Claudio Bravo

Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Chile national team.

He won the Zamora for the best goals against average in the competition, conceding 19 times for an average of 0.51, just off the all-time record of 0.47 by Francisco Liaño of Deportivo in 1994.

His father recognized his son's emerging talent and took him to Colo-Colo's youth academy, and he eventually made his professional debut in 2002.

There, he was given the nickname Cóndor Chico, after former club goalkeeper Roberto Rojas.

Similarly, during that years he complemented his football career with technical studies of physical activity at the University of the Americas, where he had as classmates to his teammates Fernando Meneses, Luis Mena and Miguel Riffo.

After an injury to Eduardo Lobos, manager Jaime Pizarro gave Bravo his first chance, which would be however short-lived, as he too was injured, which prompted the subsequent signing of Jonny Walker.

He recovered in mid-2003, and with Lobos still in the sidelines he took over the starting role which he would never lose again, with his competitor eventually being sold.

Bravo began his career with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Sociedad in 2006, appearing in 237 official games with the latter club.

In 2006, Bravo won his first title, making an acrobatic save in the Apertura's penalty shootout final win against arch-rival C.F. Universidad de Chile.

For the 2006–07 season, Bravo signed a five-year contract with Real Sociedad in Spain, in a reported €1.2 million deal – he and Asier Riesgo formed the youngest pair of goalkeepers that year in La Liga.

He started on the bench, but eventually gained the battle for first-choice (29 games to nine) as the Basque side was relegated (despite this, he finished in fifth place for the Ricardo Zamora Trophy with a goal-against average of 1.00); his league debut came on 22 October 2006, in a 0–0 away draw against RCD Mallorca.

The following season, Riesgo reclaimed his starting position.

For 2008–09, however, after Riesgo was loaned to Recreativo, Bravo was again the starter, but Real remained in Segunda División.

He was the joint-recipient of the campaign's Zamora, alongside David Cobeño of Rayo Vallecano.

On 24 January 2010, Bravo was sent off for the first time in a loss to Elche CF at Anoeta Stadium, fouling Óscar Trejo in the ninth minute, from which Jorge Molina scored a penalty for the only goal of the game.

Three weeks later, he scored the first goal of his career, from a direct free kick against Gimnàstic de Tarragona, the game's only in a home triumph; however, shortly after, he suffered a severe knee injury during Real Sociedad's 2–0 loss at Córdoba CF, which rendered him unavailable for the remainder of the season.

He still featured in 25 matches to help his team finish champions and return to the top division, after three years.

Barcelona signed him for €12 million in 2014, and he won the treble and the Zamora Trophy in his first season.

Bravo joined FC Barcelona on 25 June 2014, with the four-year deal being made effective on 1 July for a reported €12 million (£9.7 million) fee, the fourth most expensive player ever sold by Real Sociedad after Darko Kovačević, Xabi Alonso and Asier Illarramendi, becoming the second Chilean to ever play for the club after Alexis Sánchez and succeeding Víctor Valdés as the first-choice.

After joining, he set a Spanish League record for the club of not conceding from the start of season for 754 minutes, previously held by Pedro María Artola with 560 minutes; the streak was broken when he conceded his first goal of the season from the penalty spot to Cristiano Ronaldo in a 1–3 defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

After playing 37 straight league games, Bravo was rested for the last game of the campaign against Deportivo de La Coruña, with Jordi Masip starting instead.

Bravo was named as the goalkeeper in the La Liga Team of the Season as one of six Barcelona players, including three of his defenders.

He captained his side to victory at the 2015 and 2016 editions of the latter competition.

Bravo was born in Viluco, Maipo Province.

After Marc-André ter Stegen was preferred for Barcelona's wins in the year's Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup, Bravo made his cup debut for the team as they won the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, keeping clean sheets in their 3–0 wins over Guangzhou Evergrande and River Plate in Japan.

Interviewed by Esport3 on the subject of the rotation, he said "If I were to say that I'm taking it well, I would be lying, but I accept it".

In the summer of 2016, he moved to Manchester City, where he won several titles.

After four years in England, he returned to Spain, signing for Real Betis.

Bravo is Chile's third-most capped player with 145 total appearances, behind only Gary Medel and Alexis Sánchez.

He represented the nation in two World Cups, a FIFA Confederations Cup, and six Copa América tournaments.

On 25 August 2016, Bravo signed a four-year deal for English club Manchester City for a reported fee of £17 million.

He made his debut on 10 September in a 2–1 triumph over local rivals Manchester United, being at fault for the opposition's goal and receiving widespread criticism for his performance, although manager Pep Guardiola said that he had "one of the best performances I've ever seen".

On his return to the Camp Nou on 19 October 2016, in a Champions League group stage match, Bravo was sent off after handling the ball outside of his area, in an eventual 4–0 loss.

After a number of high profile errors, including being beaten by all six shots on target in his previous two appearances for City, he was dropped to the bench in February 2017, with backup Willy Caballero replacing him; having finished with the worst save success rate (54.1%) among all goalkeepers, he was named by many journalists as one of the worst signings of the season.

On 24 October 2017, after a 0–0 home draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the first 120 minutes of the EFL Cup fourth-round tie, Bravo saved two penalties to give his team a 4–1 win.

In the next round of the cup, Bravo was the hero again as he saved the last penalty in a shootout against Leicester City, after a 1–1 draw.

On 25 February 2018, Bravo started in the EFL Cup final against Arsenal and got the assist for Sergio Agüero's opening goal in a 3–0 victory at Wembley Stadium, winning his first trophy with the club.

Several days after winning the Community Shield in August 2018 against Chelsea, he ruptured his Achilles tendon in training, going on to be sidelined for several months.

He missed the entirety of the 2018–19 season, with Aro Muric replacing him as City's second choice goalkeeper.

He did not play again until the next edition of the tournament, when he saved from Giorginio Wijnaldum to win the penalty shootout against Liverpool, earning praise from Guardiola.