Toni Velamazán

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Velamazán and the second or maternal family name is Tejedor.

Toni Velamazán
Personal information
Full name Antonio Velamazán Tejedor
Date of birth (1977-01-22) 22 January 1977 (age 48)
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1991–1993 Damm
1993–1994 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1996 Barcelona B 38 (8)
1995–1996 Barcelona 11 (3)
1996–1997 Oviedo 34 (2)
1997–1998 Albacete 34 (1)
1998–1999 Extremadura 33 (6)
1999–2006 Espanyol 120 (16)
2006–2007 Almería 13 (0)
2007–2011 Hospitalet 136 (11)
Total 419 (47)
International career
1992–1993 Spain U16 16 (2)
1993–1995 Spain U18 6 (3)
1995 Spain U20 4 (0)
1996–2000 Spain U21 17 (0)
2000 Spain U23 6 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Olympic medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's Football
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Team Competition

Antonio "Toni" Velamazán Tejedor (born 22 January 1977) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

He spent most of his professional career with Espanyol, appearing in 141 official games over the course of seven La Liga seasons. He started out at Barcelona.

Club career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Velamazán was a youth graduate of FC Barcelona. He appeared 11 times for the first team during the 1995–96 season, under Johan Cruyff, but could never establish in the main squad,[1][2] going on to have one-year spells with Real Oviedo, Albacete Balompié and CF Extremadura.[3]

Incidentally, Velamazán would settle at Barça neighbours RCD Espanyol, where he spent six and a half years, although he started regularly in only two. His best season would be 1999–2000, as the player scored six goals in 34 La Liga matches and the club also won the Copa del Rey[4]– only ranking 14th in the league however; after suffering a knee injury on 6 January 2002 against Málaga CF, he never fully recovered and left the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in January 2006.[5][6]

Shortly after, Velamazán returned to Segunda División by signing a one-year contract with UD Almería, following which he returned to his region, joining lowly CE L'Hospitalet and remaining there until his retirement at the end of the 2010–11 campaign, aged 34.[7][8]

International career

Velamazán started all six matches (although only one complete) at the 2000 Summer Olympics, scoring once as the Spanish team finished second.[9][10]

Honours

Espanyol

Spain U23

References

  1. ^ El último Barça que imaginó Cruyff (The last Barça that Cruyff envisioned); En Un Momento Dado, 6 January 2015 (in Spanish)
  2. ^ La Quinta del Mini (The Mini's Cohort); FC Barcelona, 15 June 2020 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ La mili en Oviedo de Velamazán (Velamazán's Oviedo army spell); Diario AS, 25 September 2020 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ a b El Espanyol se corona en Mestalla (Espanyol crowned at Mestalla); El País, 28 May 2000 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Del calvario a la luz (Brightness follows ordeal); El País, 28 July 2002 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Toni Velamazán deja el Espanyol sin rencor (Toni Velamazán leaves Espanyol holding no grudges); Sport, 17 January 2006 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Toni Velamazán, un ilustre en las filas del CE Hospitalet (Toni Velamazán, celebrity in the ranks of CE Hospitalet); La Verdad, 8 May 2008 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ Toni Velamazán penjarà les botes aquest estiu (Toni Velamazán to hang up boots this summer); Ara, 14 August 2011 (in Catalan)
  9. ^ Corea del Sur pierde ante España 3 a 0 (South Korea lose against Spain 3 to 0); La Nación, 14 September 2000 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ a b España cae tras un esfuerzo épico (Spain fall following epic effort); El País, 1 October 2000 (in Spanish)