Efraín Juárez

Efraín Juárez
Personal information
Full name Efraín Juárez Valdez
Date of birth 22 February 1988 (1988-02-22) (age 24)
Place of birth Mexico City, Mexico
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Right back
Club information
Current club Zaragoza
(on loan from Celtic)
Number 2
Youth career
2001–2006 UNAM
2006–2008 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2008–2010 UNAM 66 (0)
2010– Celtic 13 (0)
2011– → Zaragoza (loan) 14 (1)
National team‡
2005 Mexico U-17 5 (1)
2007 Mexico U-20 4 (1)
2009– Mexico 38 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 December 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 November 2011
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Juárez and the second or maternal family name is Valdez.

Efraín Juárez Valdez (born 22 February 1988) is a Mexican footballer who currently plays as a right back for La Liga club Real Zaragoza[1] on loan from Celtic, and the Mexico national team.

Contents

Club career

Club Universidad Nacional

Juárez joined the Pumas youth system at the age of thirteen. After winning the 2005 under-17 World Championship, playing a key role in defense, he was snapped up by Barcelona along with national teammate Jorge Hernández in 2006. Without very much support and very few minutes given in the Barcelona B team, he returned to Pumas Morelos and it took some time for coach Ricardo Ferretti to call him to Pumas. Competing for a position in the right wing with Fernando Espinoza, he quickly became a starter in Ferretti's team. With Ferretti's decision to give continuity to its team, Juárez renewed his contract facing the Clausura 2009 tournament.. Pumas finished champions, beating Pachuca.[2]

Celtic

On 17 July 2010, Pumas accepted a bid for Juárez from Scottish Premier League club Celtic.[3] On 26 July a £4 million transfer was agreed and Juárez signed a four-year contract with The Hoops, making him the first ever Mexican player to play in the SPL.[4][5]

Juárez made his Celtic debut in a 3-0 Champions League defeat away to Braga.[6] He scored his first goal for the club in the return fixture at Celtic Park with a header.[7] He then scored his second goal, again at Celtic Park, in a Europa League qualifying first leg match against Utrecht two weeks later.[8] Juárez was close to agreeing a loan move to Serie A side Brescia Calcio in the January 2011 transfer window but the deal fell through.[5] He had since fallen out of favour with the first team and his agent admitted that Juárez may need to move on in the summer of 2011 to receive first team football.[5]

Real Zaragoza (loan)

On 26 July 2011 after weeks of speculation, Juárez was loaned out to La Liga side Real Zaragoza,[9][10] were he would be re-united with former Mexico national team coach Javier Aguirre. He made his debut for Zaragoza in a 6-0 loss against Real Madrid.[11] He then scored his first goal for the club in a 4-3 defeat to newly promoted Real Betis.[12]

International career

On 28 June 2009, Juárez made his first international cap with the Mexico senior team against Guatemala.[13] Juárez played a part of the team that won the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In the Gold Cup, he mainly played at right back. He started and completed all games played in the competition. Thanks to his great performance, he quickly gained a spot on the national team. Juárez scored for Mexico against Costa Rica during a penalty shootout.[14]

On 11 June 2010, Juárez became the first player to be booked at the 2010 World Cup in Mexico's opening match against South Africa.[15][16] He also played in Mexico's 2-0 victory over France on 17 June, when he was replaced by Javier Hernandez on 55 minutes, who later himself went on to score.[17]

On 22 September 2010, it was announced that Juarez and Mexico teammate Carlos Vela banned from international duty for six months for their involvement in a party in Monterrey following a game with Colombia two weeks earlier.[18]

Juarez scored his first goal for the national team in the 5-0 win against El Salvador in the opening match of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup on 5 June.[19]

International goals

Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 June 2011 Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States  El Salvador 1–0 5–0 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Career statistics

Club

As of 17 December 2011[20][21]
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Mexico League Cup League Cup North America Total
2008–09 UNAM Primera División 41 0 2 1 43 1
2009–10 25 0 4 0 29 0
Scotland League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
2010–11 Celtic SPL 13 0 1 0 2 0 4 2 21 2
Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total
2011–12 Zaragoza La Liga 14 1 0 0 – – – 14 1
Total Mexico 66 0 – – 6 1 72 1
Scotland 13 0 1 0 2 0 4 2 20 2
Spain 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1
Career total 93 1 1 0 2 0 10 3 106 4

International

As of 11 November 2011
National team Year Apps Goals
Mexico
2009 9 0
2010 16 0
2011 13 1
Total 38 1

Honours

Club

Club Universidad Nacional

International

Mexico U-17
Mexico

References

  1. ^ "Efraín Juárez player profile". Celtic FC. http://www.celticfc.net/player.php?id=25. 
  2. ^ Mexican Primera Division Tables - 2008/2009 Clausura Soccerway
  3. ^ Mexican star Juarez joins Bhoys in Seattle Celtic FC, 17 July 2010
  4. ^ New Bhoy Juarez makes Paradise bow Celtic FC, 26 July 2010
  5. ^ a b c "Efrain Juarez could be set for move away from Celtic, admits agent". Daily Record. March 19, 2011. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/celtic/2011/05/19/efrain-juarez-could-be-set-for-move-away-from-celtic-admits-agent-86908-23140529/. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  6. ^ Braga 3 - 0 Celtic BBC Sport, 28 July 2010
  7. ^ Celtic 2-1 Braga (agg 2-4) BBC Sport, 4 August 2010
  8. ^ "Celtic 2 - 0 FC Utrecht". BBC Sport. 19 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8925667.stm. Retrieved 19 August 2010. 
  9. ^ "Efrain Juárez joins Real Zaragoza on loan". Celtic FC Official Website. Retrieved 26 July.
  10. ^ "Celtic hizo oficial la salida de Efraín Juárez al Zaragoza". Medio Tiempo. http://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/liga-espanola/noticias/2011/07/26/celtic-hizo-oficial-la-salida-de-efrain-juarez-al-zaragoza. Retrieved 26 July 2011. 
  11. ^ "Zaragoza 0-6 Real Madrid: Ronaldo hat-trick secures huge opening win for Los Blancos". A different league. 28 August 2011. http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_1_9221_zaragoza-0-6-real-madrid-ronaldo-hat-trick-secures-huge-opening-win-for-los-blancos.html. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 
  12. ^ "Newly promoted Real Betis takes Spanish league lead with 4-3 win over Zaragoza". Washington Post. 23 September 2011. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/newly-promoted-real-betis-takes-spanish-league-lead-with-4-3-win-over-zaragoza/2011/09/22/gIQAylBmoK_story.html. Retrieved 23 September 2011. 
  13. ^ "México 0-0 Guatemala... Tri se peleó de nuevo con el gol". Medio Tiempo. http://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/seleccion-mexicana/cronicas/2009/06/28/el-tri-nuevamente-se-039peleo039-con-el-gol_24520. Retrieved 21 August 2010. 
  14. ^ "Costa Rica 1-1 Mexico". Soccernet. 23 July 2009. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/gamecast?id=276249&cc=5901. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 
  15. ^ Mexico's Juarez gets World Cup's first booking The Hindustan Times, 11 June 2010
  16. ^ FT: South Africa 1 Mexico 1 Sky Sports, 11 June 2010
  17. ^ Mexico subs shoot down France FIFA.com, 17 June 2010
  18. ^ "Carlos Vela and Efrain Juarez banned by Mexico". BBC Sport. 22 September 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9023803.stm. Retrieved 25 September 2010. 
  19. ^ "Five-Star starts for Ticos, Mexico" FIFA.com, 6 June 2011
  20. ^ "Efraín Juárez stats". Medio Tiempo. http://www.mediotiempo.com/jugador.php?id_jugador=11316&todos=1&id_liga=1. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
  21. ^ "Efraín Juárez stats". ESPN Deportes. http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/futbol/jugador/_/id/101918/efrain-juarez. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 

External links

Real Zaragoza – current squad