Juan Baena Ruiz (18 May 1950 – 28 September 2012) was a Spanish

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 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 ...

. Born in Cueta, Baena began playing football in the

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

youth system. He made his debut with the senior side during the

1969–70 Segunda División The 1969–70 Segunda División season was the 39th since its establishment and was played between 6 September 1969 and 7 June 1970. Overview before the season 20 teams joined the league, including 3 relegated from the 1968–69 La Liga and 6 ...

season before going on loan to

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in ''Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

. Next, he joined

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

, where he helped the club gain promotion to

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's ...

. Manager

Arsenio Iglesias Arsenio Iglesias Pardo (born 24 December 1930) is a Spanish former football forward and manager. Nicknamed ''O Bruxo de Arteixo'' ("The Wizard of Arteixo"), his professional career, which spanned more than four decades, was closely associated t ...

moved Baena from forward to midfield and then to defense, where he excelled. In total, Baena made 224 La Liga appearances for Hércules.

References

External links

* 1950 births 2012 deaths People from Ceuta Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Ceuta Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Real Betis players CD Logroñés footballers Hércules CF players {{Spain-footy-defender-stub