Daniel Guijo-Velasco (born 24 February 1984) is a Belgian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

, Belgium with a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

background, Guijo-Velasco was part of the PSV youth academy, before making his first professional appearances in 2004. After stints at AGOVV and

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

, he had his most successful period at

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

, where he made more than 100 appearances and grew out to become

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. He retired in 2015 after being diagnosed with a rare,

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...

, and since became a psychiatric nurse.

Career

PSV

Guijo-Velasco played in the PSV youth academy and made two appearances as a substitute for their first team. His first professional appearance came on 1 November 2003 in a 1–3 away win over

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

, when he came on as a substitute for

Theo Lucius Theodorus Martinus Maria "Theo" Lucius (born 19 December 1976) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He could operate as a right back or a central defender, and also as a defensive midfielder. He spent most of his 16-year professional caree ...

in the 82nd minute. His second and final game for PSV came a month later, in a 7–0 home win over

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024 ...

where he came on for

Mateja Kežman Mateja Kežman ( sr-Cyrl, Матеја Кежман, ; born 12 April 1979) is a Serbian sports agent and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Upon playing in his homeland, Kežman went on to play top-flight football in the N ...

, who had scored a hat-trick.

AGOVV

At the end of the 2003–04 season, Guijo-Velasco signed for

AGOVV Apeldoorn AGOVV () is a Dutch association football club based in Apeldoorn. It was established on 25 February 1913. The club played in professional football from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 to 2013. AGOVV's men's first squad plays in 2024–25 in the Derde ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, where he was a regular in midfield for two seasons under head coach

Jurrie Koolhof Jurjen Jacob (Jurrie) Koolhof (10 January 1960 – 28 January 2019) was a Dutch international football striker and manager. As a player, Koolhof had a long and productive career, with 190 league goals. He played for a number of clubs in the Net ...

. He scored his first goal in professional football on 1 October 2004, in a 4–1 home win over

TOP Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbrevia ...

. He finished the season with seven goals, as AGOVV finished 10th in the league table. The following season, he grew out to become a key player for the team, and was rewarded with a move to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

Excelsior

At Excelsior, he immediately made an impact alongside other key players such as

Luigi Bruins Luigi Bruins (born 9 March 1987) is a football manager and a retired Dutch professional association football, footballer. Bruins played in the position of Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. After being declined by Feyenoord ...

and

Andwélé Slory Andwélé Cedric Slory (born 27 September 1982) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He played as a right winger. After his professional debut for Stormvogels Telstar at the age of 18, Slory promoted to the Eredivisie with his next club ...

, in the team coached by

Ton Lokhoff Antonius Johannes Jacobus "Ton" Lokhoff (born 25 December 1959) is a Dutch football manager and former player, he is the currently assistant manager of Super Lig club Samsunspor. Playing career Lokhoff is named ''Mister NAC'' due to his long-tim ...

. Thus, relegation was avoided at the end of the season, with Guijo-Velasco as part of the central midfielder due with René van Dieren. However, the following season ended in disappointment after Bruins and Slory had left for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, and Guijo-Velasco only made 10 league appearances in which he scored one goal. Excelsior finished last in the league table, and suffered relegation to the second-tier Eerste Divisie.

Helmond Sport

On 30 May 2008, Guijo-Velasco moved to

on a two-year contract. He made his debut for the club on 8 August against his old team AGOVV. The game was lost 1–2, but nevertheless, the team experienced a reasonable season that ended in tenth place. Together with Ilja van Leerdam and former

Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...

icon

Sjaak Lettinga Sjaak Lettinga (born 16 September 1982 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is currently without a club after having formerly played for FC Volendam, Helmond Sport and Telstar Telstar refers to a ...

, Guijo-Velasco formed an experienced midfield, while

Dirk Jan Derksen Dirk Jan Derksen, (born 17 June 1972) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He is one of the only players who has played for all Limburgian professional clubs (MVV, VVV, Fortuna Sittard and Roda JC). Club career A prolific striker, Derkse ...

was the goal-poacher in front. Guijo-Velasco was known as a driven player with a strong will to win, but was discredited after he gave the

Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened han ...

to an opponent against

RBC Roosendaal RBC, previously known as RBC Roosendaal, is a football club based in Roosendaal, Netherlands. RBC currently plays in the fifth-tier Vierde Divisie after bankruptcy in 2011, restarting the club in the tenth tier Vijfde Klasse. History 1912– ...

. He subsequently stated that his opponent "played like a German" and he wanted to show this. Helmond Sport suspended him for one match following this incident and instructed him to help with a social school project. The

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

(KNVB) suspended him for five matches. Guijo-Velasco became an important player for the club, and in the 2012–13 season, the Belgian even became

of the club. In the spring of 2013, however, Guijo-Velasco suffered from a neck

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

which began a downward spiral for him. He was found to be suffering from a rare autoimmune disease affecting only around 40 total people in the world, and he was sidelined for a substantial period of time. Guijo-Velasco missed the entire 2013–14 season, but the following year he attempted a comeback, as he made seven official appearances for the

Helmond Helmond (; called ''Hèllemond'' in the local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of ...

team. In the summer of 2015, Guijo-Velasco decided to retire from professional football due to his illness and focus on a career in psychiatry. He made his final professional appearance at home against

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

on 27 February 2015. In the match, which was won 3-0, he came in as a substitute in the last ten minutes. After his retirement from football, he has worked as a psychiatric nurse. He also played at amateur level for

KFC Diest Koninklijke Football Club Diest is a former Belgian association football club from the town of Diest, Flemish Brabant. It played two spells in the first division: from 1961–62 to 1964–65 and from 1970–71 to 1974–75, finishing 7th in ...

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guijo-Velasco, Daniel 1984 births Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgian people of Spanish descent PSV Eindhoven players AGOVV players Excelsior Rotterdam players Helmond Sport players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Footballers from Hasselt Men's association football midfielders K.F.C. Diest players KRC Genk players 21st-century Belgian sportsmen