Carlos Marchena

Carlos Marchena López (born 31 July 1979) is a Spanish retired footballer, currently assistant manager of Valencia.

Mainly a central defender with an aggressive approach, he also played as a defensive midfielder.

Most of his professional career (nine years) was spent at Valencia, where he helped the club to win five major titles, including two La Liga championships.

He amassed competition totals 330 matches and 11 goals over 13 seasons, also playing for Sevilla, Villarreal and Deportivo.

He made his La Liga debut on 22 August 1999, playing the entire 2–2 home draw with Real Sociedad.

When Sevilla were relegated again at the end of the season, Marchena earned a transfer to Portugal's S.L. Benfica.

Marchena first appeared for Spain as part of the under-20 team alongside Iker Casillas and Xavi, finishing first at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.

A Spain international for the better part of the 2000s, Marchena won 69 caps and represented the national team in two World Cups and two European Championships, winning each tournament once.

Born in Las Cabezas de San Juan, Province of Seville, Andalusia, Marchena started his professional career in hometown club Sevilla FC at the age of 18, when the club was in the Segunda División.

During his spell in Lisbon he scored in two narrow wins, at home against C.F. Os Belenenses (1–0) and at S.C. Salgueiros (2–1), but almost left the Estádio da Luz in late 2000 due to lack of payment.

He was also on the roster for the 2000 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal.

Marchena returned to his country in summer 2001 as he signed a four-year contract with Valencia CF, with Zlatko Zahovič moving in the opposite direction.

Having signed as a cover for ageing Miroslav Đukić, he took a while to impress in his first season (16 appearances), as Valencia clinched their first league title in 30 years, but gradually became first choice.

Marchena made his senior debut on 21 August 2002, in a testimonial match for Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskás in Budapest just after the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

In the 2003–04 campaign, with the side capturing an historic league and UEFA Cup double, Marchena played a pivotal role in defence, teaming up with Roberto Ayala; the former played 44 games in all competitions, the latter 45.

2004–05 was not a very successful season for Valencia, as under new coach Claudio Ranieri the team struggled both domestically and in European tournaments.

In a UEFA Champions League group-stage match against SV Werder Bremen at the Weser-Stadion, Marchena was also given his marching orders in the early minutes of the second half (2–1 defeat) and his team was eventually eliminated from the elite competition; he remained a regular at both defensive positions.

Subsequently, he was part of the squad at UEFA Euro 2004, where he was chosen at the last minute by coach Iñaki Sáez as a strategic move to bolster his side defensively; while Spain bowed out after the group phase, he did manage two appearances, but picked up two yellow cards in the process.

On 8 June 2005, Marchena scored his first international goal, a last-minute equaliser in a 1–1 draw in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, played in Valencia.

He was picked for the finals, but only played the last group fixture against Saudi Arabia.

During the Champions League match against Inter Milan on 6 March 2007, Marchena was involved in the on-pitch melee sparked by his teammate David Navarro: the former appeared to kick Inter defender Nicolás Burdisso after an angry exchange of words and, after the latter punched the Argentine's nose, a scuffle took place with several of Burdisso's teammates chasing Navarro all the way into the dressing room.

Consequently, Marchena, Navarro and several other Inter players involved were later charged with "gross unsporting conduct" by UEFA after the investigation.

Both clubs were fined £106,000 while Marchena was banned for four games; after Euro 2008 he was selected by his teammates as the new captain, although he missed the first two months of the new season due to injury.

Marchena was selected again by Luis Aragonés for Euro 2008, this time as undisputed starter, having also featured prominently in the qualifying stages.

With Joan Capdevila, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos, he formed a rock-solid defense and conceded only two goals in five games, his hard work and man-marking skills earning him a spot in the team of the tournament.

In the 2009–10 campaign, veteran Marchena contributed 24 appearances as the Che finished third and returned to the Champions League.

He scored in two 3–1 away victories, over CA Osasuna and Xerez CD, only being booked seven times.

Under new coach Vicente del Bosque, Marchena slowly lost his spot to Gerard Piqué, but was still included in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup squads.

On 1 August 2010, the 31-year-old Marchena joined Villarreal CF for three years.

He made his competitive debut for the Valencians 18 days later, opening the 5–0 home win against FC Dnepr Mogilev in that campaign's Europa League.

As Spain downed Saudi Arabia on 29 May 2010 in preparation for the latter competition (where he played six minutes in the 1–0 quarter-final win over Paraguay, adding two injury-time appearances for the champions), he played his 50th consecutive undefeated match with the national team, surpassing previous holder Garrincha (49).

Regularly used in both defensive positions again, he scored his second goal for the Yellow Submarine on 7 April 2011, in a 5–1 home rout of FC Twente in the first leg of the competition's quarter-finals.

Marchena left at the end of 2011–12 after being released from contract, and his team also suffered relegation.

In the 2012 off-season, Marchena initially moved to Deportivo de La Coruña on a one-year deal.

The Galicians were eventually relegated, but he chose to remain for a further season in spite of more lucrative offers.

Following Deportivo's return to the top flight in 2014, Marchena left the club and remained unemployed until 1 August 2015 when he signed for Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters FC as its marquee player.

After missing the start of the season with injury, he made his debut on 18 October in a 0–1 home loss to Delhi Dynamos FC; on 4 November, he left due to personal reasons.

After a period of training with amateurs CD Gerena, Marchena announced his retirement in January 2016.

On 7 June of the following year he returned to his first club Sevilla, being appointed assistant manager of the C team.

Marchena then had assistant spells at Sevilla Atlético and Valencia, respectively under his former club teammates Paco Gallardo and Rubén Baraja.