Name Juan Belen Place of birth Crevillent, Spain Role Footballer Playing position Height 1.81 m | Number 20 Weight 72 kg Years Team Children Oliver Torres | |
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Full name Juan Francisco Torres Belen Date of birth (1985-01-09) 9 January 1985 (age 31) Spouse Veronica Sierras (m. 2009) Current teams Spain national football team (Defender), Atletico Madrid (#20 / Defender) Similar People Koke, Diego Godin, Gabi, Raul Garcia, Filipe Luis Profiles | ||
Juan Francisco Torres Belén ([ˈxwamfɾan ˈtorez βeˈlen]; born 9 January 1985), known as Juanfran, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid as a right back.
Contents
- Real Madrid
- Osasuna
- Atltico Madrid
- International career
- Personal life
- Club
- International
- International goals
- Individual
- References
After starting out at Real Madrid, he went on to make a name for himself in La Liga with Osasuna and Atlético Madrid, signing for the latter in 2011 and going on to win five major titles, including the 2014 national championship.
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 and Euro 2016.
Real Madrid
Born in Crevillent, Alicante, Valencian Community, Juanfran was a product of Real Madrid'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 after solid performances with the B-team. Over the course of that and the following seasons, he would play on a further five La Liga matches.
Juanfran was loaned out to RCD Espanyol 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. He started his career as a winger.
Osasuna
Juanfran signed with CA Osasuna after a deal that allowed Osasuna to get the player without having to pay a transfer fee and with per-set price of €10 million, adding several specifics, which included a possibility of a January 2007 recall by Madrid, which also retained a buying option at the end of the season. He played his first game for the Navarrese on 24 September 2006 in a 2–0 win at Celta de Vigo, and scored the second goal of the match; additionally, he appeared in nine games scoring once in their semi-final run in the UEFA Cup.
In 2008–09, Juanfran was again an everpresent fixture in Osasuna's lineups. On 31 May 2009, in the season's closer, he scored from 30 yards in a 2–1 home win over 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 Atlético Madrid until June 2015, for a fee of just over €4 million. He made his official debut for the Colchoneros two days later, starting in a 1–3 away loss against his first professional team Real Madrid for the season's Copa del Rey.
Juanfran scored his first goal for Atlético on 21 May 2011, in a 4–3 win at RCD Mallorca – the last game of the campaign – dedicating it to his father who had died two weeks beforehand. In 2011–12 he begun being regularly played as a right back, by both Gregorio Manzano and his successor, Diego Simeone. In the season's Europa League final, which the club won 3–0 against Bilbao, he played in that position; after the match, he dedicated the triumph to his late father, saying (according to UEFA.com) "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, which Atlético lost 1–4 to Real Madrid at the Estádio da Luz. One month later he signed a contract extension, running until 2018.
Juanfran started both legs of the round-of-16 Champions League tie against PSV Eindhoven. On 15 March 2016, in the second match, he took the decisive penalty in the 8–7 shootout win (0–0 on aggregate); in the final of the competition, also decided on penalties after a 1–1 draw in Milan, he was the only player to fail to convert in an eventual defeat to his former club Real Madrid.
International career
Juanfran had an extraordinary performance at the 2004 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, as Spain 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 where the national team took the silver medal; in the 2005 edition Spain reached the quarterfinals, eventually ousted by winners Argentina.
Juanfran made his full side debut on 26 May 2012, playing the entire match in a 2–0 friendly win with Serbia in St. Gallen, as a right-back. He was selected by manager Vicente del Bosque for his UEFA Euro 2012 squad, being an unused player as Spain won the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
Juanfran scored his first international goal on 16 November 2013, playing the entire 2–1 friendly win in Equatorial Guinea. However, this match was ruled invalid by FIFA 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, 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, playing the whole 90 minutes and assisting David Villa for the first goal of a 3–0 win.
Personal life
Juanfran married Verónica Sierras, with whom he had two children, Óliver and Alexia.