Juan Manuel Peña Montaño (born 17 January 1973) is a Bolivian retired

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 ...

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 ...

. The vast majority of his professional career was spent in Spain, where he played a total of 14 years for three teams (mainly

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

), appearing in a total of 305

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' ...

games. Peña played more than 80 times with Bolivia, representing the nation at the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

and five Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Born in

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River in the eastern Tropical Lowlands of Bolivia ...

, Peña played for

Club Blooming Club Social, Cultural y Deportivo de Blooming, commonly known as Blooming, is a Bolivian professional football club from Santa Cruz de la Sierra that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1946, its home colours are sky bl ...

in his home country and Independiente Santa Fe in Colombia, before moving to Spain in 1995. At

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club c ...

he was a defensive stalwart for nine seasons – sharing teams with compatriot Marco Sandy in his first – leaving for

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, ...

upon his first team's 2004 relegation from

. At Villarreal Peña figured less prominently, but managed to score a rare goal, in a 3–0 home win against Málaga CF on 19 December 2004. After just six league appearances during 2006–07 he switched to

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

, in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Following two seasons of intermittent use, Peña retired in mid-November 2009 aged 36, not wishing to pursue his career anymore after careful deliberation. However, on 25 March of the following year, he signed with

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

of the Major League Soccer.

International career

After his debut for Bolivia in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

(aged 18), Peña went on to become one of its most

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

players and

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. With 85 international matches, he played a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

game, against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

(1–3 group stage loss), and also appeared in five Copa América editions. Peña scored only once for the national team, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

with Honduras played in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

on 11 October 2003. In his penultimate appearance, on 1 April 2009, he helped to the 6–1 demolition of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in La Paz for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.Bolivia humilla a Argentina (Bolivia humiliates Argentina)
Marca, 1 April 2009

International goals

Honours

Club

;Villarreal * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2004

References

External links

Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional
*
MLS player profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Juan Manuel 1973 births Living people Footballers from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Bolivian people of Spanish descent Bolivian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Bolivian Primera División players Categoría Primera A players Club Blooming players Independiente Santa Fe footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Real Valladolid players Villarreal CF players RC Celta de Vigo players Major League Soccer players D.C. United players Bolivia men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1993 Copa América players 1995 Copa América players 1991 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players Bolivian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate soccer players in the United States Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in the United States