Jose Reina, a Spanish goalkeeper, was born on August 31, 1982 in Madrid. He is the son of Miguel Reina Santos, the legendary goalkeeper of Atletico Madrid, a Spanish football club. Popularly known as “Pepe Reina”, he is married to Yolanda Ruiz, and has two children. Jose Reina was part of the U-17 Spanish football team that won the UEFA U-17 Championship in 1999. He made his international debut for the national team in 2005, in a 2-1 win against Uruguay. Jose Reina was also a part of the national team that won the UEFA European Championship in June 2008.
Jose Reina entered the world of football at the age of 18 for La Liga club FC Barcelona. He played for the team in the semi-finals at the UEFA Cup 2000-01 campaign against Liverpool. In order to gain experience, Jose Reina joined Villarreal CF, a Spanish Primera División football club on loan, in 2002. He was made permanent in 2004 after saving 7 out of 9 penalty kicks that season. During his stint with the Villarreal, he was a part of the team that won the UEFA Interorto Cup, a summer football competition for European clubs, for two consecutive seasons, 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Jose Reina was signed by Liverpool in July 2005 after he had earned the good will of the manager Rafael Benítez, who felt he was the best goalkeeper in Spain. He made his first appearance for Liverpool at the UEFA Champions League of 2005-06 season in the first qualifying round. He was a part of the runners-up team at the FIFA Club World Championship in 2005. Celebrating his 50th appearance for Liverpool in April 2006, Jose Reina went on to become the goalkeeper who has conceded fewest number of goals (29), in his first fifty games.
Jose Reina won his first Golden Glove award in May 2006 for keeping 20 clean sheets at the 2005-06 Premier League. He won the ‘Man of the Match’ award at the 2007 Champions League semi-final first-leg, for his fine saves which led Liverpool to a 4-1 win. Jose Reina, who had become Liverpool’s first choice goalkeeper, helped in winning the FA Cup final by saving 3 out of 4 penalties and also the Community Shield in 2006. Liverpool finished as runners at the UEFA Champions League in 2006-07. He signed a deal with Liverpool in June 2007 and extended his contract with the club till 2010.
Jose Reina won the Golden Glove award, for the second time, in August 2007 for keeping 19 clean sheets at the 2006-07 Barclays Premier League campaign. On February 2, 2008, Reina became the quickest goalkeeper in Liverpool history to keep 50 clean sheets. He made this record during a 3-0 win against Sunderland on his 92nd league outing. He was awarder with the Golden Glove yet again in 2008 for his impressive performance in the field. Jose Reina also holds the record for 11 consecutive clean sheets with Liverpool, previously held by Mineiro, a Brazilian footballer.
