Javi de Pedro
Personal information
Full name Francisco Javier de Pedro Falque
Date of birth (1973-08-04) 4 August 1973 (age 50)
Place of birth Logroño, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1982–1989 Antiguoko[1]
1989–1992 Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1994 Real Sociedad B 48 (12)
1993–2004 Real Sociedad 304 (45)
2004 Blackburn Rovers 2 (0)
2005 Perugia 5 (0)
2005–2006 IFK Göteborg 0 (0)
2006 Ergotelis 0 (0)
2006–2007 Burgos 5 (0)
2007 Vera 0 (0)
Total 364 (57)
International career
1991 Spain U18 3 (0)
1994–1996 Spain U21 4 (0)
1998–2003 Spain 12 (2)
1995–2001 Basque Country 7 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Francisco Javier "Javi" de Pedro Falque (born 4 August 1973) is a Spanish retired footballer.

He played as a left midfielder, mainly with Real Sociedad, and possessed a thunderous left-foot shot.[2][3] He also played professionally in four other countries.

De Pedro represented Spain at the 2002 World Cup.

Club career

De Pedro was born in Logroño, La Rioja. A product of Real Sociedad's youth system, he first appeared with the main squad on 7 November 1993, coming on as a substitute in a 1–3 home defeat against UE Lleida. Subsequently, he became an essential element with the La Liga side, creating opportunities and scoring alike: in the 2002–03 season he contributed with 29 games and three goals as the Basques finished in second position, trailing eventual champions Real Madrid by only two points; in the subsequent edition of the UEFA Champions League, he scored a late consolation goal after coming on as a substitute in a 2–4 defeat away to Juventus FC.[4]

De Pedro joined Blackburn Rovers in mid-June 2004, after he had been refused a move to Southampton the previous year, playing out the remaining season of his contract undeterred.[5] He made his debut for his new team on 14 August in a 1–1 Premier League home draw against West Bromwich Albion, before being replaced by Tugay Kerimoğlu for the second half of the match.[6]

On 31 January 2005, in the last day of the campaign's winter transfer window, de Pedro was released by Blackburn on a free transfer[7] and signed for Perugia Calcio, where he played only a few matches before joining Swedish club IFK Göteborg, thanks to the presence of former Real Sociedad teammate Håkan Mild, now their director of football; he left after only a few days for personal reasons, in December.[citation needed]

Afterwards, de Pedro would only play some exhibition matches with Ergotelis F.C. from the Football League (Greece). He subsequently returned to Spain to sign with Burgos CF, but appeared very rarely for the Segunda División B team.

De Pedro started 2007–08, alongside former Real Sociedad and Spain teammate Agustín Aranzábal, with regional club CD Vera in the Canary Islands,[8] but was dismissed by the team's coach due to a lack of commitment. He retired from football after this experience, and subsequently focused on getting a coaching qualification.

International career

Having made his debut with Spain on 23 September 1998 in a friendly match against Russia in Granada,[9] de Pedro appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he played in all the matches as a starter. His last cap came in 2003.

De Pedro also played for the Basque Country regional team, scoring against Nigeria and Morocco.[10][11][12]

International goals

[13]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 18 November 1998 Arechi, Salerno, Italy  Italy 1–1 2–2 Friendly
2. 30 April 2003 Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain  Ecuador 1–0 4–0 Friendly

Personal life

In November 2009, de Pedro was arrested for driving under the influence and with an expired driver's licence.[14] In January 2018, he was arrested for domestic violence.[15]

Honours

Spain U21

References

  1. ^ "Jugadores relevantes" [Relevant players] (in Spanish). Antiguoko KE. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Javier de Pedro, de zurda de oro a derecha de hierro" [Javier de Pedro, from golden lefty to iron right] (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Gica Craioveanu: "La zurda de Javi de Pedro no era caviar, era beluga"" [Gica Craioveanu: "Javi de Pedro's left was not caviar, it was beluga"] (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Flying start sees Juve home". UEFA. 21 October 2003. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  5. ^ De Pedro bound for Blackburn; UEFA, 16 June 2004
  6. ^ Blackburn 1–1 West Brom; BBC Sport, 14 August 2004
  7. ^ Blackburn release winger De Pedro; BBC Sport, 31 January 2005
  8. ^ El CD Vera de las "estrellas" se presentó ayer sin la más brillante, Javier De Pedro ("Star"-studded CD Vera presented yesterday without the most shining, Javier De Pedro; El Día, 11 August 2007 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ "Camacho debuta con épica" [Camacho has epic debut]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 24 September 1998. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Amunike juega los noventa minutos" [Amunike plays the ninety minutes]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 30 December 1999. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Se hizo justicia" [Justice was done]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 30 December 2000. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  12. ^ "3–2: Victoria trabajada de Euskadi" [3–2: Hard-earned win for Euskadi]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 30 December 2001. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  13. ^ "De Pedro". European Football. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Javi de Pedro: la imagen del declive de una estrella" [Javi de Pedro: the picture of a star's downfall] (in Spanish). La Voz Libre. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2017.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Detenido el exjugador de la Real Javier de Pedro por agredir a su pareja" [Former Real player Javier de Pedro arrested for assaulting his partner]. El País (in Spanish). 8 January 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Italia ya ganó un Europeo a España en el 1996" [Italy have already won European Championships against Spain in 1996] (in Spanish). Orgullo Bianconero. 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.

External links

Spain squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup
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