Juan Carlos Valerón facts for kids
Valerón in the 2000s
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Carlos Valerón Santana | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 17 June 1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Arguineguín, Spain | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | 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) | ||||||||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||
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 teams like Mallorca, Atlético Madrid, and Deportivo. He spent 13 years with Deportivo. He started and finished his 22-year career with Las Palmas.
He also played for the Spanish national team. He was part of the team in the 2002 World Cup and two European Championships. He played 46 games for Spain.
Contents
Valerón's Football Journey
Starting His Career
Valerón was born in Arguineguín, Gran Canaria. He began his football journey with his hometown club, Las Palmas.
In the 1997–98 season, he moved to Mallorca. He made his first appearance in La Liga on August 31, 1997. He played ten minutes in a 2–1 home win against Valencia.
He helped Mallorca qualify for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. His team also finished fifth in the league. They reached the final of the Copa del Rey, but lost to Barcelona in a penalty shootout.
Playing for Atlético and Deportivo
For the next two years, Valerón played for Atlético Madrid. He was a key player there. However, the team was moved down to a lower league in 2000. After this, he joined Deportivo de La Coruña.
At Deportivo, he played alongside the talented Brazilian player Djalminha. Valerón slowly 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 started having many injuries. He hurt his knee. This injury came back in July and again in early 2007. He had another surgery and only played two league games during this time. He did not play again until the middle of the 2007–08 season.
On January 27, 2008, Valerón returned to the team. He came on as a substitute for Andrés Guardado in Deportivo's 3–1 win against Real Valladolid. This was his first game in over a year. In 2008–09, at 33 years old, he became an important player again. He played well in both Spanish and European games.
In the 2011–12 season, Valerón was 36 years old. He was a main player for Deportivo. He scored five goals, which was his best record, in almost 3,000 minutes of play. His team won the Segunda División and returned to the top league after one year. Even though he had a contract until 2015, he decided to leave in June 2013. He had played 422 games for Deportivo and scored 32 goals.
Coming Back to Las Palmas
On July 14, 2013, Valerón returned to his first club, Las Palmas. This was after Deportivo was moved down to a lower league again. He signed a one-year contract with an option for a second. He continued to be an important player for Las Palmas. In 2015, he helped them 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 with the club in the top league. He played 22 minutes in a 1–2 loss to Barcelona. This was his first game in the competition in 847 days. He became the fifth oldest player to play in La Liga at 40 years and 101 days old. On December 12, he became even older than former teammate Donato in the record books.
On March 1, 2016, Valerón played his 400th game in the Spanish top league. This was during a 4–0 home win against Getafe. On May 7, he announced that he was retiring from playing 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. Spain won 3–0 against China. In July 2019, he was hired by the Canarian Football Federation. He became responsible for several teams in the region.
Valerón's Coaching Career
After retiring as a player, Valerón started working as a coach. He completed the UEFA B coaching course. He became a youth coach at Las Palmas. Before the 2017–18 season, he was named assistant coach for the first team. However, the head coach left three months later, and Valerón went back to coaching the youth teams.
On January 24, 2018, Valerón joined Juan Manuel Rodríguez's coaching staff. He worked with Las Palmas B, which is the reserve team. He left this job in June for personal reasons. But in January of the next year, he started working with the youth teams again.
Valerón returned to his old club, Deportivo, in June 2020. He was appointed manager of their reserve team in Tercera División.
Valerón's Playing Style and Impact
How He Played
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 many injuries during his career.
What People Said About Him
Many people thought Valerón was one of the most respected players in Spain. He was also a very important figure for Deportivo. Andrés Iniesta, another famous footballer, once said he would pay to watch Valerón play.
His manager, Juan Antonio Anquela, called him a role model for Spanish football. Coach Vicente del Bosque said Valerón would always fit into the national team. His teammate at Las Palmas, Javi Castellano, praised him for being honest and humble.
In 2015, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, the president of Las Palmas, tried to convince Valerón to play one more season. He wanted Valerón to be able to say goodbye to all the stadiums in Spain where fans always cheered for him. For example, in his last game at the Camp Nou, former national teammate Luis Enrique and the opposing coach applauded him when he entered the field. Former Dutch players Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Roy Makaay said he was the best player they had ever played with.
Before Valerón returned to the Estadio Riazor in April 2016, Deportivo manager Víctor Sánchez said that Valerón would have won the Ballon d'Or (a top football award) if he had played for a more famous club.
Valerón's Personal Life
Valerón's older brother, Miguel Ángel, was also a footballer. He played as a midfielder for Las Palmas and Mallorca B. His career was also cut short by injuries. Later, Juan Carlos and his brothers, Miguel Ángel and 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 a close friend of Canarian player Manuel Pablo. Manuel Pablo also played for Las Palmas, Deportivo, and Spain. Valerón is known for his strong belief in God, but 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
Club Appearances and Goals
| 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 | ||
International Appearances and Goals
| 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 | |
- Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Valerón goal.
| 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 | Apostolos Nikolaidis, 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 |
Awards and Achievements
Deportivo
- Copa del Rey: 2001–02
- Supercopa de España: 2002
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008
- Segunda División: 2011–12
Spain U21
Individual Awards
- LFP Awards Fair Play: 2008–09
- Diario AS Fair Play: 2015
See also
In Spanish: Juan Carlos Valerón para niños
- List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)
