Claudio Bravo

Claudio Bravo is a Chilean professional footballer who plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League and and Chile national football team. He was born on 13 April 1983 and hails from the town of Viluco in Buin, Maipo Province, Chile. He plays as a goalkeeper and is a veteran between the sticks. He is a right-footed player.

A widely experienced custodian, he has had a fantastic career playing for the national team and some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Now approaching the final few years of his career, he is still a reliable option as he still plays as the cup goalkeeper for Manchester City and performing well in the opportunities he is given.

Best known for his quick reflexes and shot stopping, he comes off the line to punch crosses and in one-on-one situations. His distribution is decent and he is good with ball on his feet. He is however prone to errors and has lapses in concentration. He is often found fumbling shots and being caught out by the attackers with the ball in his feet.

He is the most capped Chilean player of all time, alongside Alexis Sanchez, amassing a total of 115 caps since his debut in 2004.

Background

His father was a major influence in his Bravo’s as he was the one who recognized his talent and took him to the Colo-Colo’s youth academy. He grew through the ranks of Colo-Colo making his debut in 2002. He was highly-regarded at the club and was nicknamed “Condor Chica”.

Debut

He represented the Chile national team at the youth level, playing all 7 matches for the Chile U23 team in the year of 2004, after impressive performances for Colo-Colo as the starting goalkeeper. He made his senior debut the same year, on 11th July 2004, although he was called up for the squad as early as the month of March.

His debut was against Paraguay in a Copa America 2004 match. The match ended 1:1 to round up a disappointing campaign by the Chilean national team as they crashed out in the group stage itself.

However, Bravo went on to cement his position his position in the national team after a string of good performances with the La Roja.

Rise to Glory

He first rose to spotlight after impressing in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He was subsequently rewarded with a move to Barcelona for a transfer fee of 12 million euros, making him the fourth most expensive player sold by Real Sociedad.

He even got better at Barcelona, as he set up a record of not conceding a goal for 754 minutes in the Spanish La Liga, beating Artola’s record of 560 minutes. He was named in the La Liga team of the season and won the Zamora trophy.

Low Points

His move to Manchester City did not work out exactly as planned, as he made a lot of errors in his debut season and was labelled among the worst signings of the season by the press and had the worst save success rate (54.1%) in the Premier League.

Club Career

Bravo has played for the likes of Colo-Colo, Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Manchester City.

Captaincy

He captained Chile to two Copa America titles in 2015 and 2016.

Achievements

Bravo has won the La Liga and Copa America twice, while the Spanish Cup, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the English League Cup once.