Down in the Canary islands, Las Palmas faced Athletic Bilbao with the home side safe and Bilbao assured of Europe. The build up to the game was dominated by the news from a press conference the previous day. The best player to come from the Canary Islands, the player Andrés Iniesta would pay to watch, the player responsible for David Silva wearing number 21 and the player that would've won the Balon D'or had he played for a more fashionable club according Deportivo coach Víctor Sánchez, announced he was retiring at the end of the season. Juan Carlos Valerón on Sunday played his final home game in his career. In what was only his third start in the league he bowed out in the 73rd minute to a chorus of cheers and handshakes from not only Las Palmas players but Athletic Bilbao players as well.
Personally he is my all-time favorite player. A terrific player to watch for his passing and technical qualities. Even this season at the age of 40 he hadn't lost any of that accurate passing and vision. I remember watching a Copa del Rey game Las Palmas v Eibar earlier in the season, in which he started and he controlled the game. Finding teammates and space and always looking for the ball. In a league game against Getafe where he made his 400th appearance in La Liga he came on for the last ten minutes and right at the end of stoppage time was played in through on goal, unfortunately it was just a tad ahead of him and the chance to cap the occasion with a goal went.
Valerón emerged with Las Palmas when the Islanders were languishing between the 3rd tier Segunda B and Segunda división in the late nineties. His performances impressed Real Mallorca and he signed for the Balearic Islanders in 1997. His stay there would only last a season as three goals helped Mallorca finish 5th.
Atlético Madrid would bring him to the mainland and for the next two seasons Valerón would be an undisputed first choice playmaker. However in 1999-00 Valerón suffered his first relegation in his career as Atlético sunk to 19th. It was that summer that he signed for Deportivo, the new champions of Spain. From 2000 to 2004 Valerón would play his part in the emergence of the famed Super Depor side that would win the 2002 Copa del Rey title and agonizingly fall at the semi-final stage in the 2003-04 champions league to Mourinho's Porto.
Super Depor faded after that semi-final and it would be a slow decline over the next few years for the A Coruna club. Valerón effecively lost two seasons to persistant knee injuries from 2006 until midway through 2007-08. He won back his place in the team but Depor couldn't muster anything higher than 7th place finish in 2008-09. 2010-11 saw Deportivo fall through the relegation trap door. A final day defeat at home to Valencia meant Valerón had suffered his second relegation and it sealed the slow decline from force in Europe to a Segunda side. Valerón stayed with Deportivo to help them bounce back up to the top flight. He was successful as Depor finished 2nd to seal a swift return. However the return wasn't long term and in a dramatic final day in 2012-13 Depor were victims of Celta Vigo's escape on the final day and Depor were down again. This time Valerón did leave, signing for his hometown club of Las Palmas.
With Las Palmas he was part of the team that suffered a last gasp goal to Córdoba which meant Las Palmas missed out on a return to La Liga. The following season however they made amends for that narrow miss. They were involved in the play-offs and a late Sergio Araújo goal against Zaragoza sealed a return to La Liga for both Las Palmas and Valerón. A one year deal was signed last summer as Valerón finally had the opportunity to play in La Liga with his hometown club. Limited to mainly cameo appearances and starts in cup games, Valerón played his part as Las Palmas stayed in the top division.
So Don Valerón thank you for showcasing your sublime passing and technical qualities !
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