Juan Carlos Valerón

Juan Carlos Valerón
Personal information
Full nameJuan Carlos Valerón Santana
Date of birth17 June 1975
Place of birthArguineguín, Spain
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Las Palmas
Number21
Youth career
1987–1990Arguineguín
1990–1994Las Palmas
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1994–1995Las Palmas B25(7)
1995–1997Las Palmas54(2)
1997–1998Mallorca36(3)
1998–2000Atlético Madrid65(7)
2000–2013Deportivo La Coruña328(24)
2013–Las Palmas56(3)
National team
1997–1998Spain U214(0)
1997Spain U234(0)
1998–2005Spain46(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 16 February 2015 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Valerón and the second or maternal family name is Santana.

Juan Carlos Valerón Santana (born 17 June 1975) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for UD Las Palmas as an attacking midfielder.

He is known for his technical abilities, especially passing skills and ball control. He also had many injuries during his professional career.[1][2] Over the course of 15 seasons he amassed La Liga totals of 390 games and 29 goals, in representation of Mallorca, Atlético Madrid and Deportivo La Coruña, spending 13 years with the latter club.

Valerón represented Spain in the 2002 World Cup and two European Championships, gaining 46 caps.

Club career

Early years

Born in Arguineguín, Gran Canaria,[3] Valerón started playing with hometown's UD Las Palmas, but switched to the Balearic Islands in the 1997–98 season, representing RCD Mallorca and making his La Liga debut on 31 August 1997 by playing ten minutes in a 2–1 home win over Valencia CF.

He was an instrumental figure in the club's qualification for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with the team also finishing fifth in the league and reaching the final of the Copa del Rey, lost to eventual champions FC Barcelona in a penalty shoot-out.

Atlético Madrid / Deportivo

In the next two years, Valerón played for Atlético Madrid where he was an undisputed starter but, following the side's relegation in 2000, he joined Deportivo de La Coruña, sharing club and position with equally talented Brazilian Djalminha. He gradually would become first-choice, signing a contract to eventually see off the remainder of his career with the Galicians in February 2004.[4]

In January 2006, however, Valerón started a bad run with injuries. He suffered a knee injury[5] which relapsed in July[6] and early 2007 (with him only managing two league appearances in the process), leading to another surgery.[7] Consequently he did not reappear until midway through the 2007–08 campaign.

On 27 January 2008, Valerón returned to the bench in Deportivo's 3–1 home win against Real Valladolid, replacing Andrés Guardado for the final 15 minutes – his first match for over a year. In 2008–09, aged 33, he eventually became an important first-team fixture again,[8] both on domestic and European fronts.[9]

36-year-old Valerón was an undisputed starter for Depor in the 2011–12 season, scoring a career-best five goals in nearly 3,000 minutes of action in Segunda División as his team returned to the top flight after one year out, as champions.[10]

Return to Las Palmas

On 14 July 2013, following another Deportivo relegation, Valerón returned to his first club Las Palmas after 16 years, signing a 1+1 contract.[11]

International career

A Spanish international since 18 November 1998 in a 2–2 friendly draw with Italy in Salerno,[12] Valerón appeared with the national side at UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup (where he scored in a 3–1 win against Slovenia[13]) and Euro 2004, netting immediately after coming from the bench in a 1–0 victory over Russia in the latter competition.[14]

He made his last international appearance on 26 March 2005, a 3–0 win over China.[15]

International goals

[16]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 2 June 2002 Gwangju World Cup, Gwangju, South Korea  Slovenia 2–0 3–1 2002 FIFA World Cup
2. 7 September 2002 Apostolos Nikolaidis, Athens, Greece  Greece 0–2 0–2 Euro 2004 qualifying
3. 11 October 2003 Hanrapetakan, Yerevan, Armenia  Armenia 0–1 0–4 Euro 2004 qualifying
4. 5 June 2004 Alfonso Pérez, Getafe, Spain  Andorra 4–0 4–0 Friendly
5. 12 June 2004 Estádio Algarve, Faro, Portugal  Russia 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2004

Honours

Club

Deportivo

Country

Spain U21

Statistics

Club

As of 12 October 2014[18][19][20]
Club performance League Cup Super Cup Continental Total
Season Club Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa Europe Total
1994–95Las Palmas BTercera División257–––257
1995–96Las PalmasSegunda División B27021––291
1996–97Segunda División27270––342
1997–98MallorcaLa Liga363111––474
1998–99Atlético Madrid30350–50403
1999–0035460–60474
2000–01Deportivo La Coruña314200080414
2001–0236340–133536
2002–03232102150313
2003–0434310–142495
2004–0538110–80471
2005–0620431–60295
2006–072010––30
2007–085000––50
2008–0922030–121371
2009–1024130––271
2010–1121050––260
2011–12Segunda División39510––405
2012–13La Liga33110––341
2013–14Las PalmasSegunda División45310––463
2014–156010––70
Total Las Palmas B 257———257
Las Palmas 1055111——1165
Mallorca 363111——474
Atlético Madrid 657110—110877
Deportivo La Coruña 328242612166642232
Career total 559465932177669756

International

[16]

Spain
YearAppsGoals
199810
199960
200070
200140
200292
2003101
200482
200510
Total465

Personal life

Valerón's older brother, Miguel Ángel, was also a footballer and a midfielder.[21] Having represented Las Palmas and Mallorca B, his career was also curtailed by injuries.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Juan Carlos Valerón, cronología de una lesión maldita" [Juan Carlos Valerón, chronology of injury curse] (in Spanish). Diarios de Fútbol. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Jugadores de ayer y de hoy: Juan Carlos Valerón" [Players of yesterday and today: Juan Carlos Valerón] (in Spanish). RCDM. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Valerón, el hechicero de Arguineguín" [Valerón, the wizard of Arguineguín]. Vavel (in Spanish). 26 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Valerón shows devotion to Depor". UEFA.com. 10 February 2004. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  5. ↑ "Valerón suffers injury blow". UEFA.com. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  6. ↑ "Tottenham hit by King injury blow". UEFA.com. 30 July 2006. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  7. ↑ "Crucial surgery nears for Valerón". UEFA.com. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  8. ↑ "Valerón thankful for new lease of life". UEFA.com. 28 January 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  9. ↑ "Valerón fires Depor through". UEFA.com. 26 July 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  10. ↑ "Valerón, 37 años de un genio" [Valerón, 37 years of genius]. El Día (in Spanish). 15 April 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Juan Carlos Valerón vuelve a la Unión Deportiva Las Palmas" [Juan Carlos Valerón returns to Unión Deportiva Las Palmas] (in Spanish). Las Palmas' official website. 14 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Notable alto" [B Plus]. El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 19 November 1998. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Spain see off Slovenia". BBC Sport. 2 June 2002. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  14. ↑ "Spain 1–0 Russia". BBC Sport. 12 June 2004. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  15. ↑ "Aperitivo oriental" [Oriental hors d'oeuvre]. El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 27 March 2005. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Juan Carlos Valerón Santana". European Football. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "1998: Iván Pérez applies finishing touch". UEFA.com. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Juan Carlos Valerón". Football Database. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  19. ↑ "Valerón: Juan Carlos Valerón Santana". BDFutbol. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  20. ↑ "Juan Carlos Valerón". UEFA.com. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  21. ↑ "Valerón: Miguel Ángel Valerón Santana". BDFutbol. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  22. ↑ "Miguel Angel Valerón: "Puse la pierna, quizás ingenuamente"" [Miguel Angel Valerón: "I went for the challenge, maybe i was naive"]. Diario Siglo XXI (in Spanish). 18 August 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2009.

External links