricardo Cabañas.