Juanito (footballer, born 1965)


Juan Francisco Rodríguez Herrera, known as Juanito, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

Club career

Juanito was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. He made his professional debuts in the 1984–85 season with UD Las Palmas, appearing in 30 Segunda División matches to a La Liga promotion.
During his 16-year senior career, Juanito amassed totals of 462 games and 39 goals, 385 in the top division alone, not managing to find the net in only two campaigns and also representing Real Zaragoza, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla FC and CF Extremadura. With Atlético, he was an essential defensive unit as the side won back-to-back Copa del Rey tournaments in the early 1990s.
After retiring in 2000, Juanito acted as both chairman and general manager for last club Extremadura. Subsequently, he returned to Las Palmas as director of football but, in late March 2006, was appointed interim coach after the sacking of Josip Višnjić, with the Canary Islands team eventually returning to the second level after an absence of two years.
In June 2009, after a further 45 matches as a manager and one full season as sporting director – the team finished in 18th position, just one above the relegation zone – Juanito left Las Palmas.

International career

Juanito made his debut for Spain on 15 November 1989, starting in a 4–0 home win against Hungary for the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in a match played in Seville. He scored the third goal from a free-kick, being eventually overlooked for the squad that competed in the final stages in Italy by manager Luis Suárez and earning a total of five caps.

Honours

;Las Palmas
;Atlético Madrid