Javier de Pedro

Javi de Pedro
Personal information
Full nameFrancisco Javier de Pedro Falque
Date of birth4 August 1973
Place of birthLogroño, Spain
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
Antiguoko
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1992–1993Real Sociedad B
1993–2004Real Sociedad304(45)
2004Blackburn Rovers2(0)
2005Perugia5(0)
2005–2006IFK Göteborg0(0)
2006Ergotelis0(0)
2006–2007Burgos5(0)
2007Vera0(0)
Total316(45)
National team
1991Spain U183(0)
1994–1996Spain U214(0)
1998–2003Spain12(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is De Pedro and the second or maternal family name is Falque.

Francisco Javier "Javi" de Pedro Falque (born 4 August 1973 in Logroño, La Rioja) is a Spanish retired footballer.

He played as a left midfielder, mainly with Real Sociedad, and possessed a thunderous left-foot shot. He also played professionally in four other countries, with no impact whatsoever.

De Pedro represented Spain at the 2002 World Cup.

Club career

A product of Real Sociedad's youth system, de Pedro first appeared with the main squad on 7 November 1993, subbing in in a 1–3 home defeat against UE Lleida. Subsequently he became an essential element with the La Liga club, creating opportunities and scoring alike: in the 2002–03 season he contributed with 29 games and three goals as the Basque finished in second position, trailing eventual champions Real Madrid by only two points.

De Pedro joined Blackburn Rovers in mid-June 2004, after he had been refused a move to Southampton the previous year, playing out undetermined the remaining season of his contract.[1] He made his debut for his new team on 14 August in a 1–1 Premier League home draw against West Bromwich Albion, before being substituted by Tugay Kerimoğlu for the second half of the match.[2]

On 31 January 2005, in the last day of the season's winter transfer window, de Pedro was released by Blackburn on a free transfer[3] and signed for Perugia Calcio, where he played only a few matches before joining Swedish club IFK Göteborg, thanks to the presence of former Real Sociedad teammate Håkan Mild, now the club's director of football; he left after only a few days due to personal reasons, in December.

Afterwards, de Pedro would only play some exhibition matches with second-tier side Ergotelis FC, in Greece. He subsequently returned to Spain to sign with historic Burgos CF, but appeared very rarely for the third division team.

In 2007–08 de Pedro started the season, alongside former teammate (in both Real Sociedad and country) Agustín Aranzábal, with regional club CD Vera Puerto de la Cruz in the Canary Islands,[4] but was dismissed by the team's coach due to a lack of commitment. He retired from football after this experience, and subsequently focused on getting the trainer degree.

International career

Having made his debut with Spain on 23 September 1998 in a friendly match against Russia in Granada,[5] de Pedro appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he played in all the matches as a starter. His last cap came in 2003.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 18 November 1998 Arechi, Salerno, Italy  Italy 1–1 2–2 Friendly
2. 30 April 2003 Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain  Ecuador 1–0 4–0 Friendly

Honours

Spain U21

References

External links