Juan Francisco Torres Belén (; born 9 January 1985), known as Juanfran (), is a Spanish 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. After starting out at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, he went on to make a name for himself in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, signing for the latter club in 2011 and going on to win seven major titles, including the 2014 national championship and the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and 2018 Europa League tournaments. He totalled 427 appearances in Spain's top flight. A Spanish international since 2012, Juanfran was part of the squad that won that year's European Championship, and also represented the nation at the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Crevillent Crevillent (; ) is a town and municipality located in the Alicante province, part of the Valencian Community, Spain. It is situated in the ''comarca'' of Baix Vinalopó, and lies at the foot of the hill range known locally as Serra de Creville ...

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

, Juanfran was a product of

's youth academy. He had his first main squad opportunity on 24 January 2004, playing 15 minutes in a 2–1 home win against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

after solid performances with the

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin 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 represent ...

. He would appear in a further five

matches over

that ''That'' is an English language word used for several grammar, grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction (grammar), conjunction, pronoun, adverb and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words li ...

and the following seasons, totalling 11 appearances. Juanfran was loaned out to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

for 2005–06 and, although the Catalan side barely avoided relegation, he featured heavily throughout the campaign, scoring on 22 March 2006 in a 1–1 draw at

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. He started his career as a winger.

Osasuna

Juanfran signed with

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

after a deal that allowed Osasuna to get the player without having to pay a transfer fee and with per-set price of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

10 million, adding several specifics, which included a possibility of a January 2007 recall by Madrid who also retained a buying option at the end of the season. He played his first game for the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se on 24 September 2006 in a 2–0 away victory over

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, and scored the second goal of the match. Additionally, he appeared in nine games and netted once in their semi-final run in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. In 2008–09, Juanfran was again ever-present in Osasuna's lineups. On 31 May 2009, in the last matchday, he scored from 30 yards in a 2–1 home defeat of former side Real Madrid, which kept the club in the top flight for another year. In the following campaign, as the former fared better in the league by finishing 12th, he scored a career-best four goals.

Atlético Madrid

On 11 January 2011, Juanfran signed for

until June 2015 for a fee of just over €4 million. He made his official debut two days later, starting in a 3–1 away loss against his first professional club Real Madrid in the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. Juanfran scored his first goal for Atlético on 21 May 2011, in a 4–3 win at

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

– the last game of the season – dedicating it to his father who had died two weeks beforehand. In 2011–12 he began being regularly played as a

, by both

Gregorio Manzano Gregorio "Goyo" Manzano Ballesteros (; born 11 March 1956) is a Spanish football manager. In a career of 35 years, he managed for 14 consecutive seasons in La Liga with seven clubs, including three spells at Mallorca and two at Atlético Madrid ...

and his successor,

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970), nicknamed "El Cholo" (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a defender. He has been the manager of club Atlético Madrid since December 2011 mak ...

. In the

Europa League final The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second- ...

, which his team won 3–0 against Athletic, he played in that position; after the match, he dedicated the triumph to his late father, saying "My baby son Oliver is here with me; the only words he knows are 'mama' and 'Atleti',I dedicate this win to my family and to my dad, who passed away last year. I know he's up there looking down on us celebrating now." On 24 May 2014, Juanfran played all 120 minutes of the Champions League final, lost 4–1 to Real Madrid at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

. He signed a contract extension one month later, running until 2018. Juanfran started both legs of the round-of-16 Champions League tie against

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

; on 15 March 2016, in the second match, he took the decisive

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in the 8–7

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

win (0–0 on aggregate). In the final of the competition, also decided on penalties after a 1–1 draw in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, he was the only player to fail to convert in an eventual defeat to his former club Real Madrid. Juanfran left Atlético upon the expiration of his contract on 30 June 2019, having made 355 appearances and won seven trophies for the club.

São Paulo

On 3 August 2019, Juanfran joined

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

on a contract running until December 2020. He became the second Spanish footballer to play for the Brazilian club, after Fernando Carazzo Castro in 1936. He made his debut in the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

fifteen days later, a 1–0 home victory over

Ceará Sporting Club Ceará Sporting Club, or simply Ceará, () is a Brazilian Football League Teams, Brazilian professional football club from the city of Fortaleza, capital city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Ceará. Founded on June 2, 1914, Cear ...

. In February 2021 – with his second season having overrun due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

– Juanfran was released, having totalled 56 games for the ''Tricolor''. Having retired, he returned to Spain and joined the Intercity

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

club in his hometown in July.

International career

Youth

Juanfran had an extraordinary performance at the

2004 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2004 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was held in Switzerland from 13 to 24 July 2004. Players born after 1 January 1985 can participate in this competition. The tournament was won by Spain, who beat Turkey in the final. It also served as t ...

, as

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

won the tournament and the player received the Golden Player award. In a rare achievement, he took part in two FIFA World Youth Championships, the first in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

where the national team took the silver medal; in the 2005 edition they reached the quarter-finals, eventually ousted by winners

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Senior

Juanfran made his full side debut on 26 May 2012, playing the entire match in a 2–0 friendly win with

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in St. Gallen, as a right-back. He was selected by manager

Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...

for his

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

, being an unused player as Spain won the tournament in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. On 16 November 2013, Juanfran scored his only goal, playing the entire 2–1 friendly victory in

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

. However, this match was ruled invalid by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as they had not been notified early enough that the referee would be from Equatorial Guinea. Juanfran was named in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, and was also included in the final list. With the country already eliminated, he made his tournament debut in the last group game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, playing the whole 90 minutes and assisting

David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Villa is th ...

for the first goal of a 3–0 win. Juanfran featured in the roster for

, where he played all of his team's four games. After two years in the international wilderness, in October 2018 the 33-year-old stated that he was still available for selection by the national side.

Style of play

A former winger, Juanfran usually played as a right-back. While an accomplished defender, he was also known for his ability to get forward and provide accurate crosses for teammates inside the box.

Personal life

Juanfran married Verónica Sierras, with whom he had two children, Óliver and Alexia.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Juanfran goal.''

Honours

Espanyol *

: 2005–06 Atlético Madrid *

: 2013–14 *Copa del Rey:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

; runner-up:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: 2011–12, 2017–18 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

runner-up: 2013–14, 2015–16 Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Spain U20 *

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

runner-up:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Spain *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

Individual *

La Liga Team of the Season The La Liga Awards, previously known as the LFP awards, are presented annually by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) to the best players and coach in La Liga, the first division of association football in Spain. Established in the 2008–09 La ...

: 2013–14 *UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2015–16 *

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

La Liga Team of the Season: 2015–16

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juanfran 1985 births Living people People from Crevillent 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Alicante Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players RCD Espanyol footballers CA Osasuna players Atlético Madrid footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players São Paulo FC players UEFA Europa League–winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players UEFA European Championship–winning players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Brazil