Juan Francisco García Peña (born 1 October 1989), known as Juanfri, is 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 plays for Gibraltarian club Lincoln Red Imps as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Club career

Early years and Málaga

Born in

Fuengirola Fuengirola (), in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the pr ...

Province of Málaga The province of Málaga ( es, Provincia de Málaga ) is located in Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and by the provinces of Cádiz to the west, Seville to the northwest, Córdoba to the north, and Granada to ...

, Juanfri made his senior debut at the age of just 16 with local club

UD Fuengirola Los Boliches Unión Deportiva Fuengirola Los Boliches is a Spanish football team based in Fuengirola, Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2001 after a merger of UD Fuengirola and CD Los Boliches, it plays in Primera Andaluza, holdin ...

in the

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

, scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 9–0 win against Úbeda CF. In the 2008–09 season he moved to another modest side in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

Unión Estepona CF Unión Estepona Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Estepona, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Tercera División – Group 9, holding home matches at ''Estadio Francisco Muñoz Pére ...

, partnering former

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

legend

Catanha Henrique Guedes da Silva (born 6 March 1972), known as Catanha, is a former professional footballer who played as a striker, and the manager of CD Nerja. He played almost exclusively for modest clubs in his native Brazil (seven teams in total) ...

up front, and both were instrumental as they first promoted to

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 ...

; in the process, he netted the team's first-ever goal in the fourth tier of Spanish football.El delantero Juanfri (19 años), nuevo fichaje del Atlético Malagueño (Forward Juanfri (19), new Atlético Malagueño signing)
; Join Futbol, 23 July 2009 (in Spanish) Juanfri signed with Málaga in July 2009, being assigned to the reserves in division four. He made his first-team debut on 7 January 2010, in a 2–1 home defeat of

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

in the round of 16 of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

Sporting Goa

Juanfri did not appear in any more competitive games for Málaga and, in summer 2012, left for neighbouring

Écija Balompié Écija Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Écija, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1939, it plays in División de Honor Andaluza, the fifth tier of Spanish football. History In 2007–08 season, the club b ...

in the third division. On 31 January 2013, however, he moved abroad and joined

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

franchise

Sporting Clube de Goa Sporting Clube de Goa, simply known as Sporting Goa (also known by its abbreviation SCG), is an Indian professional football club based in Panaji, in the Indian state of Goa, that competes in Goa Professional League. The club has also competed ...

until the end of the season. Juanfri made his first appearance for his new team on 1 February 2013, being replaced in the 81st minute of the fixture against

Churchill Brothers SC Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually parti ...

(1–0 home victory). He scored his first goal on 20 March, equalising an eventual 3–1 win at Salgaocar FC through a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. In June 2013, Juanfri was released. He went on to resume his career in his country's lower leagues.

Later career

Early into the 2017 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, Juanfri left

FC Saburtalo Tbilisi FC Saburtalo is a Georgian football club, based in Tbilisi, the capital of the country. History Saburtalo was founded on August 20, 1999 in Tbilisi. In 2005, the club was bought by Iberia Business Group and its owner Tariel Khechikashvili, who ...

from Georgia and joined

club

Antequera CF Antequera Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Antequera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1992, it currently plays in Segunda Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio El Maulí'', with a capacity of 6,000 s ...

. On 3 August 2018, he signed for St Joseph's in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, where he formed an efficient attacking partnership with his compatriot Salva Boro; in 2020, he led a list of Spanish players abroad by scoring 21 goals in a calendar year.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juanfri 1989 births Living people People from Fuengirola Sportspeople from the Province of Málaga Spanish footballers Footballers from Andalusia Association football forwards Segunda División B players Tercera División players UD Fuengirola Los Boliches players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Écija Balompié players Marbella FC players Antequera CF footballers I-League players Sporting Clube de Goa players Erovnuli Liga players FC Saburtalo Tbilisi players Gibraltar Premier Division players Gibraltar National League players Lincoln Red Imps F.C. players St Joseph's F.C. players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in India Expatriate footballers in Georgia (country) Expatriate footballers in Gibraltar Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country) Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Gibraltar