Carles Puyol i Saforcada (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈkaɾɫes puˈjɔɫ i safoɾˈkaða]; born 13 April 1978) is a Spanish retired footballer. Mainly a central defenderhe could also play on either flank, especially as a right back.
He served as the longtime team captain for his only club Barcelona after taking over from Luis Enrique in August 2004, going on to appear in almost 600 official games for the team and win 21 major titles, notably six La Liga and three UEFA Champions League championships.
A Spanish international on 100 occasions, Puyol was part of the squad that won the Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup tournaments. In the latter competition's semifinal, he scored the only goal of the match against Germany.
Born in La Pobla de Segur, Lleida,Catalonia, Puyol started playing football for his hometown club, as agoalkeeper. However, after injury problems with his shoulder, he switched to striker. He said that in his youth, "My parents were skeptical about me becoming a footballer and encouraged me to study." In 1995, he joined FC Barcelona's youth system at La Masia, switching positions again, to play as a defensive midfielder; two years later, he started playing for the club's B-team, occupying the position of right back.
In 1998 Barcelona accepted an offer from Málaga CF to sell Puyol, who was behindFrank de Boer and Michael Reiziger in the pecking order. However, he refused to leave after seeing his best friend Xavi make his first-team debut.
Louis van Gaal promoted Puyol to the first team the following year, and he made hisLa Liga debut on 2 October 1999 in a 2–0 away win against Real Valladolid. After that he successfully made another conversion, now to central defender. During the 2003 off-season, as Barcelona was immersed in a financial crisis, Manchester United showed interest in acquiring Puyol's services,but no move ever materialized; two years later, the player extended his contract for a further five seasons.
Puyol was named club captain at the end of the 2003–04 season, after the retirement of Luis Enrique. He continued to be a defensive cornerstone for Barça, being awarded the "Best European right back" award by UEFA in 2002 (amongst other individual accolades), and helping the Catalans win two consecutive league titles. In 2005–06 he appeared in a total of 52 official games, including 12 in the season's UEFA Champions League, which ended in conquest against Arsenal for the club's second trophy.
On 16 September 2008, Puyol made his 400th appearance in all competitions for Barcelona's first team in a Champions League group stage match against Sporting Clube de Portugal. In the league season, he dealt with injury problems, but still contributed to the team by appearing in 28 matches and helped to win another league title, his only goal coming in El Clásico at Real Madrid on 2 May 2009, which finished with a resounding 6–2 away win; from 2008–10 combined, other than the two league titles, he was essential in conquering the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, the 2009 Champions League and the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, appearing in nearly 100 official matches, and describing the club as "the team who every Catalan child wants to play for... I am living the dream playing football for Barça and it is my dream to retire playing here."[3]
On 13 November 2010, Puyol made his 500th appearance in all competitions for Barcelona's first team in a La Liga game against Villarreal CF. Puyol struggled again with injury in the2010–11 season, but still appeared in 28 official games for Barcelona, which again won the league and the Champions League. He played six minutes in the final of the latter competition, a 3–1 win against Manchester United.
Since the defeat to Inter Milan in the 2009–10 Champions League semi-final, Puyol went on to play 56 official games for Barcelona without losing, a run that only ended on 11 January 2012 at CA Osasuna (2–3 loss). Additionally, he scored two goals in the season's Copa del Rey, against Real Madrid (2–1 away win, 4–3 on aggregate) and Valencia CF (1–1 away, 3–1 aggregate).
On 2 October 2012, in the late stages of a Champions League group stage encounter at S.L. Benfica, his first game upon recovering from a knee ligament ailment contracted against Getafe CF, Puyol dislocated his elbow after landing awkwardly in a corner kick challenge, initially being sidelined for a further two months but fully recovering in one. On 18 December Barcelona renewed his contract, extending it until 30 June 2016; in June of the following year he again underwent surgery to his right knee, in what was his sixth operation as a professional, which led to thoughts of early retirement.
On 2 March 2014, Puyol surpassed Migueli to go second in Barça's all-time league appearances table, behind only Xavi, and scored the third goal in a 4–1 home win against UD Almería.Two days after, even though he still had two more years in his contract, he announced that he would leave Barcelona at the end of the season and declare the remainder of his link void.He said, "After my last two major operations, I find it is taking me a lot of effort to reach the level required here, even more than myself and the surgeons thought necessary. That's the reason I have reached this decision".
On 15 May 2014 Barcelona bid farewell to Puyol, after a fifteen-year career in the first team (ten as captain) that brought him 21 titles. At a packed Auditori 1899, his teammates, ex-teammates, presidents and coaches paid him homage, and he said, "I’ve lived the dream of so many young kids, doing what I most enjoy in life, playing football and training". He announced his retirement shortly after at the age of 36 but continued connected to his only club, being immediately appointed assistant to director of football Andoni Zubizarreta.
