Javier de Pedro

Javi de Pedro

Personal information
Full name	Francisco Javier de Pedro Falque
Date of birth	August 4, 1973 (1973-08-04)
Place of birth	Logroño, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Antiguoko
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1993	Real Sociedad B
1993–2004	Real Sociedad	304	(45)
2004	Blackburn Rovers	2	(0)
2005	Perugia	5	(0)
2005–2006	Göteborg
2006	Ergotelis	0	(0)
2007	Burgos	5	(0)
2007	Vera	0	(0)
National team
1991	Spain U18	3	(0)
1994–1996	Spain U21	4	(0)
1998–2003	Spain	12	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is De Pedro and the second or maternal family name is Falque.

Francisco Javier 'Javi' de Pedro Falque (born 4 August 1973 in Logroño, La Rioja) is a retired Spanish footballer.

He played as a left midfielder, mainly with Real Sociedad, and possessed a thunderous left-foot shot. He also played professionally in four other countries, with no impact whatsoever.

De Pedro represented Spain at the 2002 World Cup.

Club career

A product of Real Sociedad's youth system, de Pedro first appeared with the main squad on 7 November 1993, subbing in 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 Basque finished in second position, trailing eventual champions Real Madrid by only two points.

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

On 31 January 2005, in the last day of the season's winter transfer window, de Pedro was released by Blackburn on a free transfer 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 the club's director of football; he left after only a few days due to personal reasons, in December 2005.

Afterwards, de Pedro would only play some exhibition matches with second tier side Ergotelis FC, in Greece. He would return to Spain to play with an historic club, Burgos CF, but appeared very rarely for the third division side.

In 2007–08, he started the season, alongside former teammate (in both R.Sociedad and country) Agustín Aranzábal, with regional side CD Vera Puerto de la Cruz in the Canary Islands, but was dismissed by the team's coach, due to a lack of commitment. De Pedro retired from football after this experience, and subsequently focused on getting the trainer degree.

International career

Having made his debut with Spain on 23 September 1998, in a friendly match against Russia in Granada, 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.

International Goals

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

Honours

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship: Runner-up 1996

External links

• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Javier de Pedro at National-Football-Teams.com