Xavi Roca

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Roca and the second or maternal family name is Mateo.
Xavi Roca
Personal information
Full name Francesc Xavier Roca Mateo
Date of birth (1974-01-19) 19 January 1974 (age 47)
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Right back
Youth career
1990–1993 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 Barcelona C 63 (0)
1994–1997 Barcelona B 71 (0)
1996 Barcelona 1 (0)
1997–1998 Logroñés 18 (0)
1998–1999 Toledo 25 (0)
1999–2002 Villarreal 81 (0)
2002–2003 Espanyol 1 (0)
2003–2004 Rayo Vallecano 3 (0)
2004–2006 Hospitalet 46 (0)
2006–2008 Sabadell 54 (0)
2008–2009 Auckland City 17 (0)
2009–2010 Europa 9 (0)
Total 389 (0)
National team
1989–1990 Spain U16 9 (0)
1990–1991 Spain U17 8 (0)
1990–1991 Spain U18 10 (0)
1995 Spain U21 1 (0)
Teams managed
2014–2018 AEK Larnaca
2019–2020 Panathinaikos F.C.
2021– AEK Larnaca
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Francesc Xavier 'Xavi' Roca Mateo (born 19 January 1974) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right back.[1] He is currently the Technical Director of one of the top teams in Cyprus AEK Larnaca.

Xavi has more than eight year of experience in the position of Technical Director. He started in 2010 after assuming this task at the Spanish team of CE Sabadell FC. During his first season there, Sabadell was promoted to Segunda Division, remaining in this category till Roca’s last season there (2013-14).

In March 2014 he became the technical director of the Cypriot team AEK Larnaca. During his four year term, AEK Larnaca carved the big teams of Cyprus, earned the Cup of Cyprus for 2017-18 season winning the second position of the championship for three consecutive years. Simultaneously AEK Larnaca participated at Europa League’s preliminary rounds. At the end of season 2017-18 Xavi Roca concluded his collaboration with AEK Larnaca. From December of 2019 until October 2020, Xavi was Technical Director of Panathinaikos F.C.

Xavi Roca started his career as a football player from Barcelona´s Academies (being a true born Catalan) and passed from every grade of La Macia. During all the years he remained in the behemoth Barcelona he played for all the National teams of Spain, from U15 till U21. At the age of 20 he joined Barcelona´s second team and two years later his big dream became a reality when he played for Barcelona´s first team. He played just once thought it was an unforgettable experience! On March 26, 1996 he debuted as a line up player in the match against La Coruña. He couldn´t stabilize himself in the first team and finally when he was 23 he started looking for another destination. His new team was Logroñés, then he moved to Toledo and finally he started being recognized when he played for Villareal CF. He became one of the main players of the “Yellow submarine” in Primera Division, during three seasons. In 2002 he moved to RCD Espanyol. As he wasn’t very successful there, a year later he left back to Segunda joining first Rayo Vallecano and then Hospitalet and Sabadell. In 2008 at the age of 34, Roca went down under and played for Auckland City FC in New Zealand; with that team he gained the local championship. [2]

References[]

  1. ^ "Επίσημη ανακοίνωση" [Official announcement] (in Greek). AEK Larnaca. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Introduction to Panathinaikos" [Official announcement]. Panathinaikos. October 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2021.

External links[]

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