Javier 'Javi' Varas Herrera (born 10 September 1982) is a Spanish former

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. He played 151

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

matches over eight seasons, in representation of

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

Celta Celta is Galician, Portuguese and Spanish for the Celts. It may also refer to: * Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL ...

and

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

. He added 117 appearances in the Segunda División, in a 12-year professional career.

Club career

Sevilla

Born in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

, Varas arrived at

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Eu ...

aged 23 after having only played amateur football in his native region (although he had been bought by the club two years earlier). He spent his first three seasons with the

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It re ...

, contributing 13 games in 2006–07 as they were promoted to Segunda División for the first time ever, and occasionally training with the main squad. After David Cobeño moved to

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La ...

, Varas became

Andrés Palop Andrés Palop Cervera (; born 22 October 1973) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently a manager. After having languished on the bench of hometown club Valencia for most of his stay, he became a premier ...

's backup, making his

debut on 17 January 2009 in a 1–0 home win against

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Lo ...

. During a full month, following an injury to the latter in October, he was again called on for starting duties, only conceding once in four matches, in the 3–1 away victory over

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. Vf ...

for that campaign's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. Varas became Sevilla's first choice midway through

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, over the 37-year-old Palop. He appeared in 21 games as the side finished fifth and qualified for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. Under new manager

Marcelino García Toral Marcelino García Toral (; born 14 August 1965), known simply as Marcelino in his playing days, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. During a ten-year senior career, he amassed La Liga totals of ...

, Varas continued as a regular starter. On 22 October 2011, he put on a ''

Player of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

'' performance against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

, saving eight shots – including an injury-time

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalt ...

from

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

– in an eventual 0–0 away draw. Varas lost his importance in the following years, after the arrival in January 2013 from Portuguese

Beto Beto is a surname, and a nickname for the given names Alberto, Albertino, Adalberto, Berthony, Heriberto, Norberto, Roberto, Humberto, or Benito. It occurs mostly in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries and communities. Notable people with the ...

. He made nine appearances as Sevilla won the 2013–14 Europa League, but was an unused substitute in the decisive match itself.

Valladolid

On 25 August 2014, Varas joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

in a one-year contract. He only missed four league matches during his first and only season, as his team narrowly missed out on play-off promotion.

Later years

On 12 July 2015, Varas signed a two-year deal with

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

, newly promoted to the top division. On 13 June 2017, after having contributed to their consecutive permanence, the

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

returned to the second tier and his native region by agreeing to a two-year contract at

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...

. Varas joined

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded on 29 March 1960, SD Huesca plays in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in ...

on 19 February 2019, for the remainder of the top-flight campaign. In October, he announced his retirement at the age of 37.

Honours

Sevilla B *

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

: 2006–07 Sevilla *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2009–10 *

: 2013–14

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varas, Javi 1982 births Living people Footballers from Seville Spanish footballers Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Sevilla Atlético players CD Alcalá players Sevilla FC players RC Celta de Vigo players Real Valladolid players UD Las Palmas players Granada CF footballers SD Huesca footballers UEFA Europa League winning players