Juan Carlos Valerón facts for kids
Valerón in the 2000s
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Juan Carlos Valerón Santana | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 17 June 1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Arguineguín, Spain | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing 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) | |||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Abrisajac | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 590 | (49) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Spain U21 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | Spain U23 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1998–2005 | Spain | 46 | (5) | |||||||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2019 | Las Palmas (youth) | |||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Las Palmas (assistant) | |||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Las Palmas B (assistant) | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Las Palmas B (assistant) | |||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Deportivo B | |||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Juan Carlos Valerón Santana (born on June 17, 1975) is a Spanish former professional footballer. He played as an attacking midfielder, a player who helps both defend and attack.
Valerón played for 15 seasons in La Liga, Spain's top football league. He played 390 matches and scored 29 goals for clubs like Mallorca, Atlético Madrid, and Deportivo. He spent 13 years with Deportivo. He started and finished his 22-year career with Las Palmas.
Valerón also played for the Spanish national team. He was part of the team for the 2002 World Cup and two European Championships. He played 46 games for Spain.
Contents
Playing Career Highlights
Starting Out in Football
Early Club Years
Juan Carlos Valerón was born in Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, Spain. He began his football journey with his hometown club, Las Palmas. In the 1997–98 season, he moved to the Balearic Islands to play for Mallorca.
He made his first appearance in La Liga on August 31, 1997. He played for ten minutes in a 2–1 home win against Valencia. Valerón was key in helping Mallorca qualify for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. His team also finished fifth in the league and reached the Copa del Rey final.
Time with Atlético and Deportivo
For the next two years, Valerón played for Atlético Madrid. He was a regular starter for the team. However, Atlético Madrid was moved down to a lower league in 2000. After this, Valerón joined Deportivo de La Coruña. He shared his position with another talented player, Djalminha.
Over time, Valerón became the main player in his position. In February 2004, he signed a contract to stay with Deportivo for the rest of his career. In January 2006, Valerón faced a series of injuries. He had a knee injury that kept coming back, leading to more surgeries. He didn't play much until the 2007–08 season.
On January 27, 2008, Valerón returned to the field. He came on as a substitute for Deportivo in a 3–1 win. This was his first game in over a year. In the 2008–09 season, at 33 years old, he became an important player again. He played well in both Spanish league games and European matches.
In the 2011–12 season, Valerón was a key player for Deportivo. He scored five goals, his highest in a season, helping his team return to La Liga as champions. Even though he had a contract until 2015, he decided to leave in June 2013. He had played 422 games for Deportivo, scoring 32 goals.
Coming Back to Las Palmas
On July 14, 2013, Valerón returned to his first club, Las Palmas. This was 16 years after he first left. He signed a one-year contract. He continued to be an important player for the team. In 2015, he helped Las Palmas get promoted back to the top league.
In summer 2015, Valerón signed a new contract with Las Palmas for another year. On September 26, he played his first game back in the top league. He played for 22 minutes in a 1–2 loss to Barcelona. He became one of the oldest players to play in La Liga at 40 years and 101 days old.
On March 1, 2016, Valerón played his 400th game in the Spanish top league. This happened in a 4–0 home win against Getafe. On May 7, he announced that he was retiring from football.
Playing for Spain
Valerón first played for the Spanish national team on November 18, 1998. It was a 2–2 friendly game against Italy. He played for Spain in UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2004.
In the 2002 World Cup, he scored a goal in a 3–1 win against Slovenia. In Euro 2004, he scored right after coming into the game. This helped Spain win 1–0 against Russia. His last game for Spain was on March 26, 2005, a 3–0 win over China.
Coaching Career
After retiring as a player, Valerón started working as a coach. He became a youth coach at Las Palmas. Before the 2017–18 season, he became an assistant coach for the first team. However, the main coach left after three months, and Valerón went back to coaching the youth teams.
In January 2018, Valerón joined the coaching staff for Las Palmas B, the reserve team. He left this role in June for personal reasons. But in January of the next year, he started working with the youth teams again. In June 2020, Valerón returned to his old club Deportivo. He became the manager of their reserve team, Deportivo B.
Player Style
Valerón was a very talented and creative attacking midfielder. He was known for his great vision on the field and his technical skills. He was especially good at passing the ball and controlling it. However, he also had problems with injuries during his career.
Personal Life
Valerón's older brother, Miguel Ángel, was also a footballer. He played as a midfielder. His career was also affected by injuries. Later, Juan Carlos and his brother Pedro started a football club and school called Abrisajac. The name comes from the biblical characters Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Juan Carlos even played there for a year before he fully retired.
Valerón was good friends with Manuel Pablo, another footballer from the Canary Islands. Manuel Pablo also played for Las Palmas, Deportivo, and Spain. Valerón is known for his strong belief in God. However, he has said that he and his family do not follow any specific religion. Valerón's nephew, Manu, also played youth football for Las Palmas.
Career Statistics Summary
Juan Carlos Valerón played a total of 590 club games and scored 49 goals. For the Spanish national team, he played 46 games and scored 5 goals.
International Goals
| # | 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 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 3. | 11 October 2003 | Hanrapetakan, Yerevan, Armenia |  Armenia |
0–1 | 0–4 | 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 |
Football Achievements
Deportivo
- Copa del Rey: 2001–02 (a major Spanish cup)
- Supercopa de España: 2002 (Spanish Super Cup)
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008 (a European club competition)
- Segunda División: 2011–12 (won the second division league)
Spain U21
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 1998 (won the European championship for players under 21)
Individual Awards
- LFP Awards Fair Play: 2008–09 (award for fair play in the league)
- Diario AS Fair Play: 2015 (another fair play award)
See also
In Spanish: Juan Carlos Valerón para niños
- List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)
