Xavier_Roca

Xavi Roca

Xavi Roca

Spanish footballer

Francesc Xavier 'Xavi' Roca Mateo (born 19 January 1974) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right-back.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Roca and the second or maternal family name is Mateo.
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Club career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca joined FC Barcelona's academy at 16. He spent three professional seasons as captain of their reserves in the Segunda División,[2] and his input with the first team consisted of 90 minutes in La Liga in a 2–2 away draw against Deportivo de La Coruña on 26 May 1996;[3] additionally, for two consecutive years, he was loaned to CD Logroñés and CD Toledo in the second division.[4][5]

Released in summer 1999, Roca remained in the second tier with Villarreal CF.[6] He was first-choice in his first season as the club returned to the top flight after one year,[7] then totalled 50 games over the next two as they managed to stay afloat.

Roca signed a two-year contract with top-division RCD Espanyol on 24 May 2002.[8] He left after only one and two competitive appearances, returning to division two with Rayo Vallecano on a three-year deal.[9]

Before retiring at the age of 36, Roca competed in the lower leagues and his native region, with CE L'Hospitalet, CE Sabadell FC and CE Europa.[10][11] He also spent one year in the New Zealand Football Championship with Auckland City FC,[12] where he suffered a serious knee injury in his debut.[13]

Subsequently, Roca worked as sporting director at Sabadell,[14][11] AEK Larnaca FC (Cypriot First Division)[15][16] and Panathinaikos FC (Super League Greece).[17][18]

References

  1. [1]
    "Xavier "XAVI" ROCA". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  2. [2]
    Mínguez, Antonio (8 July 1997). "Costas medita su respuesta al Celta" [Costas thinking about what his reply to Celta will be]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  3. [3]
    Sanchis, Alberto (27 May 1996). "Fiesta Bebeto, golazo de Pep" [Bebeto party, Pep wonder goal]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  4. [4]
    Alacid, Jorge (27 July 1997). "La puerta sigue abierta" [Door remains open]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  5. [5]
    "El Barça cede a Roca al Toledo" [Barça loan Roca to Toledo]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 1 July 1998. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  6. [6]
    Arquimbau, José María (9 July 1999). "Firmaron Roca y López Vallejo" [Roca and López Vallejo signed]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  7. [7]
    "Salto a Primera" [Jump to Primera] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  8. [8]
    "Fichado el defensa Xavi Roca" [Defender Xavi Roca signed]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 24 May 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  9. [9]
    Garrido, Francisco José (31 July 2003). "Xavi Roca firmará por tres años" [Xavi Roca will sign for three years]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  10. [10]
    Ayala, Manuel (28 July 2006). "El Sabadell vuelve a ilusionar a la afición" [Sabadell put fire back in hearts of faithful]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  11. [11]
    "Xavi Roca no es retira encara i fitxa per l'Europa" [Xavi Roca does not retire yet and signs for Europa]. El Punt (in Catalan). 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  12. [12]
    "La Liga defender signs with Auckland City". Stuff. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  13. [13]
    "Xavi Roca se 'rompe' en su debut en Nueva Zelanda" [Xavi Roca 'breaks' in New Zealand debut]. Marca (in Spanish). 3 November 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  14. [14]
    Quintana, Toni (28 November 2013). "El Sabadell prescinde de su director deportivo, Xavi Roca" [Sabadell release their sporting director, Xavi Roca]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  15. [15]
    "Επίσημη ανακοίνωση" [Official announcement] (in Greek). AEK Larnaca. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  16. [16]
    "Xavi Roca vuelve al AEK Laranca" [Xavi Roca returns to AEK Laranca]. Sport (in Spanish). 15 February 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  17. [17]
    Manchón, Martín (30 June 2020). "Xavi Roca: "Lo más sensato ahora es apostar por gente de la casa"" [Xavi Roca: "The wisest thing to do now is bet on homegrown players"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  18. [18]
    "Xavi Roca". Panathinaikos F.C. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
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