Carles Puyol

Puyol in 2010, photo by Maxisports/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Carles Puyol Saforcada

Place of Birth: La Pobla de Segur, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain

Date of Birth: 13 April, 1978

Ethnicity: Spanish Catalan

Carles Puyol is a Spanish professional footballer. He played as a central defender, and sometimes in full-back position and right-back. He served as the longtime team captain for his only club Barcelona, where he played 593 official games and won 18 major titles. He is nicknamed “El Tiburón”/”The Shark.”

Carles is the son of Rosa Saforcada and Josep Puyol, a farmer. His father was from Adons, and his mother is from Arrés, Aran Valley, both in Catalonia. He has two children with his former partner, model Vanesa Lorenzo.

Carles’s paternal grandmother is named Ramona.