Juan Valera Espín (born 21 December 1984) 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 ...

. He operated as a

right-back 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 ...

right midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. 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 200 matches and eight goals over 11 seasons, representing in the competition

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

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, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

and

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

Club career

Born in

, Valera made his professional debut at hometown's

Real Murcia CF Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

, and first played in

in 2003–04, appearing in ten games during the season. For 2005–06 he moved to

on a three-year deal, where his progression was marred by injuries. On 25 February 2006, he scored twice as a substitute in a 5–0 home win 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 ...

. Valera agreed to a one-year loan at

on 1 September 2008. He scored his first goal for the

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

ns on 5 October, in a 1–0 last-minute away victory over

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. He also found the net in December, but in an insufficient 3–1

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 ...

group-stage defeat of

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Recalled for 2009–10, Valera also suffered initially with physical problems. However, he would manage to feature regularly over the course of the campaign – 36 competitive appearances – mainly as a

, competing with internationals Luis Perea and

Tomáš Ujfaluši Tomáš Ujfaluši (, born 24 March 1978) is a Czech former professional Association football, footballer. He operated as either a central defender or a Right back (association football), right-back. Initially beginning his career with SK Sigma Ol ...

for the position. He contributed seven matches in the ''Colchoneros Europa League victorious run, although only three complete, including the 2–1 away defeat against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the semi-finals (2–2 aggregate win); he also featured one minute in the final. In mid-August 2011, after Valera and Atlético amicably terminated the player's contract, which expired in June of the following year, he signed with fellow top-division side

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

. He started at right-back during his first season, replacing longtime incumbent Miguel Torres, and scored his first goal on 26 November 2011 whilst handing

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

their first loss of the campaign through a 67th-minute header, for the game's only goal at the

Coliseum Alfonso Pérez Estadio Coliseum () is a municipally-owned football (soccer), football stadium in Getafe, Spain. It is the home ground of Getafe CF. Stadium The stadium was built in 1998 and currently, after several extensions, it has a capacity of 17,393 people ...

. Again through a set piece and with his head, in the second fixture of

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Valera scored the equaliser to help Getafe to an eventual 2–1 home win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. On 3 June 2015, he left the club after his contract expired. Valera was forced to retire aged 31 due to a

hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...

injury.

Honours

Atlético Madrid *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: 2009–10 *

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 ...

runner-up: 2009–10 Spain U23 *

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valera, Juan 1984 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Murcia Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players CD Bullense players Real Murcia Imperial players Real Murcia CF players Atlético Madrid footballers Racing de Santander players Getafe CF footballers UEFA Europa League–winning players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in football Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain