Juan Manuel Mata

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Juan Mata
Personal information
Full name	Juan Manuel Mata García
Date of birth	April 28, 1988 (age 18)
Place of birth	Madrid, Spain
Height	1,70 m
Nickname	Juanito, Juanín, Matador
Playing position	Striker, Winger (Left)
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid Castilla
Number	28
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2006 -	Real Madrid Castilla	22 (7)
National team2
2006 - 2007 2007 -	Spain U-19 Spain U-21	5 (4) 1 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of February 12, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of February 12, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988 in Burgos) is a Spanish football striker, who currently plays for Real Madrid Castilla. He was the hero of the European Under-19 Championship.

Mata started his football career at Oviedo, his father's main football career team. Mata quickly impressed everyone with his goals, good technique and versatile positioning.

Mata played for Oviedo for 3 years before joining Madrid at only 15 years old. Since Mata made his debut for Cadet A he was raising to stardom, graduating from one junior team to another, soon the Juvenil C and finally the Juvenil A. In his last campaign he scored 18 goals in the League, and 3 more in the Cup Winners Cup (final phase of the Juvenil teams), and another 3 in the Spanish Juvenil Cup.

Mata signed for Valencia CF for season 2007/2008.^[1]

Contents 1 Personal Life 2 Summer 2006 3 Style of play 4 National Team 4.1 Video's

[edit] Personal Life

Mata is not only a great footballer but also a good student, managing to get good grades besides scoring great goals, and got in the "Universidad Politecnica de Madrid" (www.INEF.com) studying journalism. When he isn't on the pitch, Mata likes playing ping-pong in his free time, while on the pitch his dream is to break into the first team at the Bernabéu.

[edit] Summer 2006

After he won the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship with the U-19 Spanish squad, he was promoted to Real Madrid Castilla (skipping Real Madrid C) from Juvenil A.

• 'Juanito' finished the championship second to his teammate Alberto Bueno (5 goals) as top goal scorer of the competition with 4 goals in 5 matches.

He was given the number 34 shirt in the Real Madrid first team and the number 28 in Castilla.

[edit] Style of play

Mata is a striker who is able to link attack and midfield effectively.

At 1.70m in height and just over 61 kg, Mata is very mobile and light on his feet, and likes to switch positions or go out wide. He can put his team-mates through into great positions, and create chances for himself even against the toughest markers.

The resemblance in style of play to Real Madrid first team captain Raúl González is remarkable.

[edit] National Team

After winning the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship with the U-19, Mata is on to his next target. On February 1, Iñaki Sáez announced the squad list for the friendly against England, on that list were Roberto Soldado, José Manuel Jurado, Sergio Sánchez, Miguel Torres, Esteban Granero, Antonio Adán and Juan Mata, at just 18 years and 10 months.

[edit] Video's

• Mata's 2 Goals Against Turkey
• Mata's 2 Goals For Castilla Against Salmanca

Real Madrid Castilla - Current Squad
1 Codina | 2 Palencia | 3 Guillén | 4 Agus | 5 Sergio | 6 Tébar | 7 Valero | 8 Javi García | 9 Negredo | 10 Adrián | 11 Granero | 13 Casilla | 14 Bueno | 16 Sergio Sánchez | 18 Rodri | 19 Rayco | 20 Santacruz | 21 De la Red | 22 Torres | 24 Ángelo | 25 Adán | 27 Mosquera | 28 Mata | 32 Nieto | 33 Joni | 40 Velayos | 42 Parejo | Coach Míchel