José Antonio García Rabasco (born 29 September 1986), known as Verza, is a Spanish 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 central midfielder.

Club career

Born in Orihuela,

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

, Verza finished his youth career in Villarreal CF's academy, going on to spend two years with the reserves in the lower leagues. On 22 June 2003, he made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, playing the last 20 minutes in a 1–4 home loss against Real Betis. In January 2005, Verza was loaned 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 ...

side Recreativo de Huelva until the end of the season. In July, he joined neighbouring

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

in the

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 January 2007, after being sparingly used by the Andalusians, Verza moved to Orihuela CF on loan, signing permanently in July. After a one and a half years with the Valencian club, he joined second-tier Albacete Balompié on a two-year deal. Verza was an undisputed starter for the Castile-La Mancha side the following years but, after their relegation in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, he terminated his contract and signed with UD Almería from the same league shortly after. Verza appeared in 40 league matches in his second season (plus four in the play-offs), helping the ''Rojiblancos'' return to the top flight after a two-year absence. He played his first game in the competition in more than one decade on 19 August 2013, starting in a 2–3 home loss to former side Villarreal, and scored his first goal late in the month by netting from the penalty spot in the 2–2 home draw with Elche CF. On 8 February 2014, Verza grabbed a brace at the

Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos Power Horse Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Almería, Spain. It is the home ground of UD Almería, and holds 15,274 people. History Inaugurated on 31 July 2004 and originally built for the 2005 Mediterranean Games, the stadium cost around ...

to help hand

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

the second consecutive loss of the campaign, scoring the final 2–0 through a penalty. On 7 January of the following year, he scored an own goal and a penalty in the 1–1 home draw against

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. On 8 June 2015, Verza signed a four-year deal with

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

after his contract expired. On 31 August 2017, he returned to Almería after agreeing to a one-year loan. Verza became a free agent on 29 August 2018, and joined second division team

CF Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with ...

two days later. The following 19 July, after suffering relegation, he signed a two-year contract with third-tier FC Cartagena. Verza helped ''Efesé'' in their promotion to division two in his first season, but terminated his contract on 11 January 2021 after being rarely used in his second.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Villarreal *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Levante *

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Verza 1986 births Living people People from Orihuela Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players Recreativo de Huelva players Córdoba CF players Orihuela CF players Albacete Balompié players UD Almería players Levante UD footballers CF Rayo Majadahonda players FC Cartagena footballers Real Murcia players Spain youth international footballers