Rubén Navarro Méndez (born 6 June 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He amassed La Liga totals of 147 games and 31 goals over seven seasons, representing Valencia, Numancia and Alavés. He added 187 matches and 57 goals in the Segunda División, in a 16-year senior career.
Club career Navarro was born in Sallent de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia. A product of Valencia CF's youth system, he first appeared in La Liga on 15 June 1997 in a 2–1 home win against Real Oviedo,Karpin dio la última alegría (Karpin provided the last joy); ABC, 16 June 1997 (in Spanish) but could never settle at his first club, moving to CD Numancia where he played two years; he scored ten league goals in his first season in Soria in spite of injury problems, helping barely avoid top-flight relegation.Breve enciclopedia numantina (Brief numantina encyclopedia); Desde Soria, 29 May 2013 (in Spanish)
Subsequently, Navarro joined Deportivo Alavés after the side's runner-up exploits in the UEFA Cup.El Alavés alcanza un acuerdo con Rubén Navarro (Alavés reach agreement with Rubén Navarro); Diario AS, 19 July 2001 (in Spanish) He was an important attacking element for six years, three spent in the Segunda División; in three of those campaigns, he netted in double digits.El 9 albiazul vuelve a ser sinónimo de gol (White-and-blue 9 equals goal again); Mundo Deportivo, 11 August 2020 (in Spanish)
Navarro signed with another team in the second tier for 2007–08, Hércules CF.Rubén Navarro firma con el Hércules por dos temporadas (Rubén Navarro signs with Hércules for two seasons); El Correo, 22 August 2007 (in Spanish) On 5 April 2009, as they eventually narrowly missed on promotion, he scored a hat-trick against Sevilla Atlético in an 8–0 home rout.El Hércules manda un mensaje en forma de goleada (Hércules send message with goals galore); Marca, 5 April 2009 (in Spanish)
In late June 2009, Navarro returned to his native region after nearly 15 years, signing as a free agent with Gimnàstic de Tarragona for two years.Rubén Navarro y Roberto García firman por el Nástic (Rubén Navarro and Roberto García sign with Nástic); Marca, 22 June 2009 (in Spanish) On 2 September 2011, after two seasons of irregular use after which he did not have his contract renewed and was released, the 33-year-old joined CD Leganés in the Segunda División B.Rubén Navarro: "Llego con muchas ganas al Leganés" (Rubén Navarro: "I arrive full of illusion to Leganés"); Resultados Fútbol, 2 September 2011 (in Spanish)
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CiberChe stats and bio