David Mateos Rocha (born 7 February 1985) is a Spanish retired

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

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and the manager of

Mérida AD Asociación Deportiva Mérida, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2013 it is a successor club of CP Mérida, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1. Hist ...

Club career

Born in Cáceres,

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

, Rocha started playing football in

CP Cacereño Club Polideportivo Cacereño is a Spanish football team based in Cáceres, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1919, the club plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, and holds home games at ''Estadio Príncipe Felipe'', ...

's youth system, and made his debuts as a senior in the 2002–03 campaign, in

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 ...

. In 2005, he moved to

Villarreal CF B Villarreal Club de Fútbol "B" is a Spanish football team based in Villarreal, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1999, it is the reserve team of Villarreal CF and plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Ciudad Deporti ...

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

, appearing regularly for the side. On 11 January 2008 Rocha joined

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

in the third level. On 15 July he returned to Cacereño, with the side now in the fourth division, winning promotion in his first season. On 14 July 2011 Rocha signed for

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

, after being

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 ...

at his previous club. On 26 June 2013 he moved to fellow third division side

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

, signing a two-year deal. On 19 June 2015, after winning promotion to

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 ...

with ''Nàstic'', Rocha renewed his link until 2018. He made his professional debut on 23 August, starting in a 2–2 home draw against former club Albacete. On 21 January 2016 Rocha moved abroad for the first time in his career, after agreeing to a three-year deal with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

. On 6 July 2016, he mutually terminated his contract with Dynamo after alleging "family reasons". On 11 July 2016 Rocha returned to Spain and its second tier, after agreeing to a two-year deal with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

. On 4 July 2018 he terminated his contract, and returned to Gimnàstic just hours later. Rocha cut ties with ''Nàstic'' on 24 January 2019, and signed a short-term deal with fellow league team

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

just hours later. On 2 July, he signed a two-year contract with

Extremadura UD Extremadura Unión Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2007, it last played in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Francisco de la Her ...

, still in the second division.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocha, David 1985 births Living people People from Cáceres, Spain Footballers from the Province of Cáceres Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CP Cacereño players Villarreal CF B players FC Cartagena footballers Albacete Balompié players Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Real Oviedo players UD Almería players Extremadura UD footballers Mérida AD players Major League Soccer players Houston Dynamo FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Spanish football managers Primera Federación managers Mérida AD managers