Juan Carlos Sánchez Martínez (born 27 July 1987), known as Juan Carlos, is a Spanish 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Born in Calvià,

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

, Juan Carlos was a product of

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

's youth academy. He made his debut for the first team on 13 April 2008 in a 1–0 loss away loss against UD Almería, subbing in for sent off Diego López in the 18th minute. Previously, he was the undisputed starter for the reserves for three full seasons, starting in all the games he appeared in, including in 2008–09 as they promoted 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 ...

for the first time ever. Juan Carlos was third choice behind López and Sebastián Viera during the 2007–08 and 2008–09 campaigns in

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 ...

. In

2010–11 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 ...

he was promoted to backup, but still did not manage to play any league matches. On 12 July 2011, Juan Carlos was loaned to

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

neighbours Elche CF in the second tier. He severed his ties with Villarreal on 9 July 2015, and joined Albacete Balompié on a two-year contract the following day. On 8 July 2016, after ''Alba's''

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

, Juan Carlos signed 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 ...

also in division two. Midway through the 2017–18 season he lost his starting spot to

Alfonso Herrero Alfonso Herrero Peinador (born 21 April 1994) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Málaga CF. Club career Born in Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Herrero joined Real Madrid's youth setup in 2003, aged nine. He made his senior debu ...

, and left the club as his contract expired. Juan Carlos agreed to a two-year contract at

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 23 July 2018, still in the second division. On 30 July 2020, he moved to

CD Atlético Baleares Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares, S.A.D. ( ca, Club Esportiu Atlètic Balears) is a Spanish football team based in Palma, Majorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded on 1920, it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

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 ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juan Carlos 1987 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Mallorca Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players Elche CF players Albacete Balompié players Real Oviedo players CD Numancia players CD Atlético Baleares footballers UD Poblense players