Xavi Roca
Personal information
Full name Francesc Xavier Roca Mateo
Date of birth (1974-01-19) 19 January 1974[1]
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain[1]
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
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)
1996–1999 Barcelona 1 (0)
1997–1998 → Logroñés (loan) 18 (0)
1998–1999 → Toledo (loan) 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)
International career
1989–1990 Spain U16 9 (0)
1990–1991 Spain U17 8 (0)
1990–1991 Spain U18 10 (0)
1995 Spain U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Francesc Xavier 'Xavi' Roca Mateo (born 19 January 1974) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right-back.

Club career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca joined FC Barcelona's academy at 16. He spent three professional seasons as captain of their reserves in the Segunda División,[2] and his input with the first team consisted of 90 minutes in La Liga in a 2–2 away draw against Deportivo de La Coruña on 26 May 1996;[3] additionally, for two consecutive years, he was loaned to CD Logroñés and CD Toledo in the second division.[4][5]

Released in summer 1999, Roca remained in the second tier with Villarreal CF.[6] He was first-choice in his first season as the club returned to the top flight after one year,[7] then totalled 50 games over the next two as they managed to stay afloat.

Roca signed a two-year contract with top-division RCD Espanyol on 24 May 2002.[8] He left after only one and two competitive appearances, returning to division two with Rayo Vallecano on a three-year deal.[9]

Before retiring at the age of 36, Roca competed in the lower leagues and his native region, with CE L'Hospitalet, CE Sabadell FC and CE Europa.[10][11] He also spent one year in the New Zealand Football Championship with Auckland City FC,[12] where he suffered a serious knee injury in his debut.[13]

Subsequently, Roca worked as sporting director at Sabadell,[14][11] AEK Larnaca FC (Cypriot First Division)[15][16] and Panathinaikos FC (Super League Greece).[17][18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Xavier "XAVI" ROCA". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  2. ↑ Mínguez, Antonio (8 July 1997). "Costas medita su respuesta al Celta" [Costas thinking about what his reply to Celta will be]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  3. ↑ Sanchis, Alberto (27 May 1996). "Fiesta Bebeto, golazo de Pep" [Bebeto party, Pep wonder goal]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  4. ↑ Alacid, Jorge (27 July 1997). "La puerta sigue abierta" [Door remains open]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "El Barça cede a Roca al Toledo" [Barça loan Roca to Toledo]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 1 July 1998. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Arquimbau, José María (9 July 1999). "Firmaron Roca y López Vallejo" [Roca and López Vallejo signed]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Salto a Primera" [Jump to Primera] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Fichado el defensa Xavi Roca" [Defender Xavi Roca signed]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 24 May 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Garrido, Francisco José (31 July 2003). "Xavi Roca firmará por tres años" [Xavi Roca will sign for three years]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  10. ↑ Ayala, Manuel (28 July 2006). "El Sabadell vuelve a ilusionar a la afición" [Sabadell put fire back in hearts of faithful]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Xavi Roca no es retira encara i fitxa per l'Europa" [Xavi Roca does not retire yet and signs for Europa]. El Punt (in Catalan). 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "La Liga defender signs with Auckland City". Stuff. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Xavi Roca se 'rompe' en su debut en Nueva Zelanda" [Xavi Roca 'breaks' in New Zealand debut]. Marca (in Spanish). 3 November 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  14. ↑ Quintana, Toni (28 November 2013). "El Sabadell prescinde de su director deportivo, Xavi Roca" [Sabadell release their sporting director, Xavi Roca]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "Επίσημη ανακοίνωση" [Official announcement] (in Greek). AEK Larnaca. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Xavi Roca vuelve al AEK Laranca" [Xavi Roca returns to AEK Laranca]. Sport (in Spanish). 15 February 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  17. ↑ Manchón, Martín (30 June 2020). "Xavi Roca: "Lo más sensato ahora es apostar por gente de la casa"" [Xavi Roca: "The wisest thing to do now is bet on homegrown players"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "Xavi Roca". Panathinaikos F.C. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
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