Raúl Bravo
FullnameRaúl Bravo Sanfélix[1]
Birth date14 April 1981 (age 45)[1]
Birth placeGandia, Spain[1]
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
PositionDefender
Youthyears 11987–1996
Youthclubs 1Palma CF
Youthyears 21996
Youthclubs 2Gandía
Youthyears 31997–2000
Youthclubs 3Real Madrid
Years 11996–1997
Clubs 1Gandía
Caps 121
Goals 14
Years 22000–2001
Clubs 2Real Madrid C
Caps 27
Goals 20
Years 32001–2002
Clubs 3Real Madrid B
Caps 340
Goals 32
Years 42001–2007
Clubs 4Real Madrid
Caps 477
Goals 44
Years 52003
Clubs 5→ Leeds United (loan)
Caps 55
Goals 50
Years 62007–2011
Clubs 6Olympiacos
Caps 663
Goals 60
Years 72009
Clubs 7→ Numancia (loan)
Caps 76
Goals 70
Years 82011–2012
Clubs 8Rayo Vallecano
Caps 86
Goals 80
Years 92012–2013
Clubs 9Beerschot
Caps 912
Goals 90
Years 102013–2014
Clubs 10Córdoba
Caps 1031
Goals 101
Years 112014–2015
Clubs 11Veria
Caps 1123
Goals 111
Years 122015–2017
Clubs 12Aris
Caps 1225
Goals 121
Years 132016
Clubs 13→ Veria (loan)
Caps 136
Goals 130
Years 142019–2021
Clubs 14Gandía
Caps 142
Goals 141
Years 152021
Clubs 15Pego
Caps 153
Goals 150
Years 162022
Clubs 16Beniopa
Caps 161
Goals 160
Totalcaps328
Totalgoals14
Nationalyears 11998
Nationalteam 1Spain U16
Nationalcaps 110

Raúl Bravo Sanfélix (born 14 April 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back or centre-back.

Having played in almost all the youth ranks at Real Madrid, he went on to have a six-year spell in the first team, where he almost always served as a backup; however, it was during that period that he reached the Spain national side, representing them at Euro 2004.[2]

Bravo also spent several years in Greece, most notably with Olympiacos where he won six major titles, including three national championships.

Club career

Real Madrid

Bravo was born in Gandia, Valencian Community. After playing in his early years with two local clubs, he joined Real Madrid's youth system at 16. He was subsequently part of the Junior A side, and played for them two more seasons before arriving at the C team in Tercera División, moving to Real Madrid Castilla in Segunda División B for 2001–02.[3]

International call-ups of some players in the first team gave Bravo the chance for a La Liga debut against Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabéu, on 6 October 2001, and he played 70 minutes in a 2–0 win.[4] He ended up training with them – under Vicente del Bosque's management – very regularly, which eventually led to his permanent stay from the 2002–03 campaign onwards.

In January 2003, Bravo started an unsuccessful six-month loan spell at Leeds United.[5] During Euro 2004, in which he appeared for Spain, Mick McCarthy, whilst commentating for the BBC, remarked that he looked a different player to the one in his Elland Road stint; Roberto Carlos' presence, however, restricted his playing time in the Real main squad.[3]

Olympiacos

With a chance to retain UEFA Champions League status, Bravo signed a four-year contract with Olympiacos F.C. in mid-July 2007, with the transfer fee estimated in the region of €2.3 million while the player received an annual salary of €1.3 million.[6] After having appeared rarely due to injuries, he had a short return to Spain in the 2009 January transfer window, moving on loan to top-tier strugglers CD Numancia[7][8] and having almost no impact in a relegation-ending campaign.[9]

Bravo showed a much higher commitment than in the previous year with Olympiacos and, thanks to his performances in preseason, earned the starting left-back position over Didier Domi and Leonardo. He was released in May 2011 at the age of 30, after having contributed 18 matches to the conquest of the Super League Greece.

Later years

On 31 August 2011, Bravo returned to his country and Madrid, signing for Rayo Vallecano which had just promoted to the top division.[10] In the following off-season, after having been rarely played in his only season, he joined Beerschot A.C. in Belgium for one year.[11]

Aged 33, Bravo returned to the Greek top flight, moving to Veria FC.[12] His contract expired on 30 June 2015 and, two months later, he agreed to a one-year deal with Aris Thessaloniki F.C. also in the country.[13]

International career

Bravo was capped for Spain on the under-16 level in 1997–98, when the national team won the Algarve Tournament. With the under-17s he played in the Nymburk International Tournament, scoring two goals in three matches.

Bravo's full debut was on 21 August 2002 against Hungary, in a friendly.[14][2] Subsequently, he was a participant at UEFA Euro 2004,[15] playing every minute in Spain's group stage exit campaign, against Portugal, Russia and eventual champions Greece (always as a stopper);[16][17] he was not recalled since, receiving a total of 14 caps.

Controversy

On 28 May 2019, Bravo was arrested on charges of belonging to a criminal organisation, involved in corruption and money laundering. The investigation regarded match fixing during the 2016–17 and 2017–18 campaigns.[18] The following January he was accused by Serbian tabloid newspaper Telegraf of hiring a contract killer to murder his former Olympiacos teammate Darko Kovačević,[19][20] which he vehemently denied, commenting: "It's a crazy story, it's nonsense."[21][22]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Madrid2001–02[23]La Liga60404[a]0140
2002–03[23]La Liga21602[a]0101
2003–04[23]La Liga32111[b]010[a]0531
2004–05[23]La Liga140403[a]0210
2005–06[23]La Liga152403[a]0222
2006–07[23]La Liga80401[a]0130
Total7743302301334
Leeds United (loan)2002–03[24]Premier League5010—60
Olympiacos2007–08[25]Super League Greece703[a]0100
2008–09[25]Super League Greece60—60
2009–10[25]Super League Greece32012[a]0440
2010–11[25]Super League Greece180202[a]0220
Total63020170820
Numancia (loan)2008–09[23]La Liga6000—60
Rayo Vallecano2011–12[23]La Liga6010—70
Beerschot2012–13[25]Belgian Pro League12000—120
Córdoba2013–14[23]Segunda División290002[c]1311
Veria2014–15[25]Super League Greece23120—251
Career total22153904213026
  1. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Nine appearances in Copa del Rey, two appearances in Supercopa de España
  3. ^ Appearances in La Liga play-offs

International

Spain[26]
YearAppsGoals
200250
200330
200460
Total140

Honours

Real Madrid

Olympiacos

References

  1. ^ "RAÚL BRAVO Sanfelix" (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Bravo for Madrid youngster". UEFA. 28 August 2002. Retrieved 22 January 2020.[dead link]
  3. ^ Roseiro, Bruno (28 May 2019). "A pobreza em Gandía, a Champions em Madrid, a descida em Salónica: a ascensão e queda de Raúl, o (antigo) Bravo" [Poverty in Gandía, the Champions in Madrid, relegation in Thessaloniki: the rise and fall of Raúl, the (former) Brave (pun on his surname)] (in Portuguese). Observador. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  4. ^ Cuenca, Nika (7 October 2001). "Sólo Raúl ya fue bastante" [With only Raúl it was more than enough] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Leeds sign Real defender". BBC Sport. 31 January 2003. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Olympiacos snare Raúl Bravo". UEFA. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  7. ^ "Numancia swoops for trio". The Sports Network. 31 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  8. ^ "El Numancia se refuerza con Raúl Bravo, Marian Kelemen y Lago Junior" [Numancia strengthen with Raúl Bravo, Marian Kelemen and Lago Junior] (in Spanish). Marca. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Breve enciclopedia numantina" [Brief numantina encyclopedia] (in Spanish). Desde Soria. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Raúl Bravo: "Es la situación perfecta para mí"" [Raúl Bravo: "It's the perfect situation for me"] (in Spanish). Marca. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  11. ^ Callens, Ward (28 August 2012). "Raul Bravo tekent bij Beerschot AC" [Raúl Bravo signs at Beerschot AC] (in Dutch). Beerschot AC. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  12. ^ "ΒΕΡΟΙΑ: Ενεργοποιήθηκε η "βομβα" με Ραούλ Μπράβο!" [Veria: a real "bomb" with Raúl Bravo!] (in Greek). Kerkida Sport. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Άρης: Ανακοίνωσε τον Ραούλ Μπράβο!" [Aris: Raúl Bravo announced!] (in Greek). Naftemporiki. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  14. ^ Besa, Ramón (22 August 2002). "Poca luz para tanto estreno" [Too little light for so many premieres] (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  15. ^ Modia, Iván (20 May 2004). "Sáez selects Spain squad". UEFA. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  16. ^ Spiro, Matthew (17 June 2004). "Greece profit as Charisteas stops Spain surge". UEFA. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  17. ^ Farrelly, David (20 June 2004). "Portugal leave Spain in shade to light up Lisbon". UEFA. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  18. ^ "Spain's match fixing allegations: Who's who of those arrested?". Marca. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Raul Bravo accused of being behind gun attack on Kovacevic by Serbian media". Marca. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  20. ^ Verschueren, Gianni (18 January 2020). "Report: Raul Bravo accused of hiring hitman in attempt on Darko Kovacevic". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Raul Bravo: Saying I ordered Kovacevic's death is crazy, it's nonsense". Marca. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  22. ^ O'Brien, Sean (21 January 2020). "'NONSENSE!' Ex-Leeds defender Raul Bravo rubbishes claims he ordered murder of former team-mate Darko Kovacevic". Talksport. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  23. ^
  24. ^
  25. ^
  26. ^
  27. ^ Carbajosa, Carlos E. (30 August 2002). "El Madrid ejerce de rey de Europa" [Madrid the current European kings] (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 13 May 2025.