David Rochela Calvo (born 19 February 1990) is a Spanish retired 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 central defender. Formed at Deportivo La Coruña, he made 18 appearances including in La Liga and the

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 ...

, also representing Racing de Santander in the latter. He spent most of his career in the

Thai League 1 The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from August ...

, winning honours at

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบุรีรัมย์ ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Buriram, Thailand. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the ...

and Port.

Club career

Deportivo

Born in

As Pontes de García Rodríguez As Pontes de García Rodríguez is a municipality in the comarca (Spain), Comarca of Eume in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is situated in the northwest of the province. ...

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, Rochela began his career at local Deportivo de La Coruña, initially for the reserve team in the

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 ...

. He was one of several new faces called up by first-team manager

Miguel Ángel Lotina Miguel Ángel Lotina Oruechebarría (; born 18 June 1957) is a Spanish professional manager and former footballer who played as a striker. Playing career Born in Meñaka, Biscay, Lotina started playing football with local Gernika Club, represe ...

for a Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg on 27 January 2010 against Sevilla FC, who had won the first match 3–0; he debuted as a 70th-minute substitute for

Juca Júlio Cernadas Pereira (13 January 1929 – 11 October 2007), commonly known as Juca, was a Portuguese football midfielder and coach. Most of his career was associated with Sporting CP, as both player and manager. Playing career The son of ...

in an inconsequential 1–0 away victory. Rochela made his La Liga bow on 24 April 2010, as a half-time replacement for the injured

Piscu Piscu is a commune in Galați County, Western Moldavia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hung ...

in a 1–0 loss at Valencia CF. He then started the next three games in the closing stages of the season. Rochela barely played in the next two years, as Deportivo were relegated and then promoted as champions of

. On 20 July 2012, with three years remaining on his ''Depor'' contract, he was loaned to newly-relegated Racing de Santander. He spent the second half of that campaign in his first foreign experience, at

Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל תל אביב , ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Tel Aviv)'' is an Israeli football club based in Tel Aviv that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club's traditional hom ...

in the Israeli Premier League.

Thailand

Rochela moved to

Thai Premier League The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from August ...

champions

Buriram United F.C. Buriram United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบุรีรัมย์ ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Buriram, Thailand. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the ...

where he won the Kor Royal Cup in February 2014 with a 1–0 win over Muangthong United FC. On 2 November that year, he scored a penalty in a 2–1 home defeat of

Police United F.C. Police United Football club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลเพื่อนตำรวจ) is a Thai defunct Association football, football club that was managed by the Royal Thai Police from 1960 to 2008. In 2017, the club merged ...

to retain the title. On 9 July 2021, Rochela scored again from the spot in a 5–1 Port F.C. victory at Guangzhou F.C. in the group stage of the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

. It was his first goal in a continental competition. In May 2023, Rochela announced his retirement at age 33.

International career

Rochela was part of the Spain squad at the

2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2007 Final Tournament was held in Belgium from 2 to 13 May 2007. Top-five teams (two best places from each group plus winner of playoff between third-placed teams) qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007 ...

, winning the tournament in Belgium. The same year, they finished second at the FIFA World Cup held in South Korea.

Career statistics

Honours

Deportivo *

: 2011–12 Buriram United *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Kor Royal Cup:

Port * Thai FA Cup:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Spain U17 * UEFA European Under-17 Championship:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

* FIFA U-17 World Cup runner-up:

References

External links

Deportivo official profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochela, David 1990 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from As Pontes de García Rodríguez Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Deportivo Fabril players Deportivo de La Coruña players Racing de Santander players Israeli Premier League players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players David Rochela David Rochela David Rochela Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Thailand