Josemi

{{Short description|Spanish footballer (born 1979)}}

{{family name hatnote|González|Rey|lang=Spanish}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Josemi

| image =

| caption =

| full_name = José Miguel González Rey

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|11|15|df=y}}{{cite web |title=FIFA Club World Championship Japan 2005 – Official Rosters |url=http://www.fifa.com/documents/tournaments/cwc/CWC_2005_sl-latest.xls |publisher=FIFA |date=4 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219093824/http://www.fifa.com/documents/tournaments/cwc/CWC_2005_sl-latest.xls |archive-date=19 December 2005 |url-status=dead }}

| birth_place = Torremolinos, Spain

| height = {{convert|1.83|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}}

| position = Defender

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Torremolinos

| years1 = 1997–1998

| clubs1 = Torremolinos

| caps1 =

| goals1 =

| years2 = 1998–2001

| clubs2 = Málaga B

| caps2 = 67

| goals2 = 1

| years3 = 2001–2004

| clubs3 = Málaga

| caps3 = 93

| goals3 = 0

| years4 = 2004–2006

| clubs4 = Liverpool

| caps4 = 21

| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 2006–2008

| clubs5 = Villarreal

| caps5 = 32

| goals5 = 0

| years6 = 2008–2010

| clubs6 = Mallorca

| caps6 = 53

| goals6 = 1

| years7 = 2010–2011

| clubs7 = Iraklis

| caps7 = 26

| goals7 = 0

| years8 = 2011–2012

| clubs8 = Cartagena

| caps8 = 18

| goals8 = 0

| years9 = 2012–2013

| clubs9 = Levadiakos

| caps9 = 25

| goals9 = 0

| years10 = 2013–2014

| clubs10 = Skoda Xanthi

| caps10 = 16

| goals10 = 0

| years11 = 2014–2015

| clubs11 = Atlético Kolkata

| caps11 = 20

| goals11 = 0

| totalcaps = 371

| totalgoals = 2

| nationalyears1 =

| nationalteam1 =

| nationalcaps1 =

| nationalgoals1 =

| club-update =

| nationalteam-update =

| medaltemplates = {{MedalCompetition |UEFA Champions League|}}

{{MedalGold|2004–05|}}

{{MedalCompetition |Football League Cup|}}

{{MedalSilver|2004–05|}}

{{MedalCompetition |UEFA Super Cup|}}

{{MedalGold|2005|}}

{{MedalCompetition |Indian Super League|}}

{{MedalGold|2014|}}

}}

José Miguel González Rey (born 15 November 1979), known as Josemi, is a Spanish former footballer. Mainly a right back, he also played as a central defender.

He appeared in 178 La Liga matches over nine seasons (one goal), with Málaga, Villarreal and Mallorca, also representing Liverpool for one and a half seasons where he won two major titles including the 2005 Champions League. He later competed professionally in Greece, before moving to the newly formed Indian Super League.

Club career

=Early career=

Born in Torremolinos, Málaga, Josemi started his professional career at Málaga CF, arriving from local amateurs Torremolinos Club de Fútbol in 1998. He started appearing for his new club with the reserve team, in Tercera División.

After one match in 2000–01's closer, a 0–4 away loss against Deportivo de La Coruña on 17 June 2001,[http://elpais.com/diario/2001/06/18/deportes/992815251_850215.html El Deportivo exhibe su enorme pegada y derrota a un Málaga tenaz (Deportivo display enormous pace and defeat tenacious Málaga)]; El País, 18 June 2001 (in Spanish) Josemi went on to become an essential defensive element for the Andalusia side, helping them to the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup and soon attracting interest from bigger European clubs.

=Liverpool=

Subsequently, Josemi became Rafael Benítez's first signing as Liverpool manager, for £2 million in the summer of 2004.[https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/019f-0ea6de1cf7aa-13c3697d6e16-1000--josemi-joins-liverpool/ Josemi joins Liverpool]; UEFA, 29 July 2004 He played 15 games in the Premier League in his debut season and, after an initial run, he was sent off in the club's 4–2 victory at Fulham on 16 October 2004,[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/3724106.stm Fulham 2–4 Liverpool]; BBC Sport, 16 October 2004 his subsequent ban leading to Steve Finnan re-establishing himself as first-choice right-back.

Josemi made seven appearances (five starts) in the Reds' victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League, but struggled to make the substitutes bench in the knockout stages, and also lost his place in the first half of 2005–06, suggesting he would soon leave Anfield.{{cite web|url=http://www.thefalsenine.co.uk/2012/12/21/obscure-football-of-the-week-3-josemi/|title=Obscure Footballer of the Week #3: Josemi|publisher=The False Nine|last=Dutton|first=James|date=21 December 2012|access-date=17 March 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/ranking-every-spaniard-to-play-for-liverpool-in-the-premier-league/|title=Ranking every Spaniard to play for Liverpool in the Premier League|publisher=Planet Football|date=23 June 2019|access-date=17 March 2020}}

=Return to Spain=

On 29 December 2005, it was announced that Liverpool and Villarreal CF had agreed to swap Josemi and Jan Kromkamp in the January 2006 transfer window.[https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/01b0-0e6d35a1700f-97860b1aa37f-1000--anfield-calling-for-kromkamp/ Anfield calls for Kromkamp]; UEFA, 30 December 2005 He made a good start and appeared in 22 league matches in 2006–07, but only took part in only one the following season for the eventual La Liga runners-up.

In July 2008, Josemi signed for RCD Mallorca. He scored his first goal as a professional on 23 November, in a 2–2 home draw against former owners Málaga.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121026121040/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/252830?cc=5739 Mallorca 2–2 Málaga]; ESPN Soccernet, 23 November 2008 In his second year he was challenged by new signing Felipe Mattioni, but ended up contributing with 28 games as the Balearic Islands side finished fifth and qualified for the UEFA Europa League.

=Later years=

At nearly 31, Josemi left Spain for the second time in August 2010, signing a three-year contract with Iraklis Thessaloniki FC. After only one season – which brought Superleague Greece relegation due to irregularities – however, he returned to his country and joined FC Cartagena in Segunda División, on a two-year deal.[http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/josemi-central-tapado-paco-gomez/20110701dasdaiftb_6/Tes Josemi es el central tapado por Paco Gómez (Josemi is Paco Gómez's surprise stopper)]; Diario AS, 1 July 2011 (in Spanish)

On 21 August 2014, after two seasons in Greece with Levadiakos F.C. and Skoda Xanthi F.C. respectively, Josemi was a third-round draft pick for Atlético de Kolkata in the inaugural draft of the Indian Super League draft.{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/sports/kerala-snap-up-michael-chopra-kolkata-sign-josemi-as-isl-teams-splash-rs-16-crore-1674495.html|title=Kerala snap up Michael Chopra, Kolkata sign Josemi as ISL teams splash Rs 16 crore|publisher=Firstpost|last=Dhar|first=Pulasta|date=21 August 2014|access-date=21 August 2014}} He made his debut in the competition in the opening match, starting a 3–0 home victory over Mumbai City FC,{{Cite web|url=https://www.india.com/sports/indian-super-league-atletico-de-kolkata-stun-mumbai-city-fc-3-0-in-1st-isl-2014-match-170756/|title = Indian Super League: Atletico de Kolkata stun Mumbai City FC 3-0 in 1st ISL 2014 match|date = 12 October 2014}} and formed a formidable stopper partnership with Arnab Mondal during his first year,{{cite web|url=http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/7083/isl/2014/12/22/7300662/josemi-arnab-mondal-has-the-quality-to-play-abroad?ICID=PP_1478|title=Josemi: Arnab Mondal has the quality to play abroad|publisher=Goal|last=Bali|first=Rahul|date=22 December 2014|access-date=22 December 2014}} acting as team captain in the final win over the Kerala Blasters in the absence of countryman Luis García,{{cite web|url=http://www.indiansuperleague.com/news/1850-substitute-mohammed-rafique-hands-atletico-de-kolkata-the-title|title=Substitute Mohammed Rafique hands Atlético de Kolkata the title|publisher=Indian Super League|date=20 December 2014|access-date=22 December 2014|archive-date=21 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221083725/http://www.indiansuperleague.com/news/1850-substitute-mohammed-rafique-hands-atletico-de-kolkata-the-title|url-status=dead}} where he also won the Fittest Player of the Match award.{{cite web|url=http://www.indiansuperleague.com/isl-2014/awards|title=Awards|publisher=Indian Super League|access-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225020244/http://www.indiansuperleague.com/isl-2014/awards|archive-date=25 December 2014}}

Following his successful debut season, on 12 June 2015 Josemi renewed his contract with Atlético for one more year.{{cite web|url=http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/7083/isl/2015/06/12/12651782/atletico-de-kolkata-retain-josemi-and-ofentse-nato-for-the|title=Atletico de Kolkata retain Josemi and Ofentse Nato for the second edition of ISL|publisher=Goal|last=Bera|first=Kaustav|date=12 June 2015|access-date=23 June 2015}} He was released on 13 November, after being ruled out for the remainder of the campaign due to injury.{{cite web|url=http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/251605-isl-helder-postiga-dejan-lekic-boost-atletico-de-kolkata|title=ISL: Helder Postiga, Dejan Lekic boost Atletico de Kolkata|publisher=NDTV|date=11 November 2015|access-date=19 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119130206/http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/251605-isl-helder-postiga-dejan-lekic-boost-atletico-de-kolkata|archive-date=19 November 2015}}

On 22 September 2016, after almost a year with a club, 36-year-old Josemi announced his retirement.{{cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/news/former-liverpool-defender-josemi-retires-174102067.html|title=Former Liverpool defender Josemi retires|publisher=Yahoo! Sports|date=22 September 2016|access-date=22 September 2016}} In February 2017, he returned to Málaga as match delegate.{{cite web|url=http://www.malagacf.com/noticia/josemi-ocupara-el-cargo-de-delegado|title=Josemi ocupará el cargo de delegado|trans-title=Josemi will occupy the delegate position|publisher=Málaga CF|language=es|date=8 February 2017|access-date=25 May 2017}}

Club statistics

{{cite web|url=http://www.bdfutbol.com/en/j/j1542.html|title=Josemi: José Miguel González Rey|publisher=BDFutbol|access-date=22 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/players/jose-miguel-gonzalez-rey/3098/|title=Josemi|publisher=Soccerway|access-date=22 October 2014}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|Cup

!colspan="2"|Continental

!colspan="2"|Other

!colspan="2"|Total

DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
rowspan="5"|Málaga

|2000–01

|La Liga

|1

000colspan="4"|—10
2001–02

|La Liga

|23

020colspan="4"|—250
2002–03

|La Liga

|32

02014{{efn|8 appearances in UEFA Cup and 6 appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup|name=IandC}}0colspan="2"|—480
2003–04

|La Liga

|37

040colspan="4"|—410
colspan="2"|Total

!93

080140colspan="2"|—1150
rowspan="3"|Liverpool

|2004–05

|Premier League

|15

0107{{efn|Appearances in UEFA Champions League|name=UCL}}0colspan="2"|—230
2005–06

|Premier League

|6

0004{{efn|name=UCL}}02{{efn|1 appearance in UEFA Super Cup and 1 appearance in FIFA Club World Cup|name=SandC}}0120
colspan="2"|Total

!21

01011020350
rowspan="4"|Villarreal

|2005–06

|La Liga

|9

010colspan="4"|—100
2006–07

|La Liga

|22

0401{{efn|Appearance in UEFA Intertoto Cup|name=UI}}0colspan="2"|—270
2007–08

|La Liga

|1

0403{{efn|Appearance in UEFA Europa League|name=UEL}}0colspan="2"|—80
colspan="2"|Total

!32

09040colspan="2"|—450
rowspan="3"|Mallorca

|2008–09

|La Liga

|25

150colspan="4"|—301
2009–10

|La Liga

|28

030colspan="4"|—310
colspan="2"|Total

!53

160colspan="4"|—591
rowspan="1"|Iraklis

|2010–11

|Superleague Greece

|26

020colspan="4"|—280
rowspan="1"|Cartagena

|2011–12

|Segunda División

|18

010colspan="4"|—190
rowspan="1"|Levadiakos

|2012–13

|Superleague Greece

|25

050colspan="4"|—300
rowspan="1"|Skoda Xanthi

|2013–14

|Superleague Greece

|16

020colspan="4"|—180
rowspan="3"|Atlético Kolkata

|2014

|Indian Super League

|17

0colspan="6"|—170
2015

|Indian Super League

|3

0colspan="6"|—30
colspan="2"|Total

!20

0colspan="6"|—200
colspan="3"|Career total

!304

1340290203691

{{notelist}}

Honours

Málaga

Liverpool

Atlético Kolkata

References

{{reflist}}