Juanfran (footballer, born 1985)

Juanfran

Juanfran playing for Atlético Madrid in 2013
Personal information
Full nameJuan Francisco Torres Belén
Date of birth9 January 1985
Place of birthCrevillent, Spain
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionRight back
Club information
Current team
Atlético Madrid
Number20
Youth career
Kelme
Real Madrid
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2003–2005Real Madrid B56(7)
2004–2006Real Madrid6(0)
2005–2006→ Espanyol (loan)30(1)
2006–2011Osasuna148(12)
2011–Atlético Madrid139(2)
National team‡
2003Spain U174(1)
2003Spain U183(0)
2004Spain U194(1)
2003–2005Spain U2011(3)
2004–2006Spain U219(0)
2012–Spain13(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 March 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2015
This article is about the footballer Juanfran, born 1985, who plays for Atlético Madrid. For the Deportivo de La Coruña player, see Juanfran (footballer, born 1988).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Torres and the second or maternal family name is Belén.

Juan Francisco Torres Belén (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwamfɾan ˈtorez βeˈlen]; born 9 January 1985), commonly known as Juanfran, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid as a right back.

After starting out at Real Madrid he went on to make a name for himself in La Liga with Osasuna and Atlético Madrid, signing for the latter in 2011 and going on to win four major titles, including the 2013-14 La Liga.

A Spanish international since 2012, Juanfran was part of the squad that won that year's European Championship, and also represented the nation at the 2014 World Cup.

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in Crevillent, Alicante, Valencian Community, Juanfran was a product of Real Madrid's youth academy. He had his first main squad opportunity on 24 January 2004, playing 15 minutes in a 2–1 home win against Villarreal CF[1] after solid performances with the B-team. Over the course of that and the following seasons, he would play on a further five La Liga matches.

Juanfran was loaned out to RCD Espanyol for 2005–06[2] and, although the Catalan side barely avoided relegation, he featured heavily throughout the campaign, scoring on 22 March 2006 in a 1–1 draw at Athletic Bilbao.[3] He started his career as a winger.

Osasuna

Juanfran signed with CA Osasuna[4] after a deal that allowed Osasuna to get the player without having to pay a transfer fee and with per-set price of €10 million,[5] adding several specifics, which included a possibility of a January 2007 recall by Madrid, which also retained a buying option at the end of the season. He played his first game for the Navarrese on 24 September 2006 in a 2–0 win at Celta de Vigo, and scored the second goal of the match; additionally, he appeared in nine games scoring once,[6] in the club's semifinal run in the UEFA Cup.

In 2008–09, Juanfran was again an everpresent fixture in Osasuna's lineups. On 31 May 2009, in the season's closer, he scored from 30 yards in a 2–1 home win over former side Real Madrid, which kept the club in the top flight for another year;[7] in the following campaign, as Osasuna fared better in the league by finishing 12th, he scored a career-best four goals.

Atlético Madrid

Juanfran (right) playing against Almería in 2013

On 11 January 2011 Juanfran signed for Atlético Madrid until June 2015, for a fee of just over €4 million.[8] He made his official debut for the Colchoneros two days later, starting in a 1–3 away loss against his first professional team Real Madrid, for the season's Copa del Rey.

Juanfran scored his first goal for Atlético on 21 May 2011, in a 4–3 win at RCD Mallorca – the last game of the campaign – dedicating it to his father who had died two weeks beforehand.[9] In 2011–12 he begun being regularly played as a right back, by both Gregorio Manzano and his successor, Diego Simeone.[10][11] In the season's Europa League final, which the club won 3–0 against Bilbao, he played in that position; after the match, he dedicated the triumph to his late father, saying (according to UEFA.com) "My baby son Oliver is here with me; the only words he knows are 'mama' and 'Atleti',I dedicate this win to my family and to my dad, who passed away last year. I know he's up there looking down on us celebrating now."[12]

On 24 May 2014 Juanfran played all 120 minutes of the Champions League Final, which Atlético lost 1–4 to Real Madrid at the Estádio da Luz.[13] One month later he signed a contract extension, running until 2018.[14]

International career

Juanfran had an extraordinary performance at the 2004 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, as Spain won and the player received the Golden Player award.[15] In a rare achievement he took part in two FIFA World Youth Championships, the first in the United Arab Emirates where the national team took the silver medal;[16] in the 2005 edition Spain reached the quarterfinals, eventually ousted by winners Argentina.[17]

Juanfran made his full side debut on 26 May 2012, playing the entire match in a 2–0 friendly win with Serbia in St. Gallen, as a right-back.[18] He was selected by manager Vicente del Bosque for his UEFA Euro 2012 squad, being an unused player as Spain won the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

Juanfran scored his first international goal on 16 November 2013, playing the entire 2–1 friendly win in Equatorial Guinea.[19] However, this match was ruled invalid by FIFA as they had not been notified early enough that the referee would be from Equatorial Guinea.[20]

He was named in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup,[21] and was also included in the final list.[22] With the country already eliminated, he made his tournament debut in the last group game against Australia, playing the whole 90 minutes and assisting David Villa for the first goal of a 3–0 win.[23]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 16 November 2013 Nuevo Estadio, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea  Equatorial Guinea 2–1 2–1 Friendly
Correct as of 16 November 2013

Statistics

International

As of match played 8 September 2014[24]
Spain
YearAppsGoals
201250
201310
201440
Total100

Honours

Club

Espanyol
Atlético Madrid

Country

Spain U19
Spain U20
Spain

References

  1. ↑ "A zarpazos" [Clawing it] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 25 January 2004. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Madrid loan lifts Espanyol; UEFA.com, 15 August 2005
  3. ↑ "Yeste llega al rescate" [Yeste comes to the rescue] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Osasuna secure Juanfran deal; UEFA.com, 29 August 2006
  5. ↑ "Juanfran firma con el CA Osasuna para las próximas cuatro temporadas" [Juanfran signs with Osasuna for the next four seasons] (in Spanish). Osasuna's official website. 29 August 2006.
  6. ↑ Osasuna complete Italian job; UEFA.com, 14 December 2006
  7. ↑ Osasuna 2–1 Real Madrid; ESPN Soccernet, 31 May 2009
  8. ↑ Atletico signs winger Juanfran from Osasuna; Sports Illustrated, 12 January 2011
  9. ↑ La Liga: Mallorca 3–4 Atlético; Atlético Fans, 21 May 2011
  10. ↑ "Manzano prueba a Juanfran como lateral derecho" [Manzano tests Juanfran as right back] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  11. ↑ "El Atlético reinventa a Juanfran" [Atlético reinvents Juanfran] (in Spanish). ABC. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  12. ↑ "Emotional Juanfran dedicates Atletico Madrid's Europa League triumph to late father". Goal.com. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Real Madrid 4–1 Atlético Madrid". BBC Sport. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "Koke y Juanfran prolongan sus contratos hasta 2019 y 2018" [Koke and Juanfran extend their contracts until 2019 and 2018] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "2004: Juanfran". UEFA.com. 1 April 2008.
  16. ↑ "Spain-Brazil". FIFA.com. 19 December 2003.
  17. ↑ "Argentina-Spain". FIFA.com. 25 June 2005.
  18. ↑ "Adrián está listo para la Eurocopa" [Adrián is ready for Euro] (in Spanish). Marca. 26 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  19. ↑ "De pasear la estrella a ver las estrellas" [From parading star to seeing stars] (in Spanish). Marca. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  20. ↑ "La FIFA anula el Guinea-España" [FIFA annul Guinea-Spain] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "World Cup 2014: Diego Costa and Fernando Torres in Spain squad". BBC Sport. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  22. ↑ "World Cup 2014: Spain drop Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas". BBC Sport. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  23. ↑ Chowdhury, Saj (23 June 2014). "Australia 0–3 Spain". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Juanfran". European Football. Retrieved 24 June 2014.

External links

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