Sergio Ballesteros

Sergio Ballesteros

200px Ballesteros in action for Levante
Personal information
Full name	Sergio Martínez Ballesteros
Date of birth	(1975-09-04) 4 September 1975
Place of birth	Burjassot, Spain
Height
Position(s)	Centre back
Youth career
	Levante
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1996	Levante	36	(4)
1996	→ Tenerife (loan)	6	(0)
1996–2000	Tenerife	86	(4)
2000–2001	Rayo Vallecano	36	(2)
2001–2004	Villarreal	81	(1)
2004–2008	Mallorca	103	(1)
2008–2013	Levante	174	(3)
Total		522	(15)
International career
1996–1998	Spain U21	12	(0)
1997	Spain U23	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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

Sergio Martínez Ballesteros (born 4 September 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

He started and finished his 19-year professional career with Levante, amassing La Liga totals of 387 games and eight goals over the course of 15 seasons. He also represented in the competition Tenerife (four years), Rayo Vallecano, Villarreal (three) and Mallorca (four).

Club career

Born in Burjassot, Valencian Community, Ballesteros came through the ranks of local Levante UD. In January 1996 he moved on loan to the Canary Islands' CD Tenerife, making his La Liga debut on 3 January in a 2–0 home win against Racing de Santander. After making the move permanent he went on to become an important defensive player, also starting to garner a reputation as a tough, sometimes to excess, central defender: in the 1998–99 season, as Tenerife ranked second from bottom, he was sent off twice in just eight appearances.

For the 2000–01 campaign Ballesteros moved to Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, collecting ten yellow cards during his only season and playing all the games and minutes in the club's quarterfinal run in the UEFA Cup. He subsequently spent three years at Villarreal CF, being an important defensive element as the club consolidated in the main division.

From 2004 to 2008 Ballesteros represented RCD Mallorca also in the top flight, receiving six additional marching orders in over 100 first-team appearances. In July 2008 the 33-year-old was deemed surplus to requirements and released, re-joining freshly relegated to the second level Levante after 13 years.

Veteran Ballesteros rarely missed a match for the Granotas in the following seasons, making 34 appearances in 2010–11 (one goal, against CA Osasuna in a 2–1 home win) as the team finally retained its top flight status. He fared even better the following campaign – also finding the net once, at Rayo Vallecano in a 2–1 success – as the club finished sixth and qualified for the Europa League for the first time ever.

Ballesteros was again a starter and team captain in the 2012–13 season. However, late into the campaign, he, alongside Juanlu and Gustavo Munúa, was accused by teammate José Barkero of lack of commitment during a 0–4 home loss against Deportivo de La Coruña, which led to several match-fixing allegations.

Honours

Club

Villarreal

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2003, 2004

Country

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 1998

External links

• Sergio Ballesteros profile at BDFutbol
• Sergio Ballesteros at Soccerway