Juan Mata
Juan Mata, 2012
Juan Manuel Mata García ( born April 28, 1988 in Burgos, Castile and León ) is a Spanish football player. The Manchester United striker described as extremely agile and nimble is used mostly on the left wing or as an attacking midfielder. With the Spanish national team, he won the World and European champions. With Chelsea, he won the Champions League in 2012 and 2013, the Europa League.
- 2.1 national team
- 2.2 club
- 2.3 Personal Awards
Career
Club career
Youth
Born in Burgos Mata grew up in Oviedo. At the age of twelve he began his football career in the youth academy of Real Oviedo, where his father played most of his career.
Real Madrid
In summer 2003, the then 15 -year-old Mata joined the Youth Department of Real Madrid. After he there went through the youth teams Cadete A, and then Juvenil C, he arrived for the season 2005/ 06 for the Juvenil A, the A- youth of Real Madrid. With the team he won in the 2005/06 season the championship and the Copa de Campeones de Liga Juvenil. This was followed by the rise to the second professional team of Real Madrid, Real Madrid Castilla after the season. Although he was in the 2006/07 season with ten league matches second best scorer of his team behind Álvaro Negredo, he went to Real Madrid Castilla from the third Spanish league.
FC Valencia
For the 2007 /08 season Mata signed for Spanish side Valencia CF, for which he debuted at the second league game against Almeria. Mata benefited in his first season of the suspension of the player Miguel Ángel Angulo, a place for him was free in the starting of the Valencia through. He played at the end of the season in the starting lineup and firmly denied this season a total of 24 league games in which he hit five times. He also scored twice as the scorer in a 3-2 home win in the Copa del Rey against FC Barcelona and had so large proportion reaching the cup final. In said final against Getafe CF, he scored the opening goal in the 3-1 victory of his team.
In the 2008 /09 season, he helped the FC Valencia at the best league start in the club's history. Up to eight games Valencia was still ahead of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at the top, at the end let the team somewhat and ended up at the end of the season in 6th place He missed in the course of the season only one league game and was behind David Villa with eleven gates of the second best scorer of his club.
For the 2009/10 season Mata got the jersey with the number 10 after Angulo had left the club. His continued good performance, nine goals in 35 league games in the 2009/10 season, then brought forth an increased interest the Spanish top club FC Barcelona.
Chelsea FC
For the 2011/12 season joined Mata to Chelsea. He signed a five year contract with the London club.
Mata completed his debut 27 August 2011 against Norwich City. Here he came on in the 68th minute for Florent Malouda and scored the 3-1 final score. His Champions League debut came on 14 September in a 2-0 win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. During the season shone Mata, who was able to prevail as starting player, as preparers, and was able to record 13 assists and six goals in 34 games at the end of the season. In his first season he was FA Cup winners with a 2-1 win against Liverpool and Champions League winners with a 5-4 victory on penalties against Bayern Munich, where he is the only player at Chelsea its penalty could not transform. However, he was in the 88th minute corner by the template to a 1-1 draw by Didier Drogba, the Chelsea saved into overtime. At the end of the season Mata was voted Chelsea Player of the Year.
On May 15, 2013, defeated with his club Benfica by 2-1 in the final and won by the UEFA Europa League. With this victory he and his team-mate Fernando Torres are the first players who were at the same time reigning World Champion, European Champion, Champions League winners and Europa League winners. Even after this season Mata was voted Chelsea Player of the Year.
Manchester United
After Mata at Chelsea second choice had been in the first half of the 2013/14 season under new coach Jose Mourinho mostly, he moved on January 25, 2014 Premier League rivals Manchester United. The transfer fee was 37.1 million pounds sterling ( approximately 44.7 million euros ), which Mata is the most expensive signing in club history.
National team career
Also in the Spanish national youth teams Mata has achieved a multitude of missions and goals. With Spain's U-19 he succeeded in winning the U-19 Football Championship in 2006. He scored in the first group game at 5-3 against Turkey three goals. In the following sections of the tournament he was employed and increased his goal account by his goal in the semi final 5-0 against Austria on a total of four goals on. He was the second best scorer of the Championship with a goal less than teammate Alberto Bueno.
On March 28, 2009, he first played for the Spanish national team in a 1-0 against Turkey.
In 2009 he was with Spain third in Confederations Cup, where he participated in the first two group games. Almost three months later, Mata scored his first international goal in the 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Estonia. In the final two qualifying matches Mata also each scored a goal.
2011 Mata won with Spain's U -21 European champion. He drove in five games with two hits.
For the 2010 World Cup Mata was appointed by Vicente del Bosque in the squad of the Spanish selection. In Spain's first winning a World Cup Mata came in the group match against Honduras on a short-term use. Also at Euro 2012 came Mata only once used. In the final against Italy, he came off the bench four minutes left in the game. Two minutes after coming off the bench, he scored the goal for the 4-0 final score and thus contributed to the fact that Spain could become the first team to defend the European title.
Achievements
National
- World Champion: 2010
- European Championship: 2012
- Confederations Cup: Finalist 2013
- U-21 European Championship: 2011
- U-19 European Championship: 2006
Association
Chelsea FC
- UEFA Europa League: 2013
- UEFA Champions League: 2012
- FA Cup: 2012
FC Valencia
- Spanish Cup: 2008
Real Madrid
- Copa de Campeones: 2005/ 06
Personal Awards
- Award for the " Golden Player " of the U-21 European Championship 2011
- Chelsea Player of the Year: 2012, 2013
Others
Mata studied journalism at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.