Spanish legend David Villa Has Traded In Scoring Goals For Building A Team From Scratch
Larry Henry Jr.
4 Yrs Ago
There aren’t many trophies David Villa didn’t win during his illustrious 19-year playing career.
World Cup and the tournament’s Golden Boot to go with it? Check. European Championship and Golden Boot to go with it? Check. UEFA Champions League title, and La Liga titles with two different teams? Check.
The 38-year-old is now beginning the next chapter of his life after playing for nine different clubs and winning 15 combined trophies, a career that began in Spain, but took him to the United States and lastly Japan before retiring. Villa started his own academy "DV7 Soccer" to help grow the next generation of players, which has since grown to participate in eight cities from six different countries.
In 2019, Villa also began his involvement in the start of a newly-granted USL Championship team, Queensboro FC which begins play in 2021.
"I'm proud to say I've had a long-running connection to Queens," Villa said. "I lived here for four years while I was developing my football academies, teaching kids not just how to play the sport but to appreciate the game's values, too. Queens is -- and always has been -- special. You feel the passion for football walking the streets.
"It's why we're proud to bring a professional team to this borough. It's the obvious next step following the clinics, summer camps, academies and various other programs for boys and girls we've held in Astoria, Flushing and at Queens College."
Villa’s connection to New York was formed and molded by his four seasons playing for New York City FC. He won an MVP Award and dominated as one of the best players in MLS before finishing his career in Japan playing alongside Andres Iniesta at Vissel Kobe.
Though he closed his career far from home, Villa will long be remembered for the amazing career he put together in his native Spain, both on the club level and international level. From his formative years with Sporting Gijon and Real Zaragoza, to his breakout stint with Valencia, Villa earned a reputation as a clinical finisher, and his title-winning performances at the 2008 Euros and 2010 World Cup cemented his legendary status even before he arrived at Barcelona for some of the best seasons of his career, and we’ll before he finished his career in Spain with a La Liga title with Atletico Madrid.
Much like legendary strikers Raul and Miroslav Klose, Villa could make scoring goals look effortless, with his intelligent runs and clinical finishing. His consistency made him special, as did he is ability to rise to the challenge on the biggest of stages, like he did in 2010, when he won the Golden Boot at the World Cup in South Africa.
Villa’s playing days are behind him now, with his next mission being to helping start and build a successful team in Queens. Though he hasn’t said he would be planning to suit up for his new team when it begins play in 2021, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the Spanish legend slipped on the boots one more time, to give soccer fans one more chance to see the goal-scoring master at work.