cani · Biography

On 11 May 2002, in round 38, which closed the 2001-02 league campaign, Rubén Gracia Calmache, known as “Cani”, came on in the 60th minute for Galletti and made his La Liga debut for Real Zaragoza. The game was at La Romareda against FC Barcelona and finished 1-1. Zaragoza were already relegated, but the wide midfielder, born in Zaragoza on 3 August 1981, went on to play a part in the side that won the Copa del Rey two years later and then spent nine seasons at Villarreal.

Background and youth career

The nickname runs in the family. His grandfather carried it first, then his father, Jesús Gracia Romero, a prominent player for Endesa Andorra. Rubén came through the youth ranks at Stadium Venecia and Real Zaragoza. In 2000-01 he was loaned to Utebo in the Tercera División, playing 15 matches and scoring once. The following year he returned to Zaragoza’s reserve side in Segunda División B, where 31 appearances and 6 goals earned him his first-team debut at the end of that same season.

Promotion and the Copa del Rey with Zaragoza

With the club in the Spanish second division, Cani established himself in 2002-03. He scored five goals in 24 league games and Zaragoza went straight back up. The 2003-04 season brought the biggest trophy of his career: on 17 March 2004 Zaragoza beat Real Madrid 3-2 after extra time in the Copa del Rey final at the Montjuïc stadium. Cani played in the final and was sent off. That year the club also won the 2004 Supercopa de España.

He played mainly on the right wing, with licence to drift inside, and in 2005-06 he was among the league’s leading providers of assists. Zaragoza reached the cup final again that season but lost it. In 2005 he was named Aragon’s sportsperson of the year.

Nine seasons at Villarreal

At the end of the 2005-06 season Villarreal paid €11 million to sign him. At El Madrigal he joined a side aiming for the top of the table, and in 2007-08 Villarreal finished as La Liga runners-up behind Real Madrid. In 2008-09 they were fifth, and Cani ended the campaign with five goals in his last nine appearances.

The 2010-11 season was one of the fullest of his career. He scored at the Santiago Bernabéu in January 2011, Villarreal finished fourth in the league and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League. In that tie against Porto, which the Portuguese side won 7-4 on aggregate, Cani scored in both legs, finishing the competition with three goals. He made more than 320 competitive appearances for the Yellow Submarine.

Atlético Madrid, Deportivo and a return home

On 7 January 2015 Atlético Madrid signed him on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut about three weeks later off the bench in the second leg of a Copa del Rey quarter-final against FC Barcelona, a 3-2 defeat at the Vicente Calderón. He played four league games for Diego Simeone’s side.

In July 2015 he terminated his contract with Villarreal and signed a one-year deal with Deportivo de La Coruña. He made 18 league appearances there, totalling 888 minutes, as the Galician club finished 15th.

On 6 July 2016 he rejoined Real Zaragoza, then in the second division. He played 32 league games and scored once in 2016-17, and announced his retirement at the end of that season.

Spain national team

In the build-up to the 2006 World Cup, Luis Aragonés called him up to a senior Spain get-together. He did not make the final squad for the tournament in Germany and never won a cap.

After football

After hanging up his boots in the summer of 2017 he spent a few months in Real Zaragoza’s technical secretariat before moving into the family business alongside his brother. His honours comprise the Copa del Rey (2004) and the Supercopa de España (2004), both with Real Zaragoza, along with a La Liga runners-up finish with Villarreal in 2008.