Javier Germán Cruz (born 15 June 1971), known as Javi Germán, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the majority of his career with his hometown club Cádiz, making 226 appearances and scoring seven goals, including two goals in 38 La Liga matches.

Career

Germán was born in Cádiz, capital of the province of the same name in the autonomous community in Andalusia, and began his career with

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

. He made his La Liga debut on 2 March 1991, as Cádiz hosted

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

at Estadio Ramón de Carranza. He replaced Poli for the last minute of the game as Cádiz held on for an excellent 1–0 victory. This was his only minute of football that season, but he played a bigger part in 1991–92, and helped keep Cádiz in the top flight as they beat Figueres in the relegation playoff. The following year, Cádiz actually were relegated, and they suffered a second consecutive demotion in 1993–94. Germán stayed with the club 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 ...

for another five and a half seasons, ultimately making over 200 appearances. The best season in this period for both player and club was 1997–98, in which they had a chance to be promoted via the playoffs, missing out to

Barcelona B 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 ...

. He left the club in January 2000, joining fellow third tier side Ponferradina. He spent only half a season with Ponferradina before seeing out his career with one year each at Segunda División B sides Motril and

Benidorm Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotels were built, though ...

. He was relegated with Benidorm in 2001–02, and retired at the end of that season as he reached his 31st birthday.

Career statistics

:1. Appearances in the 1991–92 La Liga relegation playoff :2. Appearances in the 1998 Segunda División playoffs

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:German, Javi 1971 births Living people Footballers from Cádiz Spanish footballers Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Cádiz CF players SD Ponferradina players Motril CF players Benidorm CF footballers