Rio Antonio Mavuba

Rio Mavuba

Mavuba playing for Lille OSC in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Rio Antonio Zoba Mavuba
Date of birth	(1984-03-08) 8 March 1984 (age 33)
Place of birth	Born at sea
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Sparta Prague
Number	24
Youth career
2002–2003	Bordeaux
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2007	Bordeaux	127	(1)
2007–2008	Villarreal	5	(0)
2008	→ Lille (loan)	17	(1)
2008–2017	Lille	282	(4)
2017–	Sparta Prague	2	(0)
National team‡
2004–2006	France U21	20	(1)
2004–	France	13	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 August 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 June 2014

Rio Antonio Zoba Mavuba (born 8 March 1984) is a French footballer who plays for Czech club AC Sparta Prague as a midfielder.

He played most of his professional career with Bordeaux and Lille, winning the 2011 national championship with the latter.

A France international since 2004, Mavuba represented the country at the 2014 World Cup.

Mavuba's father was Mafuila Mavuba, a footballer who appeared at the 1974 FIFA World Cup with Zaire, while his mother was an Angolan national. He was born on board a boat in international waters during the period of the Angolan Civil War, and later stated that his birth certificate did not have a nationality on it, reading only "born at sea"; he received French nationality in September 2004.

Mavuba's mother died when he was two, and his father 12 years later. He launched himself into football to help deal with his grief.

Mavuba played youth football with FC Girondins de Bordeaux. He made his Ligue 1 debut on 10 January in a 2–1 away win against Montpellier HSC and, under recently appointed manager Michel Pavon, became an immediate first-choice.

From the 2004–05 season until the end of his spell, Mavuba never appeared in less than 32 league matches.