Daniel Jarque González (1 January 1983 – 8 August 2009) was a Spanish 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 ...
who played as a
central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
and
spent his entire career with
Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...
. He was named
team captain
In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...
one month before his death from a heart attack at the age of 26.
Club career
Born in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
, and a product of local
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...
's youth system, Jarque made his
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
debut with his hometown club on 20 October 2002, in a match against
Recreativo de Huelva
Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...
in
2002–03. After only 15 appearances over two seasons, he went on to become a defensive mainstay for a team that
won the 2006 edition of the
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
.
On 18 September 2005, he scored the game's only goal to help the hosts defeat
Real Madrid.
In
2006–07, after renewing his contract until 2009, Jarque appeared in 14
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
games as Espanyol
reached the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
, lost on
penalties to
Sevilla FC
Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...
.
In the
previous league campaign, he contributed four league goals as the ''Pericos'' finished 15th.
Jarque relieved
Raúl Tamudo
Raúl Tamudo Montero (born 19 October 1977) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker.
An icon at Espanyol, he captained the club for almost a decade, playing nearly 400 official games, winning two Copa del Rey an ...
of his
captain duties at the start of
2009–10.
Death and tributes
According to several online Spanish newspapers, Jarque was found dead during Espanyol's pre-season, in
Coverciano,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, Italy. On 8 August 2009, he was on the phone with his girlfriend in the team hotel when he suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
. Some other news sources say that Jarque's girlfriend, who was seven months into her pregnancy, reported his absence to his roommate
Coro.
[
On 15 August 2009, Arsenal player ]Cesc Fàbregas
Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como.
Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when ...
, a former teammate of Jarque in the Spain under-21 side, dedicated his second goal in his team's 6–1 Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
win at Everton to him by raising a shirt with his name and number (#21, which he wore mainly as a professional). The homage was again paid the following month – as Espanyol won the first match at their new Estadi Cornellà-El Prat – against Málaga CF – by 2–1 scorer Iván Alonso
Iván Daniel Alonso Vallejo (born 10 April 1979) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a striker.
Gifted with an excellent aerial ability, he was most noted for his Alavés stint, and spent the bulk of his professional career in Spai ...
, as Jarque's pregnant girlfriend was also giving birth to the couple's daughter.
On 11 July 2010, Jarque's close friend Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of hi ...
celebrated his 116th-minute winner in the FIFA World Cup final by removing his jersey to reveal an undershirt with the sentence "Dani Jarque siempre con nosotros" ("Dani Jarque, always with us"). Two years later, after Spain won UEFA Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...
, Fàbregas again donned a T-shirt during the trophy celebrations to remember his death.
The Espanyol training ground and B-team stadium was also renamed in Jarque's memory.
Honours
Espanyol
*Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
: 2005–06[
*]UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
runner-up: 2006–07[
* Supercopa de España runner-up: 2006
*]Copa Catalunya
The Copa Catalunya (''Catalonia Cup'') is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain.
History
Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the '' Champions ...
runner-up: 2007
Spain U-19
*UEFA European Under-19 Championship
The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA.
Spain and England ...
: 2002
See also
* List of one-club men
*List of footballers who died while playing
The following is an incomplete list of association footballers who died during their playing careers.
Association football players who died on the pitch or from pitch related incidents
Following an increase in deaths, both during matches and tr ...
References
External links
*
Espanyol archives
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarque, Daniel
1983 births
2009 deaths
Spanish footballers
Footballers from Barcelona
Association football defenders
La Liga players
Segunda División B players
RCD Espanyol B footballers
RCD Espanyol footballers
Spain youth international footballers
Spain under-21 international footballers
Catalonia international footballers