Caminero in training with Spain |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Luis Pérez Caminero | ||
| Date of birth | November 8, 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Real Madrid | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1986–1989 | Real Madrid B | 39 | (4) |
| 1989–1993 | Valladolid | 134 | (3) |
| 1993–1998 | Atlético Madrid | 149 | (40) |
| 1998–2004 | Valladolid | 155 | (15) |
| National team | |||
| 1993–1996 | Spain | 21 | (8) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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José Luis Pérez Caminero (born 8 November 1967 in Madrid) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder.
Arguably one of the best Spanish footballers of the 1990s, Caminero was able to play in any midfield position, in the middle or in the wings. Having played in 408 La Liga games over the course of 14 seasons (57 goals), he possessed a vast array of skills: dribble, shot and physique, and his career was almost exclusively associated with Valladolid and Atlético Madrid.
Caminero represented Spain in one World Cup and one European Championship, scoring in both tournaments.
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After unsuccessfully emerging through the ranks of Real Madrid, Caminero joined Real Valladolid for 1989–90, helping the side barely avoid relegation. He netted his first La Liga goal in the following season, in a 3–1 home win against Valencia CF on 16 December 1990.
The peak of Caminero's career took place from 1993–94, when he moved to Atlético de Madrid. He was a key member of the squad that won an historical double in 1995–96, contributing with nine league goals in 37 games. Accordingly, after the season, he was given the Spanish Footballer of the Year award by both the Madrid newspaper El País and the prestigious football magazine Don Balón, being the only Atlético player to win both awards during one season, and scored a career-best 14 goals in the following campaign.
After four seasons at Atlético, Caminero re-joined Valladolid, where he ended his active playing career in 2004, after the team's top level relegation. In his final years, he further enhanced his versatility by playing in the sweeper position.
After his retirement, Caminero was installed as the team's director of football. He left the position citing personal reasons after 2007–08.[1] In May 2011, he returned to Alético, in the same predicament.[2]
Caminero made his Spanish national team debut on 8 September 1993, in a 2–0 friendly win with Chile in Alicante. He represented the country at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, where he was the nation's leading scorer at three (netting twice against Bolivia in a 3–1 group stage win[3]) and also in UEFA Euro 1996 in England, where he scored a late equalizer against France.[4]
Overall, Caminero scored eight goals in 21 caps, and his last appearance was against England in Euro '96, in a penalty shootout loss.
In June 2009, Caminero was arrested for possible connections to drug traffic operations, with a further 30 people being taken into custody for interrogation. He was released upon the reading of his rights.[5]
Caminero's football genius also made it to the silver screen. Spanish movie director Pedro Almodóvar included his dribbling against FC Barcelona's defender Miguel Ángel Nadal in his 1997 film Live Flesh (Carne trémula).
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