Eduard 'Edu' Albácar Gallego (born 16 November 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
Club career Born in Tortosa, Tarragona, Catalonia, Albácar only played for Segunda División B and Tercera División teams until well into his 20s. In July 2006 he signed with Hércules CF in the Segunda División, and appeared in his first game as a professional on 27 August when he started in a 0–1 home loss against Málaga CF.El Málaga arranca con buen pie gracias a Pablo Couñago (Málaga start on the right foot thanks to Pablo Couñago); Marca, 27 August 2006 (in Spanish)
In June 2008, Albácar moved to Deportivo Alavés also in the second division.La fuga de Albacar cambia los planes de la comisión (Albacar's escape changes plans of board of directors); Diario AS, 29 June 2008 (in Spanish) One year later, he signed with fellow second-tier club Rayo Vallecano.Albacar se compromete con el Rayo (Albacar commits to Rayo); Marca, 19 June 2009 (in Spanish)
On 22 July 2010, Albácar joined Elche CF.Edu Albacar: "No confío mucho en el proyecto del Rayo" (Edu Albacar: "I do not have much trust in Rayo's project"); Marca, 22 July 2010 (in Spanish) In his third year, he scored a career-best eight goals – mainly through free kicks and penaltiesEdu Albacar, un especialista a balón parado (Edu Albacar, deadball specialist); Fútbol de Segunda, 24 March 2010 (in Spanish)4–0: El Elche reafirma su liderato sin dar opción al Numancia (4–0: Elche solidify first place giving no chance to Numancia); Mundo Deportivo, 14 October 2012 (in Spanish)El Elche saca un '10' en las jugadas de estrategia (Elche get a '10' in set pieces); Marca, 18 December 2012 (in Spanish)El guante de Edu Albacar (Edu Albacar's glove); Diario Información, 19 February 2013 (in Spanish)– and also helped the Valencian side to return to La Liga after 24 years of absence.El Elche vuelve a la elite 25 años después (Elche return to the elite 25 years later); Mundo Deportivo, 11 August 2013 (in Spanish)
On 24 August 2013, aged almost 34, Albácar made his debut in the top flight, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Real Sociedad.Vela to the rescue for Sociedad ; ESPN FC, 24 August 2013 He scored his first goal in the competition six days later, in a 2–2 draw at UD Almería.Almeria denied first win ; ESPN FC, 30 August 2013
Albácar announced his retirement on 13 August 2015, being immediately included in Rubén Baraja's staff.Albácar anuncia su retirada del fútbol y se une al cuerpo técnico del Elche (Albácar announces his retirement from football and joins Elche's staff); Cadena COPE, 13 August 2015 (in Spanish) Roughly a year later, he stepped down from retirement, returning to his last club Elche at the age of 36.Edu Albacar: "Me siento preparado para ayudar al equipo en lo que necesite" (Edu Albacar: "I feel prepared to help the team in whatever they need"); Elche CF, 11 August 2016 (in Spanish)
On 2 May 2018, Albácar announced that he would retire at the end of the season,Edu Albacar anuncia su retirada tras más de veinte años en activo (Edu Albacar announces his retirement after more than twenty years active); Mundo Deportivo, 2 May 2018 (in Spanish) which ended in promotion to the second division.El Elche anuncia el despido de Edu Albacar como secretario técnico (Elche announce dismissal of Edu Albacar as technical secretary); Marca, 14 September 2018 (in Spanish)
Honours Elche Segunda División: 2012–13
References
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