2008-2009 La Liga Goalkeepers

August 28, 2008

La Liga Goalkeepers La Liga (Liga de Fútbol Profesional or Primera División) began in 1929 with ten teams. Over the years, it has expanded to the present day total of 20. Only Athletic Club Bilbao, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, respectively, have never been relegated. In recent years, La Liga has become one of the most entertaining soccer leagues in the world. For this season, Malaga, Numancia, and Sporting Gijón were promoted from the second division.

For a geographical listing from an excellent educational site, Footie Map, of all professional teams in Spain, along with their official websites, please click here. To learn more about La Liga, please read this informative preview.

In terms of countries represented by goalkeepers, La Liga has Argentina, Brasil, Cameroon, France, Germany, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, and Uruguay, respectively.

Los Porteros

Let’s look at the keepers for the 20 teams. I have listed the probable #1 in the first slot. Where individual videos were available, I have included them for further review. In Spanish, the goal mouth is called “la porteria” or “la area chica.” The goalkeeper is called “el portero” or “el guardameta.” “Fútbol” is not an actual word in Spanish. It was a new addition, over a hundred years ago, due to the English word of football. “Fut” does not mean foot in Spanish. As you will see with Real Betis, part of their club name is the actual Spanish word for football: “balonpie.”

Almería

Diego Alves Carreira: Brasil
Esteban: Spain
Roberto: Spain

Video of Diego Alves Carreira

Athletic Club Bilbao (Was originally formed by British ex-pats and Basque students who were exposed to soccer in the UK).

Gorka Iraizoz: Spain
Armando Riveiro: Spain
Iñaki Lafuente: Spain

Video of Gorka Iraizoz

Atlético Madrid (One of the three teams from Madrid).

Gregory Coupet: France
Leo Franco: Argentina
Angel Bernabe: Spain

Video of Coupet

Barcelona (Also known as “Barça.”)

Victor Valdes: Spain
Jose Manuel Pinto: Spain
Albert Jorquera: Spain

Video of Valdes

Deportivo La Coruña (Also known as “Depor.”)

Daniel Aranzubia: Spain
Fabri: Spain
Manu: Spain

Video of Daniel Aranzubia

Espanyol (One of the two teams from Barcelona).

Carlos Kameni: Cameroon
Cristian Alvarez: Argentina
Javi Ruiz: Spain

Video of Carlos Kameni

Getafe (One of the three teams from the city of Madrid. It is pronounced “Hey-tah-fay”).

Roberto Abbondanzieri: Argentina (Also known as “El Pato,” or “The Duck).
Oscar Ustari: Argentina

Video of Abbondanzieri

Malaga

Francesc Arnau: Spain
Iñaki Goitia: Spain

Mallorca (From an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is pronounced “My-yor-kah”).

Miguel Angel Moya: Spain
German Luz: Argentina

Video of Moya

Numancia (Winners of the Segunda Division, or Second Division, last season).

Juan Pablo: Spain
Diego de Miguel: Spain

Osasuna

Ricardo: Spain
Roberto: Spain
Andres Fernandez: Spain

Video of Ricardo

Racing Santander

Antonio Rodriguez Gonzalez (Also known as Toño): Spain
Fabio Coltorti: Switzerland

Video of Coltori

Real Betis Balonpie (Balonpie is the actual derivation of the Spanish word for “football.”)

Ricardo Pereira: Portugal
Casto Espinosa: Spain

Video of Ricardo Pereira

Real Madrid (Formed in 1902 as The Madrid Football Club. Affectionately known as “Los Merengues” or “Los Blancos”).

Iker Casillas: Spain (Winner of the Trofeo Zamora, which is given for the best goals against average in La Liga for 2007-2008).
Jerzy Dudek: Poland
Jordi Codina: Spain

Video of Casillas