New York City FC captain David Villa scored his 400th career goal for club and country tonight against FC Dallas in the 36th minute.
This was Villa’s 68th goal in City colors, having scored for six other clubs across the globe, as well as the Spanish national team.
In typical style, El Guaje followed up goal 400 with goal 401 after half-time to give City a 3-1 win.
NYCFC's first signing told reporters after the game: “To arrive at 400 is a great day for me. Obviously it's been in my mind to arrive at this milestone for a long time now but I scored 400 and 401 today and it’s great for us because we took three points.
“Now I need to work to get 402 and that’s the mentality I’ve always had – I want to score more goals to help the team and I will try.
“I don’t care if I’m 36 or 20, I just need to keep going the same way to be successful and that’s what I try and do every day.
“My success is due to me having a lot of great teammates and great coaches... I give everything I have to give on the field and I have the little bit of luck I need."
Villa has now scored four goals in 2018, to add to his 22 in 2017, his 23 in his 2016 MVP year and the 18 he notched in NYCFC’s Inaugural 2015 season.
The 2010 World Cup winner has now scored an astonishing 342 club goals to add to his record-breaking haul of 59 for the Spanish national team.
Valencia are the team David has scored the majority of his 400 goals for, with 129 netted and it’s NYCFC who come second on that list with his 69..
Competition-wise, Villa has scored the lion’s share of his strikes in La Liga (186), while he’s also struck nine goals in 14 World Cup finals appearances, plus 14 in the UEFA Champions League.
Goals by team:
Valencia CF – 129
New York City FC – 69
Spanish National Team - 59
FC Barcelona – 48
Sporting Gijon – 41
Real Zaragoza – 38
Atletico Madrid – 15
Melbourne City – 2
Milestones:
1st Professional Goal – 10/10/01 vs Real Oviedo
100th Professional Goal – 03/19/06 vs Racing Santander
200th Professional Goal – 04/19/09 vs Sevilla
300th Professional Goal – 11/28/12 vs Alaves
400th Professional Goal – 04/29/18 vs FC Dallas
New York City FC
NYCFC’s first signing, Villa has been instrumental in the Club’s success since inception. His first goal for the Club came on March 15, 2015 in his first MLS match in Yankee Stadium in the 19th minute against the New England Revolution in a 2-0 victory. Villa played a tidy one-two with Ned Grabavoy and dribbled past Revolution defenders to calmly slot the ball into the back of the net.
In 2016, Villa captured MLS MVP honors after scoring 23 goals en route to NYCFC’s first playoff appearance and became the first player in MLS history to score 20 goals in back-to-back seasons, finishing the 2017 campaign with 22 goals.
Sporting Gijon
El Guaje (“The Kid”) quickly established himself as a lethal asset in front of goal for Sporting Gijon, his first professional team based in his native Asturias. Villa became a local legend netting his first professional goal in an Asturian Derby match against Real Oviedo in the Copa del Rey. A few weeks later, his first professional league goal came on October 21st, 2001 against Gimnastic de Tarragona in the Spanish Segunda Division. That season, his first full season professional, Villa scored 18 times for Sporting Gijon. The next season, Villa scored 20 league goals for the first time in his career and his form led to a transfer to La Liga side Real Zaragoza at season’s end.
Real Zaragoza
His introduction to Spain’s first division was successful right from the start. Seventeen goals in his first season put Villa in the running for the Pichichi Trophy, awarded to La Liga’s top scorer. His goal scoring record at Zaragoza put in him the same category as Brazilian legend Ronaldo and future Spain teammate Fernando Torres, amongst others.
Valencia CF & Spanish National Team
After his second season in Zaragoza, and another double-digit goal tally, Villa was on the move again to Valencia CF. In his first season there, he scored 25 league goals, one shy of Samuel Eto’o for the Pichichi.
At Valencia is where Villa’s international career took off. A few months after his transfer to Valencia, El Guaje was called into the Spanish national team for the first time. Villa scored his first goal for La Roja in a World Cup qualifying against Slovakia on November 16th, 2005.
As the goals continued for flow in for Villa at Valencia, he was called up to the 2006 World Cup team where he netted a brace in his World Cup debut against Ukraine. He found the back of the net again in the Round of 16 match against France and ended as joint top scorer for his nation with three goals.
With already a stronghold on a starting spot in Spain’s starting XI, Villa was influential in Spain’s run to the Euro 2008 title, their first major piece of silverware since 1964. Villa’s four goals were enough to see him awarded the Golden Boot, given to the tournament’s top scorer.
2010 World Cup & FC Barcelona
Villa moved to Barcelona in 2010 prior to the World Cup and what a World Cup it was. El Guaje was joint top scorer in South Africa with game-winning goals against Portugal and Paraguay in the knockout stages keeping Spain’s World Cup dreams alive.
After winning the most prestigious trophy the game can offer, Villa won nearly every single piece of silverware available for a player to win at the club level.
At Barcelona, Villa scored 48 goals and won two La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey, two Supercopas de Espana, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
Atletico Madrid & Melbourne City
The success continued for a season at Atletico Madrid where Villa scored 13 league goals en route to another La Liga title, Atletico’s first since the 1995-96 campaign. It was after that final triumph in Spain, that Villa made the move to New York City, with a loan-spell in Melbourne in between.
Everyone at NYCFC would like to congratulate our first signing and first captain on this latest milestone.
Look out for a feast of #Villa400 content coming up on NYCFC.com and on our social media channels in the coming minutes, hours and days.
