Juan Manuel Mata

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Personal information
Juan Mata
Full name	Juan Manuel Mata García
Date of birth	April 28, 1988 (1988-04-28) (age 20)
Place of birth	Burgos, Spain
Height	1,70 m
Playing position	Winger/striker
Club information
Current club	Valencia CF
Number	16
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2006–2007 2007–	Real Madrid Castilla Valencia CF	40 (10) 32 (9)
National team²
2005–2006 2007–	Spain U-19 Spain U-21	5 (4) 1 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 27, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of May 27, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Juan Manuel Mata García, or Juan Mata (born April 28, 1988 in Burgos) is a Spanish football player, who currently plays as a winger for Valencia CF.

1 Club career
2 National team
3 Personal life
4 Honours
- 4.1 Valencia
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Club career

Mata started his football career at Real Oviedo, where his father spent most of his career. He stayed there for 3 years before joining Real Madrid at age 15. After appearing for Cadete A, he swiftly progressed through the junior teams, Juvenil C and finally the Juvenil A. In his last campaign (2005-06) he scored 18 goals in the league and 3 more in the Copa de Campeones, including the winner in the final against Real Valladolid, adding another 3 in the Spanish Juvenil Cup. Switching to Real Madrid Castilla in 2006-07, he was given the number 34 shirt in the first team, while wearing number 28 in Castilla.

Mata had a contractual clause at Real Madrid during his last season at the club, and eventually agreed to sign for Valencia on March 2007, starting in 2007-08. ^[1] Benefitting from constant injuries to Vicente and the ostracism to which then-manager Ronald Koeman condemned Miguel Ángel Angulo, he gradually carved a niche on Valencia's first eleven. On March 20, 2008, Mata scored 2 goals in the Spanish Cup semifinal match against FC Barcelona to help Valencia reach the final against Getafe CF where, on April 16, he scored the opener in a 3-1 win.

[edit] National team

He won the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship with the U-19 Spanish squad, where he was a key player. 'Juanín' finished the championship second to his teammate Alberto Bueno (5 goals) as top goal scorer of the competition, with 4 goals in 5 matches. On February 1, 2007, U-21 coach Iñaki Sáez included him on his squad for the friendly against England, alongside Roberto Soldado, José Manuel Jurado, Sergio Sánchez, Miguel Torres, Esteban Granero and Antonio Adán, at just 18 years and 10 months.