Salva Ballesta

Salva

Salva playing for Levante in 2007
Personal information
Full name Salvador Ballesta Vialcho
Date of birth (1975-05-22) 22 May 1975
Place of birth Zaragoza, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
Sevilla
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1996 Sevilla B 36 (10)
1995–1998 Sevilla 49 (15)
1996 → Écija (loan) 17 (6)
1998–2000 Racing Santander 52 (29)
2000–2001 Atlético Madrid 33 (21)
2001–2005 Valencia 24 (5)
2003 → Bolton Wanderers (loan) 6 (0)
2003–2004 → Málaga (loan) 34 (18)
2004–2005 → Atlético Madrid (loan) 28 (7)
2005–2009 Málaga 87 (28)
2007 → Levante (loan) 14 (5)
2009–2010 Albacete 23 (5)
Total 403 (149)
National team
1996–1998 Spain U21 9 (2)
1997 Spain U23 4 (2)
2000–2004 Spain 4 (0)
Teams managed
2013−2015 Málaga B

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Ballesta and the second or maternal family name is Vialcho.

Salvador Ballesta Vialcho (born 22 May 1975), commonly known as Salva, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker, and a current manager.

A goalscorer noted for his flair and workrate, he played for seven different top division clubs, most notably Atlético Madrid, Valencia – with whom he won his sole team trophy – and Málaga. Over the course of 11 La Liga seasons, he amassed totals of 235 games and 87 goals, adding 126/52 in Segunda División.

Off the field, Salva was known for his nationalistic and militarist viewpoints.[1]

Club career

Salva was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. After making his professional debuts with Sevilla FC, he won the Pichichi Trophy in the 1999–2000 season, scoring 27 goals to lead La Liga's scoring charts for Racing de Santander.[2] He then moved to Segunda División with Atlético Madrid (freshly relegated) and proceeded to lead the side with 21 successful strikes, although the Colchoneros did not return to the top level.[3]

In the 2001 summer, Salva joined Valencia CF,[4] netting five goals to help the side become league champion after a 31-year drought. He was rarely used in the following season, and was subsequently briefly part of the Bolton Wanderers squad that avoided Premier League relegation in 2003;[5] he had another two loan stints from 2003 to 2005, with Málaga CF for which he netted 21 official goals, including a hat-trick in a 5–1 league home crushing of FC Barcelona on 3 December 2003,[6][7] and Atlético Madrid, being subsequently released and signing with the former.[8]

In late January 2007, Salva joined top flight strugglers Levante UD on loan from Málaga, now in the second division.[9] On 4 February, he played his first league match for the club in an away win against Real Madrid, scoring the game's only goal;[10] after the season's end, with the Valencians managing to retain their status, he returned to Málaga, and netted seven times to help to top division promotion.

As he spent most of 2008–09 hampered by recurrent injuries, Salva was still able to contribute, notably coming from the bench against neighbours UD Almería and helping turn the score from 0–2 to a 3–2 home win with two goals, on 8 February 2009.[11] On 15 March, he added another brace against another neighbouring club, in a 2–2 home draw against former side Sevilla;[12] when the season ended, he was released after his contract expired.

In the dying hours of the 2009 August transfer window, Salva signed a 1+1 contract with Albacete Balompié, aged 34. However, at the end of his first season, where he appeared almost exclusively as a backup, he was one of 14 players who were not given a contract extension, being released[13] and retiring shortly after; subsequently he re-joined former team Málaga as a youth coach, alongside former teammate Francesc Arnau.[14]

On 12 July 2013, Salva was appointed as the new manager of Málaga's reserves Atlético Malagueño, in Tercera División.[15] He left two years later, as his contract was not renewed.[16]

International career

Salva played four international matches with Spain, the first being a friendly against Poland on 26 January 2000, coming in for Ismael Urzaiz in the 70th minute of an eventual 3–0 win in Cartagena.[17]

Personal life

Off the pitch, Salva was notorious for his outspoken personality and his political beliefs, far to the right of most of his peers'. A nationalist who put his love for the "fatherland" over that for his own family, he displayed the nation's flag on his boots; when sent off for Málaga against CA Osasuna, whose fans include supporters of Basque independence, he shouted to them "¡Que viva España, hijos de puta!" (Long live Spain, sons of bitches!).[1] Fans of Basque team Real Sociedad displayed a banner reading "Salva, muérete" (Salva, die) when he visited their Anoeta Stadium, and he also had a dislike for Barcelona defender Oleguer Presas, an outspoken left-winger and proponent of Catalan independence, saying that he had more respect for "dog crap" than for him.[1]

Although his footballing idol was Real Madrid's Hugo Sánchez, Salva's other heroes included Francoist fighter pilot Joaquín García Morato, Luftwaffe aviator Hans-Ulrich Rudel and Antonio Tejero, leader of the failed "23-F" right-wing coup. A self-declared Christian, he considered himself apolitical.[1]

Born to a family with a military background, Salva stated that he would be the first to serve in the Iraq War if conscripted by prime minister José María Aznar. He was a patron of his hometown's military helicopter school.[1]

In February 2013, Salva learnt that he was being turned down for the assistant coach job at Celta de Vigo over his political views.[18]

Managerial statistics

As of 23 April 2016
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Málaga B[19] Spain 12 July 2013 20 June 2015 82 50 15 17 149 77 +72 60.98
Total 82 50 15 17 149 77 +72 60.98

Honours

Club

Valencia

Country

Spain U21

Individual

Racing Santander
Atlético Madrid

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 ""Me gustaría conocer a Tejero"" ["I would like to meet Tejero"] (in Spanish). El País. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Spain – List of Topscorers ("Pichichi") 1929–2015". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "El gol del Atlético" [Atlético's goal] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "El Valencia ficha a Salva y cede a Diego Alonso al Atlético" [Valencia signs Salva and loans Diego Alonso to Atlético] (in Spanish). El País. 28 July 2001. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Bolton find solution in Ballesta; UEFA.com, 30 January 2003
  6. ↑ El Málaga deja en coma al Barcelona antes del clásico (Málaga leaves Barcelona in a coma before clásico); El Mundo, 4 December 2003 (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Salva's Spanish goal; UEFA.com, 18 March 2004
  8. ↑ Málaga make Salva signing; UEFA.com, 14 July 2005
  9. ↑ "Salva Ballesta, cedido al Levante" [Salva Ballesta, loaned to Levante] (in Spanish). Fichajes. 25 January 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Pañolada galáctica" [Galactic pañolada] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  11. ↑ Málaga 3–2 Almeria; ESPN Soccernet, 8 February 2009
  12. ↑ Málaga 2–2 Sevilla FC; ESPN Soccernet, 15 March 2009
  13. ↑ El Albacete da la baja a 14 jugadores, entre ellos a Salva (Albacete releases 14 players, Salva included); Diario AS, 23 June 2010 (Spanish)
  14. ↑ El Málaga cuenta con Arnau y Salva como entrenadores de cantera para La Academia (Málaga counts with Arnau and Salva as youth team coaches for the Academy); La Opinión de Málaga, 23 March 2011 (Spanish)
  15. ↑ Salva Ballesta, nuevo entrenador del Atlético Malagueño (Salva Ballesta, new manager of Atlético Malagueño); La Opinión de Málaga, 12 July 2013 (Spanish)
  16. ↑ "Salva Ballesta no seguirá como entrenador del filial del Málaga" [Salva Ballesta will not continue as manager of Málaga reserves] (in Spanish). El Confidencial. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  17. ↑ "España dota de argumentos a Camacho con otra goleada" [España gives reasons to Camacho with another routing] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 26 January 2000. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  18. ↑ Celta turn down Salva Ballesta for ‘political reasons’; Inside Spanish Football, 19 February 2013
  19. ↑ "Tercera División (Grupo 9) 2013–14" [Tercera División (Group 9) 2013–14] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
    "Fase de ascenso a Segunda División B 2013–14" [Promotion phase to Segunda División B 2013–14] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
    "Tercera División (Grupo 9) 2014–15" [Tercera División (Group 9) 2014–15] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
    "Fase de ascenso a Segunda División B 2014–15" [Promotion phase to Segunda División B 2014–15] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
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