One Soccer: Daniel Guiza

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Daniel Guiza

Daniel Gonzalez Güiza (born 17 August 1980) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Fenerbahçe S.K. in Turkey, as a striker.
A late bloomer, he made a name for himself at the age of 27, being crowned La Liga topscorer with RCD Mallorca. Subsequently, he helped the Spanish national team win the UEFA Euro 2008, and signed with Fenerbahçe in Turkey shortly afterwards.
Having started playing on the streets of his hometown of Jerez de la Frontera in Cádiz, Güiza used to hide behind trees in an attempt to avoid the running, despite being then coached by boyhood idol Kiko, who begun his professional career with local Cádiz CF.He eventually made it into his local team, Xerez CD and, after one season there, first showed his eye for goal at third-tier side Dos Hermanas CF, loaned immediately after RCD Mallorca bought him. Such performances saw him make his debut in La Liga at the age of 19, but he would fail to perform, being demoted to the B team where he scored 28 goals in 70 games.Güiza was then loaned out to Recreativo de Huelva, but could not find a secure place in the team, and was soon after loaned to FC Barcelona B, where he scored five third division goals. Subsequently, he moved to Ciudad de Murcia in division two, where his career saw a turning point, with two consecutive top-five finishes in the topscorers' list (runner-up in the 2004–05 campaign).

Güiza was a late bloomer on the international stage, having been first called-up by Spain on 8 November 2007 (aged 27), for UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers against Sweden and Northern Ireland, as the national team was already qualified for the finals in Austria and Switzerland. He made his international debut against the latter on 21 November, in a 1–0 home win, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.Güiza was subsequently selected to the final squad of 23 but, despite being the league's top scorer in that year, still doubted his chances of being picked: "I was really scared I'd miss out, because being the league's top scorer doesn't guarantee you a place". On 18 June 2008, he made his debut in the tournament, and scored Spain's winning goal against Greece during the dying moments of the last match group stage match.In the quarterfinals, Güiza came on as a substitute against Italy, missing the team's fourth attempt in an eventual penalty shootout win. In the semifinal match against Russia, he scored his second international goal, in a 3–0 win: after receiving a pass from Cesc Fàbregas, he quickly side-flicked it over the goalkeeper.Güiza played 15 minutes in the final against Germany after replacing Fernando Torres (who scored the game's only goal), and came very close to assisting Marcos Senna.On 15 October 2008, Güiza came on as a late substitute against Belgium and soon after assisted David Villa who scored the winning goal in a close 1–2 encounter.After an article circulated in January 2009, involving details about personal life and behaviour in training, Güiza's international career future was questioned.Such reports on his behaviour became debatable due to the unreliable sources and any rumours of him being dropped from the Spain team were put to rest when Vicente del Bosque called him up for his services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Turkey, where he solidified his superb performance against Belgium, once again coming on in the dying minutes and assisting a last-minute winner during the match held in Istanbul.On June 1, 2009, Güiza was selected to the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. On June 28, he came from the bench as the national team trailed hosts South Africa (0–1) in the third-place match, and responded with a spectacular brace in the last two minutes, as Spain eventually won the game in extra-time (3–2).