Javier de Pedro

Javi de Pedro

Personal information
Full name	Francisco Javier de Pedro Falque
Date of birth	(1973-08-04) 4 August 1973
Place of birth	Logroño, Spain
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Antiguoko
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1993	Real Sociedad B
1993–2004	Real Sociedad	304	(45)
2004	Blackburn Rovers	2	(0)
2005	Perugia	5	(0)
2005–2006	IFK Göteborg	0	(0)
2006	Ergotelis	0	(0)
2006–2007	Burgos	5	(0)
2007	Vera	0	(0)
Total		316	(45)
International career
1991	Spain U18	3	(0)
1994–1996	Spain U21	4	(0)
1998–2003	Spain	12	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is De Pedro and the second or maternal family name is Falque.

Francisco Javier "Javi" de Pedro Falque (born 4 August 1973 in Logroño, La Rioja) is a Spanish retired footballer.

He played as a left midfielder, mainly with Real Sociedad, and possessed a thunderous left-foot shot. He also played professionally in four other countries.

De Pedro represented Spain at the 2002 World Cup.

Club career

A product of Real Sociedad's youth system, de Pedro first appeared with the main squad on 7 November 1993, subbing in in a 1–3 home defeat against UE Lleida. Subsequently he became an essential element with the La Liga club, creating opportunities and scoring alike: in the 2002–03 season he contributed with 29 games and three goals as the Basque finished in second position, trailing eventual champions Real Madrid by only two points.

De Pedro joined Blackburn Rovers in mid-June 2004, after he had been refused a move to Southampton the previous year, playing out undetermined the remaining season of his contract. He made his debut for his new team on 14 August in a 1–1 Premier League home draw against West Bromwich Albion, before being substituted by Tugay Kerimoğlu for the second half of the match.

On 31 January 2005, in the last day of the season's winter transfer window, de Pedro was released by Blackburn on a free transfer and signed for Perugia Calcio, where he played only a few matches before joining Swedish club IFK Göteborg, thanks to the presence of former Real Sociedad teammate Håkan Mild, now the club's director of football; he left after only a few days due to personal reasons, in December.

Afterwards, de Pedro would only play some exhibition matches with second-tier side Ergotelis FC, in Greece. He subsequently returned to Spain to sign with historic Burgos CF, but appeared very rarely for the third division team.

In 2007–08 de Pedro started the season, alongside former teammate (in both Real Sociedad and country) Agustín Aranzábal, with regional club CD Vera Puerto de la Cruz in the Canary Islands, but was dismissed by the team's coach due to a lack of commitment. He retired from football after this experience, and subsequently focused on getting the trainer degree.

International career

Having made his debut with Spain on 23 September 1998 in a friendly match against Russia in Granada, de Pedro appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he played in all the matches as a starter. His last cap came in 2003.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	18 November 1998	Arechi, Salerno, Italy	Italy	1–1	2–2	Friendly
2.	30 April 2003	Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain	Ecuador	1–0	4–0	Friendly

Honours

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Runner-up 1996

External links

• Javier de Pedro profile at BDFutbol
• National team data
• Javier de Pedro at National-Football-Teams.com
• Javier de Pedro – FIFA competition record