About

José María Gutiérrez Hernández, best known as Guti is a Spanish footballer who currently plays for Real Madrid as a central and sometimes attacking midfielder.

He has played his entire career at Real Madrid and alongside Raúl González and Iker Casillas, he serves as vice-captain.

Background

Guti was born on October 31, 1976 in Madrid, Spain.

He is one of the few players in the first team to have gone through the ranks of the Real Madrid youth academy.

Club Football

Real Madrid Youth Academy

Guti began playing for Real Madrid in 1986 in the cantera, initially as a striker, but he later moved to midfield, and has remained there ever since.

He joined Real Madrid B (now Castilla) in the 1995/96 campaign, during which his one-of-a-kind passing and class attitude attracted the attention of Jorge Valdano, who immediately called him up for the first team.

Real Madrid

Guti made his first team debut on December 2, 1995 against Sevilla in a match that Real won 4-1.

In 1997, Guti played 17 games and only scored once. He won the league, and the Spanish Supercup.

Guti was again called upon to help the U-21 side lift the European cup in 1998. This capped off a brilliant season with Madrid as well after they won the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup.

In the 1999-2000 season, Guti scored 6 goals in 28 matches. He also won the Champions League with Real Madrid.

Due to injuries to Fernando Morientes, Guti was played as a striker and he didn't disappoint. He scored 14 goals in 31 games for Madrid to help the team win its 27th league title and subsequently another Spanish Supercup.

Following the arrival of Brazilian striker Ronaldo in 2002, Guti was played in his usual position in the midfield and as a result his goalscoring rate went down drastically scoring only 8 goals in 63 matches.

He won the Champions League, a UEFA Supercup, and an Intercontinental Cup, and in 2003, he added another domestic Supercup.

The 2004-2005 season, wasn't the best season for Guti and even to the team as whole. He failed to score for the first time in seven seasons with the first team.

However, he only managed to score a goal in an international match against San Marino in February 2005.

In the 2005-2006 season, he played 43 games and scored 6 goals (4 in the league and 2 in Champions League).

With the election of Ramón Calderón as club president and his subsequent vow to bring AC Milan's Brazilian star Kaká to Real Madrid, Guti's future at the Bernabéu appeared insecure. He was linked with a move away from the merengues, and cross-town rivals Atlético Madrid showed a keen interest in getting his services. In the end, Guti decided to stay with Real while Kaká stayed in Italy.

In the 2006-2007 season, and upon the retirement of Zinedine Zidane, Guti found himself as the creative midfielder for Real. His excellent short and through pass abilities, especially a performance in a May 6, 2007 3-2 home win against Sevilla, in which he played just 32 minutes from the bench, contributed to many of the goals which helped Real Madrid become league champions for the 30th time.

On February 10, 2008, Guti had two goals and four assists in a home game against Real Valladolid for which he was awarded the man of the match. Real Madrid won the game 7-0, and ultimately lifted another champions trophy. On September 14, he scored Real Madrid's 5000th league goal, in a 4-3 win over CD Numancia.

International Football

Spain

Guti made his international debut with Spain in May 5, 1999 in a match against Croatia which Spain won 3-1.

Guti nevertheless failed to appear in any tournament's final stage for his country. This fuels rumors he has had a falling out with Spanish football officials.

Previously, he won the UEFA U-19 Championship in 1995, followed by the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

The fact that Spain's current squad possess young and quality midfielders such as Cesc Fabregas, Xavi, and Andrés Iniesta, means that Guti has a little chance to be called up to the international team.

Although Spain's current coach is Vicente del Bosque, Guti's ex-coach at Real Madrid, it is still hard for the "king of assists" to appear again on the international stage.

International Goals

Awards and Honours

Real Madrid

• Spanish League: 1996-97, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07 and 2007-08, runner-up 1998-99, 2004-05 and 2005-06
• Spanish Cup: Runner-up 2001-02, 2003-04
• Spanish Supercup: 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2008, runner-up 1995, 2007
• UEFA Champions League: 1997-98, 1999-00 and 2001-02
• UEFA Super Cup: 2002, runner-up 1998, 2000
• Intercontinental Cup: 1998, 2002, runner-up 2000

International

• UEFA U-19 Championship: 1995
• UEFA U-21 Championship: 1998

Personal Awards

Career Statistics

M = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists

Personal Info

Guti is married to Arancha de Benito, and has two childreen, Zaira (born 2000) and Aitor (born 2002).

Guti played himself in two motion pictures, Torrente 3: El Protector and Goal! 2: Living the Dream.

He has also appeared in a 2005 documentary/movie about Real Madrid called Real, The Movie.

As a child Guti loved books, tennis, and of course football.

Wife / Girlfriend

Guti's wife, Arancha de Benito is a Spanish television celebrity.

Sponsors

Important Links

National team data

References

Guti scores strike 5000