Juan Manuel Mata Garcia was born on 28 April 1988 and is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Super Lig club Galatasaray.
61 Facts About Juan Mata
2.
Juan Mata mostly plays as a central attacking midfielder, but he can play as a winger.
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Juan Mata became an integral part of the club's midfield, making 174 appearances over the course of four seasons.
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Juan Mata made 285 appearances over nine seasons at United, winning the Europa League and FA Cup again as well as the EFL Cup and FA Community Shield.
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Juan Mata joined Galatasaray after his contract with United expired in the summer of 2022.
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Juan Mata was a Spanish international, having represented Spain at under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20, under-21, Olympic and senior levels.
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Juan Mata played for the under-20 side in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
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In June 2009, Juan Mata played at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, his first senior tournament.
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In September 2009, Juan Mata scored his first goal for the senior team, against Estonia, securing the nation a place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and was part of Spain's World Cup-winning squad.
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Juan Mata won the Golden Player award and was part of the Team of the Tournament.
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Juan Mata inherited his name from his father, Juan Manuel Mata Rodriguez, who was a footballer, playing as a forward for nearby Burgos CF in the 1980s and early 1990s.
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Juan Mata was raised in his father's home town of Oviedo, Asturias.
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Juan Mata started his football career at Real Oviedo in 2000, where his father spent part of his career, before joining Real Madrid's youth academy, La Fabrica, in 2003 at the age of 15.
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Juan Mata had a release clause at Real Madrid during his last season at the club, and eventually agreed to sign for fellow La Liga side Valencia CF in March 2007, with the contract starting on 30 June 2007.
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Benefitting from constant injuries to Vicente and the ostracism to which then-manager Ronald Koeman condemned Miguel Angel Angulo, Juan Mata gradually carved a niche in Valencia's first eleven.
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Juan Mata scored the only goal of the game against CA Osasuna, latching on to a long ball from David Villa.
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Juan Mata achieved impressive stats during the season, finishing with 11 successful strikes and 13 assists, behind just Barcelona's Xavi as the league's best.
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On 24 August 2011, Juan Mata signed a five-year deal with Chelsea.
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Juan Mata said it would be good for me here, and that me and him together could be good.
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Juan Mata followed on from Chelsea players Joe Cole, Mark Hughes, Ian Hutchinson, and Terry Venables in adopting the number 10 shirt.
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Juan Mata made his debut for Chelsea against Norwich City on 27 August 2011, where he came on as a 68th-minute substitute for Florent Malouda and scored the club's third goal in the 11th minute of stoppage time.
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On 29 October 2011, Juan Mata assisted Chelsea's 6,000th league goal with an in-swinging cross which was headed in by Frank Lampard.
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On 6 December 2011, during Chelsea's decisive Champions League match against former club Valencia CF, Juan Mata created two assists for both of Didier Drogba goals.
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The match went on to extra time and penalties, with Juan Mata taking Chelsea's first, which Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer saved.
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Juan Mata finished his first season at Stamford Bridge with 573 passes, creating 66 chances and completing 61 successful crosses, which all contributed to Chelsea's cup-double winning season.
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Juan Mata missed all of Chelsea's pre-season games as he was playing for Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but he returned to play in the 2012 FA Community Shield against Manchester City and was substituted after 74 minutes for Daniel Sturridge.
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Juan Mata next scored in a Premier League match with a beautiful free kick against Manchester United.
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On 22 December 2012, Juan Mata signed a contract extension with Chelsea which tied him up with the club until 2018.
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Juan Mata scored a brilliant goal in the 38th minute, taking a pass from Oscar into his stride and launching an unstoppable shot into the goal from 25 yards out.
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Juan Mata scored an 87th-minute winner against Manchester United, a crucial one for Chelsea's Champions League qualification hopes.
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On 15 May, Juan Mata gave a fine performance in the 2013 UEFA Europa League Final against Portugal's Benfica, assisting Branislav Ivanovic's injury time winner from a corner kick.
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Juan Mata modestly gave the credit to the whole of the squad, saying that, "he felt proud to play for Chelsea," and thanked his teammates.
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Juan Mata was awarded Chelsea's Player of the Year for the second successive season.
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Under new Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, Juan Mata spent a lot of time on the bench.
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Mourinho preferred Oscar as a playmaker, and suggested Juan Mata needed to adapt to a wider position and to working harder defensively.
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Juan Mata struggled to secure a regular first-team place under Mourinho as he had started just 11 of Chelsea's 22 Premier League matches.
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Juan Mata scored 33 goals and provided 58 assists in 135 appearances over two-and-a-half seasons with Chelsea.
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Manchester United confirmed later in the day that a transfer fee had been agreed, but that the deal was still contingent on Juan Mata agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.
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Juan Mata ended the season having scored six goals for Manchester United, all in the Premier League, since he was cup tied and unable to play in the Champions League and other cup competitions due to his participation in the tournaments with Chelsea earlier in the season.
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Juan Mata was later dropped to the bench for the following two matches, making cameo appearances against Leicester and West Ham, with van Gaal preferring an attacking trinity of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and new signing Radamel Falcao in both games.
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Juan Mata later scored winning goals in home games against Crystal Palace and Stoke City, the former after coming on as a second-half substitute.
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Juan Mata was substituted in the 90th minute and replaced by Jesse Lingard, who would score the winning goal for United in extra time.
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At the beginning of the summer, Juan Mata was reunited with his former Chelsea manager and the person who sold him to Manchester United, Jose Mourinho.
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On 7 August 2016, Juan Mata was selected to be on the bench in the FA Community Shield.
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Juan Mata replaced Jesse Lingard in the second half, then was substituted in added time for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
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Juan Mata started in the opening match of the season against AFC Bournemouth and scored Manchester United's first Premier League goal of the season with a tap-in after Simon Francis' error.
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Juan Mata scored his third brace of his Manchester United career, scoring both goals in a Boxing Day fixture against Leicester City.
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Juan Mata finished the season with three goals in 40 appearances for the Red Devils, as United finished second in the Premier League and lost in the 2018 FA Cup Final against his former club, Chelsea.
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Juan Mata scored United's first goal of the season in a friendly against Club America on 19 July 2018.
50.
On 19 June 2019, it was confirmed that Juan Mata had signed a new two-year contract with Manchester United, keeping him at the club until June 2021 with the option of a further year.
51.
On 2 July 2021, Juan Mata signed a contract extension with Manchester United, keeping him at the club for another year.
52.
Juan Mata made his debut for the Turkish side on 24 September 2022, in a friendly match against Istanbulspor and showed an impressive performance.
53.
Juan Mata scored his first Super Lig goal on 28 October 2022 after coming on as a second-half substitute against Fatih Karagumruk.
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Juan Mata represented Spain from 2004 to 2016 at under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20, under-21, Olympic and senior levels.
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Juan Mata helped Spain win the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, where he was a key player.
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Juan Mata finished the championship second to his teammate Alberto Bueno as top goal scorer of the competition, with four in five matches.
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Juan Mata came on as a substitute for teammate David Villa in the 63rd minute.
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Juan Mata started in the second group match against Iraq and came on as a substitute for Albert Riera in the semi-final loss to the United States.
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Juan Mata himself was included in UEFA's Team of the Tournament and named as the tournament's Golden Player.
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Juan Mata was included in Spain's squad for the 2012 Olympic football tournament as one of their three designated overage players.
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Juan Mata makes up for a lack of pace with his control, technique, passing, creativity, and vision, which allows him to link-up with teammates and register many assists, in addition to scoring goals.