Javier 'Javi' Flaño Bezunartea (born 19 August 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He represented Spain up to under-23 level, and spent most of his career with Osasuna.

Club career

A product of hometown CA Osasuna's youth system, Flaño was born in Pamplona, and he made his debut with the first team in a La Liga 2–1 home win against Villarreal CF on 28 August 2005, going on to finish his first season with 31 games. Aged only 17, he began playing regularly with the reserves 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 ...

. Flaño remained an important fixture with the

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

se the following campaign. He scored his first goal on 10 December 2006 in a 3–0 home victory over

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, adding eight appearances in the club's semi-final run in the UEFA Cup (plus both legs in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round against Hamburger SV). From 2007 onwards, twin brother Miguel became an undisputed starter while Javier was only a fringe player. Released in June 2009, he joined

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

on a free transfer for two years, as the Soria side had just been relegated from the top division; he appeared in 40

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 in his second season – 39 starts – in a final comfortable midtable position. On 22 July 2014, following one-year spells in the second division with Elche CF and CD Mirandés, Flaño returned to his first club, where his brother was still playing. On 7 June of the following year, in the last round of the campaign and with the team needing one point to avoid a second consecutive relegation, he scored a last-minute header for a 2–2 draw at CE Sabadell FC. Flaño started in 37 of his 38 league appearances in 2015–16 to help Osasuna return to the top flight after a two-year absence. In the early stages of the following season, both siblings suffered a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament on their left knee, being sidelined for several months. Having only totalled ten games in his last two seasons, Flaño left for third-tier

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Las Gaunas'', ...

in July 2018.

Personal life

Flaño's twin brother, Miguel, was also a footballer and a defender. Both were groomed at Osasuna.

Honours

Elche *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Spain U23 *

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flano, Javier 1984 births Living people Spanish twins Twin sportspeople Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Pamplona Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CA Osasuna B players CA Osasuna players CD Numancia players Elche CF players CD Mirandés footballers UD Logroñés players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in football Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain