Fuenlabrada - the mighty challengers: Part 2; aka Juan Quero - the roller-coaster (15th October, 2017)

In just a few months, Fuenlabrada have competed for promotion to the Segunda, signed a center-back from a La Liga side, and will now be playing Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

This is part 2 of a series about Fuenlabrada, the mighty challengers to Real Madrid, who they play in the cup on the 26th of October.

You can read part 1 here.

He was short. Very short. At 5'3", the left winger sometimes played in an over-sized shirt.

The ball never left his feet. His feet were tiny but they had magic. A dizzying array of body feints, close control, direction changes and sheer speed, often resembling a roller-coaster, left opposition defenders outwitted. And yes - sometimes, he frustrated. Sometimes, he was irregular.

But when he turned up, the world was at his feet.

If Juan Quero plays against Real Madrid he'll be playing against the club that let him go. The club that didn't think he had it in him to become a La Liga player.

The club that was wrong. Very, very wrong - he went from playing in the fourth tier to the first in just three years.

He started started playing football at the age of five, but after being picked up and then released by Real Madrid, he graduated from Las Rozas. He would play his first two seasons as a senior, the 2003-04 and 2004-05 campaigns, at Tercera side Santa Ana. Segunda B side Alcorcón signed him, and impressed in the 2005-06 season at the age of just 21, scoring four goals.

His rise to the top could have been quicker - in 2006 Poli Ejido in the Segunda signed him. However, the signing was appealed by Alcorcón, and the RFEF actually ruled in their favor - meaning that Juan Quero had been a Poli Ejido till October yet had never wore the Poli Ejido shirt. However, after another successful Segunda B season with Alcorcón, Segunda side Numancia successfully signed him.

Numancia won the 2007-08 Segunda season, and so Juan Quero was in La Liga. And things came full circle - his debut in La Liga was at the Santiago Bernabéu, against Real Madrid, in a 4-3 loss.

But life isn't a circle. It is a roller coaster - and Juan Quero certainly rode it.

Juan Quero in a Rayo shirt

He was born in Vallecas. And he came back home - signing for Rayo Vallecano after his La Liga season was spent largely as a substitute. After impressing during Rayo's turbulent 2009-10 season, he was asked to leave on loan to Elche for the 2010-11, but José Bordalás deemed him surplus to requirements within months and he subsequently joined Las Palmas for the rest of the season.

Paco Jémez was so impressed with him that he brought the diminutive winger to Córdoba with him for the 2011-12 season on loan, where he acted as a super-sub.

Since then, Juan Quero has been released by Rayo in 2012, spent six months with the Sesiones AFE, signed for Dubai CSC in the United Arab Emirates in January 2013, moved to Buriram United in Thailand in March 2013, moved to Chonburi FC on loan in the same country in June 2013 (which ended in December), moved to Oriente Petrolero in Bolivia in January 2014, moved to Ratchaburi FC back in Thailand in July 2014, moved to Hércules back in Spain in January 2015, moved to Birkirkara FC in Malta in August 2015, moved to DSK Shivajians in India in February 2016, and moved to Fuenlabrada back in Spain once again this summer.

May the roller-coaster player continue his roller-coaster career.

Francisco Pérez Pérez - the actual oldest player to have played in Spain (1st November, 2017)

I've always wanted to ask a football player: how much do you love your club? If you see your club go down, what are you willing to put on the line to see them go back up? The notion that "players will come and players will go, but the fans are the club" is one that is sadly true in what has become a money-filled sport. The story of a player sacrificing money and success for his club? That story is rare. That story is beautiful. This is that story. This is the story of a player who loved his club. His local club. It'll be a long time if and when someone beats his record. Francisco Pérez Pérez, also known as Chico, currently holds the record for being the oldest player to play in the Segunda B - 43 years and 93 days is the figure. That's a figure that second place Diego Rodríguez Fernández (41 years and 324 days) falls short of by a year and 134 days. I should also point out that the top 3 list for oldest players to play in any of the top three tier

When three teams offered a 19-year-old an eight year contract (11th October, 2017)

Just how many players can you name who have the following descrption: He is a striker of great quality, and was a great promise of Spanish football, but his bad luck and some injuries denied him the opportunity to recover - he has never played more than one season in the same team. This is the story of a player - a technically and physically excellent striker - who made mistakes and suffered injuries very young and never really recovered. Born in Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana, Barcelona, Iván Peñaranda started his youth career at Granollers. His real formation, however, was in the lower categories of Barcelona, in which he stayed for seven years (1991-98). Playing alongside Xavi Hernández, Gabri and Carles Puyol. He was considered as one of the young players with a huge future within the club. In the summer of 1998, he angered Barcelona by using "change of residence" as an excuse to sign for Mallorca B (he would move there along with his family), where he would play alongs

Who is Raúl Martín Presa, the Mickey Mouse? Part 1. (20th August, 2017)

José María Ruiz-Mateos was the head and main shareholder of Nueva Rumasa - the company that owned Rayo and other companies - mainly specializing in dairy products. (He wasn't the president of Rayo though - his wife, Teresa Rivero, was Rayo's president). In early 2011, the directors announced a debt of over 700 million euros, that it was on the verge of bankruptcy and that staff wouldn't be paid. And the players were visibly angry about it - captain Míchel assured the press that the club would continue fighting on the pitch, but the day after the announcement was made, six key players didn’t attend training. Veteran midfielder José María Movilla spoke on radio station SER about the situation, about the fact that he had only received seven of the last eighteen months of pay, about the fact that there were a few players who couldn't even afford car repairs. When Rayo Vallecano were about to earn promotion to La Liga despite all the odds - the players not being paid,

The Pride of Vallekas

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