Francisco Javier "Javi" Vicente Navarro (born 6 February 1974) is a Spanish retired 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 lea ...

. During his career, the

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

represented mainly

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, achieving great success with the latter club – five major titles, including two UEFA Cups. Over 15 seasons, greatly hindered by injuries, he amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 224 matches and three goals. Navarro played four times for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, making his debut in 2006.

Club career

Valencia

Navarro was born in

. A product of hometown club

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

's youth system, he made his first-team debut during the 1993–94 season – four

appearances – and, after a loan stint with

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in '' Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club ha ...

also in the top flight, returned for 1995–96, playing 19 matches as the side finished runners-up. Navarro suffered a serious knee injury in late 1996, being out of action almost three years and then loaned to neighbours

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

for 2000–01 upon his recovery.

Sevilla

After that single campaign in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, in July 2001 Navarro signed for

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

, where he proceeded to form a formidable centre-back partnership with

Pablo Alfaro Pablo Alfaro Armengot (born 26 April 1969) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. In his career, in which he represented six teams – most notably Sevilla – he amassed La Liga totals of 418 ma ...

the next five years. He scored his first goal in the top flight on 15 June 2003, but in a 3–2 away loss against

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

. On 20 March 2005, he brutally impacted with his elbow on

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

Juan Arango Juan Fernando Arango Sáenz (born 16 May 1980) is a Venezuelan former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Arango was considered by some in the sport as the greatest Venezuelan footballer of all time. He spent the be ...

, leaving the

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n unconscious on the pitch. After being one of Sevilla's most important players throughout the team's conquests from 2005 to 2007 (two UEFA Cups, one

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

and one

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

), Navarro spent two years on the sidelines with another severe knee injury. He eventually retired from the game at the end of the 2008–09 season, aged 35. Navarro returned to Sevilla in late June 2010, being named manager Antonio Álvarez's assistant.

International career

At the age of 32 years and nine months, Navarro earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

in a friendly 0–1 loss against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on 15 November 2006 in

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

, becoming the third-oldest debutant for the national team after

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking ...

(34) and

Vicente Engonga Vicente Engonga Maté (born 20 October 1965) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played mainly as a central midfielder but occasionally as a sweeper. He played for six clubs in his career, having his longest and most successful s ...

(32 and 11 months). Previously, he appeared with

the nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, reaching the quarter-finals.

Honours

Sevilla *

: 2006–07 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 2005–06, 2006–07 *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

References

External links

*
CiberChe stats and bio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro, Javi 1974 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Valencia Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players CD Logroñés footballers Elche CF players Sevilla FC players UEFA Europa League–winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Spain Sevilla FC non-playing staff