Claudio Bravo

Claudio Andrés Muñoz Bravo (born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Chilean national team as a goalkeeper, and is also the captain of the national team.

He started playing with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Sociedad in 2006, appearing in 237 official games with the club. Barcelona signed him for €12 million in 2014, making him the 7th most expensive goalkeeper in the history of football along with Marc-André ter Stegen. He won the treble and the Zamora Trophy in his first season.

Bravo is Chile's most capped player of all time, with 95 caps since his debut in 2004, and represented the nation in two World Cupsand four Copa América tournaments. He captained the side to victory at the 2015 Copa América.

Club career
Colo-Colo


Bravo was born in Viluco, Maipo Province. 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.

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.

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

Real Sociedad


For the 2006–07 season Bravo signed a five-year contract with Real Sociedad in Spain, in a reported €1.2 million deal – he andAsier 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 a loan to the former to Recreativo de Huelva, Bravo was again the starter, but Real remained in the second division.

On 14 February 2010 Bravo 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 0–2 loss at Córdoba CF, which rendered him unavailable for the remainder of the season.[6] He still featured in 25 matches to help his team finish champions and return to the top division, after three years.

Barcelona


Bravo joined FC Barcelona on 18 June 2014 with the four-year deal being made effective on 1 July, for €12 million (£9.7 million), the fourth most expensive player ever sold by Real Sociedad after Darko Kovacevic, 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 goalkeeper. After joining he set a La Liga record for Barcelona of not conceding from the start of season for 754 minutes, previously held by Pedro Maria Artola with 560 minutes without conceding goals. After playing 37 straight league games, Bravo was rested for the last game of the season against Deportivo, 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.

International career


Bravo represented Chile at under-17, under-20 and under-23 levels. He made his debut with the main side on 11 July 2004 againstParaguay in the 2004 Copa América, and retained his place for the rest of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Bravo was again called for duty in the 2007 Copa América held in Venezuela, where he started all four games. He became national sidecaptain after Marcelo Salas announced his international retirement. Rested for the final group game, Bravo played three matches at the2011 Copa América as Chile again reached the quarter-finals.

In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Bravo started in all four matches for Chile (remaining as captain), conceding five goals in an eventual 0–3 round-of-16 loss against Brazil. He was also selected by new manager Jorge Sampaoli to the squad of 23 for the following edition, starting all the games and conceding only 4 goals (1 by Australia, 2 by Netherlands and 1 by Brazil) which again ended in the same stage and at the hands of the same opponent, but in a penalty shootout. On 10 October, in a friendly 3–0 win against Peru, Bravo earned his 85th cap, surpassing Leonel Sánchez as Chile's most capped player of all time.

Bravo was the captain and played every minute as Chile won the 2015 Copa América on home soil, their first major international honour. In the final at the Estadio Nacional, he kept a clean sheet as the match finished goalless after extra time, and then saved from Ever Banega in the subsequent penalty shootout.

source: wikipedia