Joan Ramón 'Juan' Epitié Dyowe Roig (born 12 October 1976) is a former 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in Spain, he played for the Equatorial Guinea national team.

Club career

Born in

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographical centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are ...

Barcelona 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 ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Epitié played in Spain for the vast majority of his professional career, starting with local

Palamós CF Palamós Club de Futbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palamós, a town and commercial port in the ''Costa Brava'', in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in the late 19th century, it currently plays in '' Tercera Divisió ...

in the

fourth division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. He was signed by two

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 ...

clubs,

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

and

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

, but never appeared officially for either. On loan precisely from the

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

ns, Epitié joined

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל בני יהודה תל אביב, ''Moadon Kaduregel Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv''), commonly referred to as Bnei Yehuda (), is an Israeli football club from the Hatikva Quarter of the city of Te ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in early 2004. He failed to impress, only appearing in one

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League ( Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. Fro ...

match, and ended up signing with another side in the country,

F.C. Ashdod SC Ashdod ( he, מועדון ספורט אשדוד, ''Moadon Sport Ashdod'', lit. Sport Club Ashdod, mainly known in Israel by the semi-acronym name , ''Mem Samekh Ashdod'', lit. S.C. Ashdod) is an Israeli football club, playing in the port cit ...

, meeting a similar fate – he was released after a couple of months. In the 2004–05 season, Epitié returned to Alavés, now in the second level, and contributed with three goals as the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

returned to the top flight. He was however released during the ensuing summer, moving to fellow league team

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''No ...

. Epitié re-signed with Alavés in January 2007, but was immediately loaned to

California Victory The California Victory was a USL First Division professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California. It was an expansion team for the 2007 season, but ceased operation in September of that year after parent club Deportivo Alavés withdre ...

. During his spell in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which lasted less than one month, he played his first and last games against the same opposition, the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

. In the summer of 2007, Epitié returned to his country of adoption, resuming his career in the lower leagues and competing mainly in his native region.

International career

As many players born in Spain, Epitié chose to represent

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

through ancestry. On 1 June 2008, he scored one in the nation's 2–0 home win against

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifiers.

Personal life

Epitié's younger brother, Rubén, was also a footballer, in the same position. He spent the vast majority of his career in Spain's amateur leagues, and also appeared for Equatorial Guinea internationally.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Epitie, Juan 1976 births Living people Footballers from Manresa Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Equatoguinean sportspeople of Spanish descent Equatoguinean people of Catalan descent Spanish men's footballers Equatoguinean men's footballers Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CE Manresa players Palamós CF footballers Getafe CF footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Deportivo Alavés B players Recreativo de Huelva players Racing de Santander players Burgos CF footballers Deportivo Alavés players CD Castellón footballers Lorca Deportiva CF footballers Israeli Premier League players Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players F.C. Ashdod players USL First Division players California Victory players Equatorial Guinea men's international footballers International sportspeople born abroad Spanish expatriate men's footballers Equatoguinean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in Israel Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Catalan people 21st-century Catalan people 21st-century Equatoguinean people