 Valerón in the 2000s | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Carlos Valerón Santana[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1975-06-17)17 June 1975 (age 50)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Arguineguín, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1990 | Arguineguín | ||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1994 | Las Palmas | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Las Palmas B | 25 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | Las Palmas | 54 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Mallorca | 36 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Atlético Madrid | 65 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2013 | Deportivo La Coruña | 328 | (24) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Las Palmas | 82 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 590 | (49) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Spain U21 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Spain U23 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2005 | Spain | 46 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2019 | Las Palmas (youth) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Las Palmas (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Las Palmas B (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Las Palmas B (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Deportivo B | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Juan Carlos Valerón Santana (born 17 June 1975) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as anattacking midfielder.
Over 15 seasons, he amassedLa Liga totals of 390 matches and 29 goals withMallorca,Atlético Madrid andDeportivo, spending 13 years with the latter club. He started and finished his 22-year senior career withLas Palmas.
Valerón representedSpain in the2002 World Cup and twoEuropean Championships, earning 46caps.[2]
Born inArguineguín,Gran Canaria,[3] Valerón started playing with hometown'sLas Palmas, but switched to theBalearic Islands in the1997–98 season, representingMallorca and making hisLa Liga debut on 31 August 1997 by playing ten minutes in a 2–1 home win overValencia.[4]
He was an instrumental figure in the club'squalification for theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with the team also finishing fifth in the league andreaching the final of theCopa del Rey, lost to eventual championsBarcelona in apenalty shoot-out.[5]
In the next two years, Valerón played forAtlético Madrid where he was an undisputed starter but, following the side's relegation in2000, he joinedDeportivo de La Coruña, sharing club and position with equally talented BrazilianDjalminha. He gradually would become first choice,[6][7] signing a contract to eventually see off the remainder of his career with theGalicians in February 2004.[8]
In January 2006, however, Valerón started a bad run with injuries. He suffered aknee injury[9] which relapsed in July[10] and early 2007 (with him only managing two league appearances in the process), leading to another surgery.[11] Consequently, he did not reappear until midway through the2007–08 campaign.
On 27 January 2008, Valerón returned to the bench in Deportivo's 3–1 home win againstReal Valladolid, coming on as asubstitute forAndrés Guardado for the final 15 minutes – his first match for over a year.[12] In2008–09, aged 33, he eventually became an important first-team fixture again,[13] both on domestic andEuropean fronts.[14]
The 36-year-old Valerón was an undisputed starter for Depor in the2011–12 season, scoring a career-best five goals in nearly 3,000 minutes of action inSegunda División as his team returned to the top flight after one year out, as champions.[15] Even though he had a contract until 2015, he chose to leave in June 2013,[16] having taken part in 422 games in all competitions (32 goals).[17]
On 14 July 2013, followinganother Deportivo relegation, Valerón returned to his first club Las Palmas after 16 years, signing a one-year contract with an option for a second.[18] He continued to be an important first-team member during his tenure, achieving promotion to the top flightin 2015.[19][20]
In summer 2015, Valerón renewed his contract with theAmarillos for a further year.[21] On 26 September, he first appeared with the club in the top flight, featuring 22 minutes in a 1–2 away loss to Barcelona in what was his first game in the competition in 847 days,[22] and becoming the fifth oldest player to play there at the age of 40 years and 101 days;[23] he climbed one position on 12 December after coming on as substitute againstReal Betis, surpassing former Deportivo teammateDonato.[24]
On 1 March 2016, after being featured in a 4–0 home win againstGetafe, Valerón appeared in his 400th game in the Spanish top tier.[25] On 7 May, he announced his retirement.[26]
ASpain international since 18 November 1998 in a 2–2friendly draw withItaly inSalerno,[27] Valerón appeared with the national side atUEFA Euro 2000, the2002 FIFA World Cup (where he scored in a 3–1 win againstSlovenia)[28] andEuro 2004,[29] netting immediately after coming from the bench in a 1–0 victory overRussia in the latter competition.[30]
He made his last appearance for his country on 26 March 2005, a 3–0 defeat ofChina.[31] In late July 2019, he was hired by the Canarian Football Federation to be responsible for the several teams in the region that took part in the corresponding competitions.[32][33]
Shortly after retiring, Valerón began working as a manager after completing the UEFA B course. He was appointed youth coach at Las Palmas[34] and, ahead of the2017–18 season, was named assistant toManolo Márquez in the first team;[35] the latter left his position three months later, however, and the former returned to the academy.[36]
On 24 January 2018, Valerón agreed to joinJuan Manuel Rodríguez's staff atLas Palmas B, thereserve team. He resigned from his post in June for personal reasons,[37] but the following January resumed his work with the youth sides.[38]
Valerón returned to his former club Deportivo in June 2020, being appointed manager ofthe reserves in theTercera División.[39]
A talented and creative attacking midfielder with an eye for goal, Valerón was known for his vision and technical abilities, especially his passing skills and ball control, but was also injury-prone and inconsistent.[40][41][42][43]
Valerón was widely regarded as one of the most respected players in Spain, and as an important figure for Deportivo.Andrés Iniesta said he would pay to watch him play,[22][43] whilst managerJuan Antonio Anquela called him a reference for Spanish football[44] and fellow coachVicente del Bosque admitted that he would always fit in the national team.[45] His Las Palmas teammate,Javi Castellano, praised him for his honesty and modesty.[46]
Miguel Ángel Ramírez, Las Palmas president, said in 2015 he was trying to persuade Valerón to play another season so that he would be able to say goodbye to all the stadia in Spain where he was consistently cheered[46]– this was exemplified by his last game at theCamp Nou, with former national teammateLuis Enrique and coach of the opposing team applauding as he took the pitch.[47] Former Dutch internationalsJimmy Floyd Hasselbaink andRoy Makaay claimed he was the best player they had ever played with.[46]
Ahead of his return to theEstadio Riazor in April 2016, Deportivo managerVíctor Sánchez said that Valerón would have won theBallon d'Or had he played for a more fashionable club.[48]
Valerón's older brother, Miguel Ángel, was also a footballer and a midfielder;[49] having represented Las Palmas andMallorca B, his career was also curtailed by injuries.[50] Later, together with another sibling, Pedro, they created a football club/school named Abrisajac, from biblical charactersAbraham,Isaac andJacob,[51] and Juan Carlos still played there one year before retiring for good.[52]
Valerón was a close friend of fellowCanarianManuel Pablo, who also played for Las Palmas, Deportivo and Spain.[53] He was also known for his devotion to God, but admitted that he and his family did not follow any religion.[54]
Valerón's nephew, Manu, also played youth football for Las Palmas.[55]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Super Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Las Palmas B | 1994–95 | Tercera División | 25 | 7 | – | – | – | 25 | 7 | |||
| Las Palmas | 1995–96 | Segunda División B | 27 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 29 | 1 | ||
| 1996–97 | Segunda División | 27 | 2 | 7 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 2 | |||
| Total | 54 | 2 | 9 | 1 | — | — | 63 | 3 | ||||
| Mallorca | 1997–98 | La Liga | 36 | 3 | 11 | 1 | – | – | 47 | 4 | ||
| Atlético Madrid | 1998–99 | La Liga | 30 | 3 | 5 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | 40 | 3 | |
| 1999–2000 | 35 | 4 | 6 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | 47 | 4 | |||
| Total | 65 | 7 | 11 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | 87 | 7 | |||
| Deportivo | 2000–01 | La Liga | 31 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 41 | 4 |
| 2001–02 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 0 | – | 13 | 3 | 53 | 6 | |||
| 2002–03 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2003–04 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 14 | 2 | 49 | 5 | |||
| 2004–05 | 38 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | 47 | 1 | |||
| 2005–06 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 1 | – | 6 | 0 | 29 | 5 | |||
| 2006–07 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||||
| 2007–08 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 2008–09 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 12 | 1 | 37 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 1 | ||||
| 2010–11 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 0 | ||||
| 2011–12 | Segunda División | 39 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 40 | 5 | |||
| 2012–13 | La Liga | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 1 | |||
| Total | 328 | 24 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 66 | 6 | 422 | 32 | ||
| Las Palmas | 2013–14 | Segunda División | 45 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 46 | 3 | ||
| 2014–15 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 0 | ||||
| 2015–16 | La Liga | 13 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 0 | |||
| Total | 82 | 3 | 9 | 0 | — | — | 91 | 3 | ||||
| Career total | 577 | 46 | 61 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 77 | 6 | 717 | 56 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1998 | 1 | 0 |
| 1999 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 46 | 5 | |
| No. | 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 | Leoforos Alexandras,Athens, Greece |  Greece | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 3 | 11 October 2003 | Hanrapetakan,Yerevan, Armenia |  Armenia | 1–0 | 4–0 | UEFA 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 |
Deportivo
Spain U21
Individual
Spain squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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