Rubén Martín Pulido (born 2 February 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender, currently the manager and sporting director of CF Talavera de la Reina.
He amassed La Liga totals of 97 matches and eight goals over five seasons, representing in the competition Getafe, Almería and Zaragoza. He finished his 16-year senior career in Greece.
Club career Pulido was born in Madrid. After appearing for modest sides UB Conquense and Getafe CF, the latter then in the Segunda División B, the Real Madrid youth graduate spent one Segunda División season each with Rayo Vallecano and Sporting de Gijón.Presentado Pulido, cedido por el Rayo (Presentation of Pulido, loaned by Rayo); Diario AS, 30 December 2002 (in Spanish)
Pulido returned to Getafe on a permanent basis in the summer of 2004, helping the capital team to retain their recently achieved top-division status. However, he was never an undisputed starter during his three-year spell, with a best output of 25 La Liga games in the 2005–06 season.Pulido: 'Si Luis se atreve puede convocar a alguien del Getafe' (Pulido: 'If Luis dares he might call someone from Getafe'); El Mundo, 1 November 2006 (in Spanish)Pulido está muy cerca del Steaua de Bucarest (Pulido is very close to Steaua Bucharest); Diario AS, 6 July 2007 (in Spanish)
In July 2008, Pulido signed for top-flight newcomers UD Almería, and was one of the Andalusians' most important players in his first year by scoring three league goals, including the only in a 20 January 2008 home win over Deportivo de La Coruña; ESPN Soccernet, 20 January 2008 and another in a 2–2 home draw with FC Barcelona on 16 March.Barcelona cornered by plucky Almería; UEFA, 16 March 2008
After just one season with Almería – he had signed a two-year deal – Pulido joined Real Zaragoza, recently relegated to the second tier.Rubén Martín Pulido: "Venir al Zaragoza era lo mejor para mi carrera y mi futuro" (Rubén Martín Pulido: "Coming to Zaragoza was the best for my career and my future"); El Periódico de Aragón, 25 August 2008 (in Spanish) He contributed 23 appearances as the Aragonese were immediately promoted.El Zaragoza retorna a la categoría de donde no debió bajar (Zaragoza return to the tier from where they should never have been relegated); RTVE, 13 June 2009 (in Spanish)
Pulido played roughly the same number of matches in the 2009–10 campaign, scoring against his former employers Almería (2–1 home win); ESPN Soccernet, 1 November 2009 and Villarreal CF (3–3 home draw),; ESPN Soccernet, 15 May 2010 and being occasionally deployed as right-back.Pulido: "En el fútbol todo cambia con rapidez" (Pulido: "Everything changes quickly in football"); Marca, 7 October 2009 (in Spanish)Rubén Martín Pulido: "No esperaba haber jugado tanto ya, pero he luchado por ello" (Rubén Martín Pulido: "I did not expect to have played so much already, but I've fought for it"); El Periódico de Aragón, 8 October 2009 (in Spanish) In the following off-season, the 31-year-old did not have his contract renewed and moved to Asteras Tripolis F.C. of the Super League Greece.Rubén Pulido ficha por el Asteras Tripolis griego (Rubén Pulido signs for Greece's Asteras Tripolis); El Periódico de Aragón, 1 September 2010 (in Spanish)
On 30 July 2012, Pulido signed with Aris Thessaloniki F.C. of the same country and league.Rubén Pulido ficha por el Aris de Salónica (Rubén Pulido signs for Aris Thessaloniki); Marca, 30 July 2012 (in Spanish)
References
External links