Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete [1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 20 November 1976||
Place of birth | Benejúzar, Spain [1] | ||
Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) [1] | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Youth career | |||
Atlético Benejúzar | |||
1992–1995 | Barcelona | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | ( Gls) |
1995 | Barcelona C | 12 | (3) |
1995–1997 | Barcelona B | 45 | (0) |
1996 | Barcelona | 1 | (0) |
1997–1998 | Toledo | 38 | (5) |
1998–1999 | Mallorca | 0 | (0) |
1999 | → Málaga (loan) | 20 | (5) |
1999–2001 | Málaga | 65 | (9) |
2001–2006 | Valencia | 132 | (13) |
2006–2009 | Espanyol | 57 | (1) |
2009–2011 | Hércules | 46 | (0) |
Total | 416 | (36) | |
International career | |||
1992–1993 | Spain U16 | 19 | (0) |
1994–1995 | Spain U18 | 9 | (0) |
2000 | Spain | 3 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2018 | Ibiza | ||
2020 | Espanyol (interim) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete (born 20 November 1976) is a Spanish former footballer, and a manager. He played predominantly as a right winger with good dribbling ability, also being a player with a good workrate.
He played with seven clubs during his professional career, including Barcelona (one game) and Valencia (two La Liga titles). Over 12 seasons, he amassed Spanish top-division totals of 269 matches and 23 goals.
Rufete was also an international for Spain.
Born in Benejúzar, Province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Rufete was a product of Barcelona's youth system. He appeared once for the first team, in 1995–96's final round, a 2–2 away draw against Deportivo de La Coruña on 26 May 1996, [2] and his first full professional season came in 1997–98 with Segunda División club Toledo. [3]
Rufete signed for Málaga in January 1999, after having started the campaign with Mallorca (no appearances). [3] He was instrumental, alongside Catanha and José María Movilla, in the side's promotion to La Liga (they were in the Segunda División B the previous season). [4]
After two exceptional individual seasons, Rufete moved to Valencia. Although almost never an undisputed starter, he contributed good overall performances and, on 14 March 2004, scored twice at Celta (2–0) [5] as the Che went on to win another domestic championship; he was already part of the title-winning squad of 2001–02. [6]
After Quique Sánchez Flores arrived at Valencia from Getafe, Rufete was released and joined Espanyol on a free transfer in July 2006. [7] He was constantly hampered by injuries in the 2007–08 campaign, [8] after having appeared in eleven UEFA Cup matches during the Catalans' run to the final in 2007. [9]
Rufete was released by Espanyol in mid-July 2009, moving close to home with Hércules on a two-year deal. [10] In his first season, aged 32/33, the veteran totalled nearly 2,000 minutes as the Alicante team returned to the top division after an absence of 13 years. [11]
Rufete earned three caps for the Spain national team in 2000, the first being in a 2–0 friendly win over Italy on 29 March in Barcelona. He came on as a substitute for Joseba Etxeberria at the hour-mark. [12]
Rufete was released by Hércules in late 2011 after the club decided not to renew his contract, [13] and retired from football shortly after. Two years later, he returned to Valencia after being appointed youth coordinator, [14] but switched to director of football after a few months. [15]
On 18 April 2018, Rufete was given his first managerial position at Ibiza of Tercera División. [16] His team missed out on promotion with a penalty shootout defeat to Atlético Levante in the play-off final on 24 June. [17]
Rufete returned to Espanyol as sporting director, and became their interim manager on 27 June 2020 when Abelardo Fernández was sacked from the last-placed club with six games to go. [18] The next day, in his first professional game in charge, his side lost by a single goal at home to Real Madrid; [19] he oversaw their first fall from the top flight since 1993. [20]
Rufete's son, also named Franciso, is also a professional footballer. [21]
Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
Ibiza | 18 April 2018 | 6 July 2018 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 70.00 | [22] | |
Espanyol (interim) | 27 June 2020 | 20 July 2020 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0.00 | [23] | |
Total | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 12 | +0 | 41.18 | — |
Málaga
Valencia
Espanyol
Spain U18