José María Giménez Pérez (born 25 April 1980), known as Chema, is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a goalkeeper. He appeared in 125

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

matches over six seasons, at the service of

Xerez Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

. He represented the same club in La Liga.

Club career

Born in Orihuela,

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

, Valencian Community, Chema started his career with amateur and modest clubs, moving in the 2006–07 campaign to Xerez CD in the

. A backup in his first two years (being second choice to French

Stéphane Porato Stéphane Patrick Porato (born 19 September 1973) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career In his country Porato represented Sporting Toulon, AS Monaco FC, Olympique de Marseille (where he played in the 1999 ...

in his second season) he became an undisputed starter afterwards, playing 41 games as the Andalusia side reached the top flight for the first time ever. In La Liga, Chema backed up Brazilian Renan, newly signed from Valencia CF, his first match only coming on 7 March 2010 in a 4–2 away win against neighbours

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

. After retaining his post the following two games he suffered an injury, in an eventual immediate relegation as last. In the summer of 2014, after one season in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

with

Skoda Xanthi FC Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xa ...

, Chema returned to his homeland and signed for

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. On 4 July 2017, the 37-year-old free agent moved down to the Tercera División and joined

CD Eldense Club Deportivo Eldense is a Spanish football team based in Elda, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1921, the club plays in the Primera División RFEF – Group 2, and holds home matches at ''Estadio Nuevo Pepico Amat'', which ha ...

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chema 1980 births Living people People from Orihuela Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Murcia Imperial players Alicante CF footballers Xerez CD footballers Hércules CF players CD Eldense footballers Crevillente Deportivo players Super League Greece players Xanthi F.C. players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece