Juan Velasco Damas

Juan Velasco

Personal information
Full name	Juan Velasco Damas
Date of birth	May 15, 1977 (1977-05-15)
Place of birth	Dos Hermanas, Spain
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Right back
Youth career
1995–1996	Coria
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–1997	Sevilla B
1997–1999	Sevilla	79	(3)
1999–2004	Celta	133	(1)
2004–2006	Atlético Madrid	46	(0)
2006–2007	Espanyol	20	(0)
2008	Norwich City	3	(0)
2008–2009	Panthrakikos	25	(0)
2010–2011	Larissa	27	(0)
National team
1998–1999	Spain U21	5	(0)
2000	Spain	5	(0)
* 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 Velasco and the second or maternal family name is Damas.

Juan Velasco Damas (born 15 May 1977 in Dos Hermanas, Seville) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a right defender.

Playing for seven different clubs during his professional career, he appeared in 213 matches in his country's top division, scoring one goal. Velasco represented Spain at Euro 2000, and also competed abroad in England and Greece.

Club career

Velasco started representing professionally local giants Sevilla FC, appearing in 13 La Liga matches in 1996–97, a season which ended in relegation: his league debut occurred on 5 March 1997, in a 0–2 away loss against Rayo Vallecano. In the following two years, he amassed nearly 80 official appearances, contributing prominently in the second as the Andalusians returned to the top level.

After helping Sevilla promote, Velasco joined Celta de Vigo, experiencing his most successful period: in the 2002–03 season, he appeared in 31 games to help the Galicians qualify for the first time ever to the UEFA Champions League; in the following year, however, he saw his team suffer relegation.

Velasco played the following three years with Atlético de Madrid (two seasons) and RCD Espanyol (one), averaging 22 games per campaign. On 18 February 2008, after spending the first months of the new campaign without a club, he signed a three-month contract with English second division side Norwich City, following a successful trial. At the end of the season, however, he left for Panthrakikos FC, freshly promoted to Greece's top division.

After one year 1/2 of relative playing time, Velasco moved teams in January 2010, but stayed in the country, signing with Larissa FC. He retired in June of the following year, aged 34.

International career

Velasco was capped five times by Spain, his debut coming on 26 January 2000 in a 3–0 friendly win over Poland (Cartagena). Selected for UEFA Euro 2000, he did not leave the bench.

External links

• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Juan Velasco at National-Football-Teams.com
• Juan Velasco career stats at Soccerbase
• Norwich City profile