Jesús García Sanjuán (born 22 August 1971) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mostly as a central midfielder.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jesús García Sanjuán | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 22 August 1971 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Zaragoza, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Zaragoza | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Zaragoza B | 31 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1991–1998 | Zaragoza | 180 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997 | → Wolves (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Villarreal | 22 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Córdoba | 26 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Airdrieonians | 22 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | Kilmarnock | 31 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 316 | (11) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Spain U18 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Spain U19 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Spain U21 | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Spain U23 | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–2002 | Aragon | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Best known for his spell with Real Zaragoza, he helped it win the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup, then finished his professional career in Scotland where he represented two clubs.
Club career edit
Zaragoza edit
A youth product of Real Zaragoza, Sanjuán was born in Zaragoza, and made his debut for the first team on 24 April 1991 in a 0–1 away loss against Sporting de Gijón. Almost never an undisputed starter for the Aragonese, he featured heavily during his seven-and-a-half professional seasons with the club, most notably amassing totals of 93 games and four goals in La Liga from 1991 to 1994.
The peak of Sanjuán's time with Zaragoza was winning the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup, in a 2–1 extra time win over Arsenal in Paris – he played 36 minutes in the final, as a substitute.[1][2] The previous campaign, he had won the Copa del Rey with the side, beating Celta de Vigo on penalties and also featuring from the bench.[3]
Sanjuán had a brief loan spell at English First Division team Wolverhampton Wanderers during autumn 1997, making four league appearances. He also featured three times in that season's Football League Cup, scoring the winning goal at Fulham.
Being definitely released by Zaragoza in June 1998, Sanjuán also played in Spain with Villarreal CF and Córdoba CF. With the former, he faced top level relegation after losing the play-offs to Sevilla FC.
Scotland edit
Sanjuán returned to the United Kingdom in 2000, with Scotland's Airdrieonians, as one of a series of Spanish players recruited by manager Steve Archibald. After eight months, amid spiralling financial problems, the club sold him to Kilmarnock[4] where he played two Scottish Premier League seasons, now mostly in a sweeper position, before retiring in 2003; he scored his only goal for the latter in a 3–0 win over the former for the Scottish Cup, on 5 January 2002.[5]
Honours edit
Zaragoza
Airdrieonians
Spain U21
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Third Place 1994
References edit
- ^ "1994/95: Nayim's bolt from the blue sinks Arsenal". UEFA.com. 1 June 1995. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "¿Qué fue de 'los héroes de París'?" [What happened to the 'heroes of Paris'?]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 4 May 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Aquel 20 de abril para el Real Zaragoza..." [That 20 April to Real Zaragoza...]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 20 April 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ^ Killie swoop for Spanish duo; BBC Sport, 28 March 2001
- ^ "Killie's Latins dance past Airdrie". BBC Sport. 5 January 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- ^ "Airdrie lift Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. 19 November 2000. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
External links edit
- Jesús García Sanjuán at BDFutbol
- Jesús García Sanjuán at Soccerbase
- Jesús García Sanjuán Interview
