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Spain Euro 2008 winner looks unrecognisable, aged 42, as he completes transfer to sixteenth club


LOOKING back at Spain’s 2008 European Championship winning squad, there was a star-studded cast of names.

The likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Ramos and Carlos Puyol were dominating world football.

The former Spain star is the last Spaniard to win the La Liga golden boot

But there were also a number of stars who went under the radar, with one in lesser known ace still going strong.

The now 42-year-old has enjoyed the lavish life of a footballer, recently completing a move to his SIXTEENTH different club.

The Spaniard scored twice for Spain at those successful European Championships.

He also holds the honourable title of being the last Spaniard to win the Pichichi – the award for La Liga’s top goalscorer.

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He won that title back in 2007/08, scoring 27 goals in 37 games for Mallorca.

Since then only five different players have claimed the reward, those being Diego Forlan, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and most recently Karim Benzema.

But with his enjoyment of a night life, the star came under fire by the Spanish press for his antics.

Indeed, during his time at Getafe he found the nightlife in Madrid too much to handle, with his club having to impose a liquid lunch on him after suffering a stomach infection.

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His manager Bernd Schuster later described the impact former agent and wife Nuria Bermudez had had on his life.

He said: “(Ever since he’s been with Nuria) he turns up to training and it doesn’t look like he’s slept under a bridge.”

A complicated life off the pitch saw his career tail off, though it has not been through a lack of options regarding clubs.

The star in question? None other than Dani Guiza.

Once commanding a transfer fee of £12.2million as he moved from Mallorca to Fenerbahce in 2008, more recent times have seen the Spaniard make six moves for free since 2011, including one extra loan transfer.

Now, Guiza has joined CD Rota, a club in Spain’s fifth tier.

But it’s safe to say he looks a little different to when he was scoring for the Red Fury at a major international tournament.

Dani Guiza was a rising star in the late 2000’sCredit: AFP
He scored twice for Spain at Euro 2008Credit: AFP
But a complicated life off the field saw his career fail to reach it’s potentialCredit: Getty


Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk


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