Juan Francisco García

Infobox Football biography
playername = Juanfran


fullname = Juan Francisco García García
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|7|15
cityofbirth = Rafelbuñol, Valencia
countryofbirth = Spain
height = height|m=1.83
position = Left defender
currentclub = AEK Athens
clubnumber = 7
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1994–1997 1997–1999 1999–2004 2004–2006 2005–2006 2006–2008 2008–
clubs = Levante UD Valencia CF Celta Vigo Beşiktaş →Ajax (loan) Real Zaragoza AEK Athens
caps(goals) = 048 (1) 041 (0) 126 (5) 013 (1) 016 (0) 063 (0) 005 (0)
nationalyears = 2000 2000–2004
nationalteam = Spain Olympic squad Spain
nationalcaps(goals) = 0 6 (0) 13 (1)
pcupdate = 5 October 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 1 September 2008 (UTC)

:"Juanfran" redirects here, For other people, See Juanfran (disambiguation)."Juan Francisco García García, aka Juanfran (born 15 July 1976 in Valencia), is a Spanish football left-back who currently plays for AEK Athens.

Club career

Juanfran started his professional career at Levante UD, where he attracted the attention of Valencia community giants Valencia CF, signing after three seasons for €1 million. On August 31, 1997, he played his first "La Liga" match, in a 2-1 loss at RCD Mallorca, and went on make 50 overall appearances for the "Che".

Juanfran joined Celta de Vigo prior to 1999-2000 for €4 millions, where he was an undisputed starter in a Galicia team that appeared in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League 2003-04 (Juanfran netted in a 1-1 tie at Club Brugge, as Celta proggressed to the knockout round). However, in 2003-04, Celta would also be relegated to "Segunda División". After leaving Celta in 2004, Juanfran joined Turkish giants Beşiktaş J.K., but soon fell out of favour with team management, and would spend the following season on loan to Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam.

In 2006-07, Juanfran returned to Spain, joining Real Zaragoza for €1.5 million, where he was a key defensive element as the Aragonese team achieved a UEFA Cup spot. The following season, Juanfran struggled individually and collectively, and Zaragoza returned to the second level after a five-year stint.

On July 30 2008, Juanfran agreed to sign a 2-year deal with AEK Athens F.C., earning approximately €1 million per season.

International career

Juanfran had 13 caps for Spain, making his international debut in a friendly against Italy, on March 29, 2000, after impressive displays at Celta. Subsequently, he was included in the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad, and appeared in three of the nation's five matches.

Juanfran's last match was an Euro 2004 qualifier against Northern Ireland in 2003, playing the whole 90 minutes of a 0-0 away draw.

Juanfran was also featured in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sidney. Juanfran played all five games for Spain

Honours

Levante UD
*Second Division B: 1996
*"Trofeo Ciudad de Valencia": 1996

Valencia CF
*Spanish Cup: 1999

Celta Vigo
*UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000

Ajax Amsterdam
*Dutch Cup: 2006

External links

* [http://www.lfp.es/historico/primera/plantillas/historial.asp?jug=6491 Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional] es icon
* [http://futbol.sportec.es/seleccion/ficha_jugador.asp?j=323&n=juanfran/juan/francisco/garcia/garcia National team data] es icon
*FIFA player|184438