Juanito (footballer, born 1965)

Juanito

Personal information
Full name	Juan Francisco Rodríguez Herrera
Date of birth	(1965-05-10) 10 May 1965
Place of birth	Tenerife, Spain
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Centre back
Youth career
	UD Güimar
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1984–1987	Las Palmas	100	(4)
1987–1990	Zaragoza	95	(14)
1990–1994	Atlético Madrid	120	(12)
1994–1996	Sevilla	42	(4)
1996–2001	Extremadura	105	(5)
International career
1989–1991	Spain	5	(1)
Managerial career
2006–2007	Las Palmas
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Juan Francisco Rodríguez Herrera (born 10 May 1965 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands), aka Juanito, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

Club career

Juanito made his professional debuts in the 1984–85 season with UD Las Palmas, appearing in 30 Segunda División matches en route to a La Liga promotion.

During his 16-year senior career, he amassed totals of 462 games and 39 goals – 385 in the top division – not managing to find the net in only two campaigns and also representing Real Zaragoza (scored 13 goals for the Aragonese in two seasons combined, mainly through his main asset, a powerful shot), Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla FC and CF Extremadura. With the Colchoneros, he was an essential defensive unit as the club won back-to-back Copa del Rey tournaments in the early 90's.

After retiring in 2000, Juanito acted as both chairman and general manager for last club Extremadura. Subsequently he returned to Las Palmas as director of football but, in late March 2006, was appointed interim coach after the sacking of Josip Višnjić, with the Canary Islands outfit eventually returning to level two after an absence of two years.

In June 2009, after a further 45 matches as a manager and one full season as sporting director – the team finished in 18th position, just one above the relegation zone – Juanito left Las Palmas.

International career

Juanito made his debut for Spain on 15 November 1989, starting in a 4–0 home win against Hungary for the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, in a match played in Seville. He scored the third goal from a free-kick, being eventually overlooked for the squad that competed in the final stages in Italy by manager Luis Suárez and gaining a total of five caps.

Honours

Las Palmas

• Segunda División: 1984–85

Atlético Madrid

• Copa del Rey: 1990–91, 1991–92
• Supercopa de España: Runner-up 1991, 1992

External links

• BDFutbol player profile
• BDFutbol coach profile
• National team data Template:Es icon
• Juanito at National-Football-Teams.com