The keeper made his debut on August 14th 2002 in a Champions League qualifier
Ten years later, Valdes is the unquestioned number 1 in the team and has a cabinet full of trophies and winners medals
On August 14th 2002, the Camp Nou got its first glimpse of Victor Valdes. The 20-year –old was one of the new faces in Van Gaal’s team to play Legia Warsaw in a Champions League qualifier they ended up winning 3-0.
Valdés was the team’s number one keeper for the 2002/03 season, though he shared the spot with Roberto Bonano and didn’t consolidate his position until the following campaign under Frank Rijkaard.
He won his first La Liga title in 2005 and also took the first of his record five Zamora Trophies as the competition’s best keeper( a record he shares with Antoni Ramallets) and he then played a key part in the following season’s Champions League winning season which culminated in the win over Arsenal in Paris.
Record holder
Víctor Valdés is an imposing keeper, agile with great reflexes, consistent and with a strong personality. Under Guardiola he develepod his passing and became the source of many of the team’s moves.
Recently he became the keeper with most appearances for the Club (457) and the all-time fourth in the Club’s history behind Xavi, Puyol and Migueli. He has won, amongst other trophies, 3 Champions League, 5 Spanish League, 2 Club World Cups and 2 Spanish Cups.
Valdés was also a member of Spain’s 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 winning squads and is a regular in Vicente del Bosque’s squads.