José Mari

José María Romero Poyón (born 10 December 1978), known as José Mari, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a forward.

José Mari
Personal information
Full name José Maria Romero Poyón[1]
Date of birth (1978-12-10) 10 December 1978[1]
Place of birth Seville, Spain[1]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 12 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1994–1995 Lledón
1995–1996 Sevilla
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1997 Sevilla B 25 (13)
1997 Sevilla 21 (7)
1997–1999 Atlético Madrid 84 (20)
2000–2003 Milan 52 (5)
2002–2003Atlético Madrid (loan) 31 (6)
2003–2007 Villarreal 113 (15)
2007–2008 Betis 21 (1)
2009–2010 Gimnàstic 49 (8)
2010–2013 Xerez 80 (27)
Total 476 (102)
National team
1996–1997 Spain U18 7 (6)
1998–2000 Spain U21 12 (5)
2000 Spain U23 5 (3)
2001–2003 Spain 4 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
Olympic Games
2000 SydneyTeam Competition

He amassed La Liga totals of 270 matches and 49 goals over 11 seasons, mainly with Atlético Madrid – for which he signed at the age of 18 from Sevilla, going on to score 34 times in 144 appearances – and Villarreal (four years apiece). He also played professionally in Italy for Milan.

José Mari was a Spanish international in the 2000s.

Club career

José Mari was born in Seville, Andalusia. After growing through the ranks of local Sevilla FC (first appearing with the main squad aged just 18, in a 0–2 defeat at Rayo Vallecano on 5 March 1997, and making 21 La Liga appearances with seven goals during that season, as his team was finally relegated),[2] he signed with Atlético Madrid.[3]

At Atlético, José Mari scored a combined 18 league goals in his first two seasons.[3] Highlights included scoring at both home and away wins over Real Madrid in the year 1999 (separate seasons, both by 3–1); these happened to be Atlético's only competitive victories in the Madrid derby in a span covering almost 20 years.[4][5]

José Mari failed to settle in Italy after a 19 million move to A.C. Milan in January 2000[6] – Atlético were relegated at the end of the campaign[3] – and was subsequently loaned out to the Colchoneros during 2002–03, their first back in the top flight after a two-year absence.[7] His second spell there was less successful, with the high point being a hat-trick in a 3–3 home draw against Athletic Bilbao on 10 November 2002.[8]

José Mari agreed to a deal at Villarreal CF in the summer of 2003, for an undisclosed fee.[9] He went on to play a key role in that year's UEFA Intertoto Cup triumph,[10][11] and the side's best-ever league finish (third in 2004–05, with four goals in 30 matches).[12]

In 2007, after falling out of favour at Villarreal with the arrival of Giuseppe Rossi and the recovery of longtime injury absentee Nihat Kahveci, José Mari returned to Seville, joining Real Betis on a one-year deal.[13] He scored his first goal for his new club more than a year after his arrival, on 24 September 2008, in a 2–3 away loss to FC Barcelona;[14] despite still having a contract running until June 2010, he was released in late December and, late in the following month, moved to the second division and moved to Gimnàstic de Tarragona.[15]

In June 2010, after one and a half seasons of regular playing time, with six league goals in his last year,[16] José Mari became a free agent and was released.[17] In the following month, the 31-year-old signed for Xerez CD, recently relegated to the second tier.[18] He netted a career-best 17 times in his first season – 33 games, all starts – helping his team to the eighth position.[19]

International career

José Mari represented Spain on four occasions, in a two-year span. His debut came on 25 April 2001 as he played the second half of a 1–0 friendly win over Japan, in Córdoba.[20]

Previously, José Mari was a member of the national squad which won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He scored three goals during the competition.[21]

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.20 November 2002Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain Bulgaria1–01–0Friendly[22]

Post-retirement

After retiring, José Mari began actively practicing bodybuilding.[23][24]

Honours

Club

Villarreal

International

Spain U23

References

  1. "JOSE MARI Romero Poyón". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. Carbajosa, Carlos E. (6 March 1997). "Vallecas tritura al Sevilla" [Vallecas chews Sevilla up]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  3. Moraleda, Andrés (7 September 2016). "Qué fue de… José Mari (I)" [What happened to… José Mari (I)] (in Spanish). esDiario. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  4. Muñoz, Miguel Ángel (13 June 1999). "Más palo al Real" [Real get beat up again]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  5. Palacios, Eduardo (31 October 1999). "Lorenzo, vaya vergüenza!" [Lorenzo, shame on you!]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  6. Mariotto, Niccolò (23 January 2017). "Il Milan e la Spagna, da Torres a José Mari quanti flop! Deulofeu sfaterà il tabù?" [Milan and Spain, so many flops from Torres to José Mari! Will Deulofeu break the taboo?] (in Italian). 90 Min. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  7. "Atlético move for Milan duo". UEFA. 5 July 2002. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  8. Cuenca, Nika (11 November 2002). "'El pupas' fue Urzaiz" [Urzaiz was the 'Pupas']. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  9. "José Mari joins Villarreal". UEFA. 16 July 2003. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  10. Pérez Ortiz, Juan (13 August 2003). "Villarreal, muy cerca de la Copa de la UEFA" [Villarreal, very close to the UEFA Cup]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  11. "El Villarreal jugará la UEFA por primera vez en su historia" [Villarreal will play UEFA for the first time in their history]. Diario Córdoba (in Spanish). 27 August 2003. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. Fandos Ventura, Cristian (17 May 2014). "Partido para la historia: Real Sociedad 0–4 Villarreal (2004/2005)" [Historical match: Real Sociedad 0–4 Villarreal (2004/2005)] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  13. "José Mari secures Betis homecoming". UEFA. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  14. "Barcelona 3–2 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  15. "El Nàstic ficha a José Mari" [Nàstic sign José Mari]. Marca (in Spanish). 30 January 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  16. Gil, Javier (23 June 2010). "El regreso de Roberto al Huesca gana enteros" [Roberto's return to Huesca stronger by the day]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  17. "Deu baixes segures" [Ten certain releases] (in Catalan). Gimnàstic Tarragona. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  18. "José Mari, olfato de gol para el ataque azulino" [José Mari, goal flair for blue attack] (in Spanish). Xerez CD. 20 July 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  19. "Jonathan Soriano se consolida como máximo goleador de Segunda" [Jonathan Soriano consolidated as Segunda top scorer]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 12 May 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  20. Gascón, Javier (26 April 2001). "Ensayo inquietante" [Troubling rehearsal]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  21. "España tira una ventaja de dos goles y el árbitro ayuda a perder el oro" [Spain waste two-goal advantage and referee helps in loss of gold] (PDF). El Mundo (in Spanish). 30 September 2000. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  22. "Espanya guanya Bulgària amb un solitari gol de José Mari, sense demostrar res de l'altre món" [Spain defeat Bulgaria with lone goal from José Mari, without showing anything special] (in Catalan). Televisió de Catalunya. 21 November 2002. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  23. "De futbolista a físicoculturista, el impactante cambio de un ex jugador del Atlético de Madrid que da la vuelta al mundo" [From footballer to bodybuilder, a former Atlético de Madrid player's shocking change that goes around the world] (in Spanish). Infobae. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  24. Piqueras, Álvaro (23 April 2019). "José Mari: la 'montagna di muscoli' que asombra a Italia por su transformación física" [José Mari: the 'montagna di muscoli' ("mountain of muscles" in Italian) which has Italy in awe due to his physical transformation]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  25. "El Villarreal vuelve a la UEFA tras ganar la Intertoto" [Villarreal return to UEFA after winning the Intertoto]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 23 August 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
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