Juan Mata Facts - more about the man

A name that thrills and delights many football fans, irrespective of which club you support, is Juan Mata. The current Manchester United No. 8 was born on 28th April in 1988 in the town of Ocón de Villafranca, Burgos. He got his name from his father, Juan Manuel Mata Rodríguez, who was also a professional footballer and played as a forward in the 1980s and early 1990s for hometown Burgos CF. Juan Manuel Mata García, commonly known as Juan Mata has made a name for himself in the footballing world and is considered a threat by all opposing teams he plays against. Mata is small in stature, barely at a height of 5ft 6inches but it doesn’t seem to ‘mata’ much as he continues to deliver high quality gameplay in all his matches, beating defenders and setting up goals.

He started his career in the Real Madrid Castilla at a very young age. Mata joined La Fabrica at the age of 15 in 2003. He made very quick progress through the junior teams and was moved to Real Madrid B in 2006. Even here, his brilliance was too much to go unnoticed and so he stayed for just one season before being snapped up by Valencia in March 2007, where he instantly made a place for himself in the starting 11. After four brilliant years at Valencia where he further improved his skills and gathered more fans, he made a massive move to London Superpower Chelsea, which left the other teams in the Premier League jittery. After two successful years at Chelsea where he was named the club’s player of the year, Mata became a fan favourite. But in his third season, everything fell apart as the new manager Jose Mourinho expected Mata to alter his style of play and because of that he did not get much game time and he felt it would be better to try for his fortunes at another club. In a move that left everybody surprised, Juan Mata switched to Chelsea’s fierce rivals, Manchester United. Since his move to United and after finally getting to play in his preferred position as a No. 10, behind the striker, his game is starting to flourish again. He is also a regular in the Spanish national set up. But now, enough about his popular transfer news and his impressive records, we’ve seen and heard them enough. Juan Mata is a person with many layers and to know who is actually is, there are other aspects of his life, one should look into

Personal life - Family

Juan Mata is not married, nor does he have children. This is one chapter of his life that he is yet to begin. Mata was previously dating an Asturian girl named Lorena Martínez and they dated during the World Cup of 2010 and during his time at Valencia. She was often seen in the stands, unlike many others in similar positions like her, cut a low profile figure. However, upon joining Chelsea and his move to England, their relationship ended as Mata wanted to focus more on his career in the Premiership. He has no children yet and maintains very close ties with both his parents, especially his dad who also happens to be his agent. Juan Mata is also quite intelligent and believes that there is more to life after football. He is currently pursuing two degrees - Marketing and Sports Science - from the Technical University of Madrid. He started studying while playing for Valencia, and now continues his studies through online correspondence.

Mata with his then girlfriend, Lorena Martinez

Style of play

Juan Mata is an amalgamation of skills put into a small frame but rather than being a disadvantage, it works for him as he is extremely fast and tricky and has exceptional ball control. He knows how to beat his marker. If played on the wings, he gives a team a different attacking dimension, as he can put hazy dribbles and then send in a quality ball for the striker in the box. The best way to give your strikers chances to score is to have a man who can send in quality balls into the box and here is a man who is up for that task. He is a Spanish footballer who plays for English club Manchester United and the Spain national team. He plays primarily as an attacking midfielder but has been used as a winger as well.

While his skills on the wing are still quite impressive, it is in his preferred position that he really comes on fire. Playing as a No.10, behind the strikers, Juan Mata turns into an artist. His creativity, his defense-splitting passes, dribbling, tricks and clever movements are a class apart and many teams pay for it dearly, if they give Mata even half a chance. A truly industrious player, he runs throughout the game and supports the team on all fronts, offence and defense. He plays his football in a pair of Adidas Predator Instinct and has wreaked havoc amongst opposing defenses. He is intelligent and a quick learner, always ready to try new things and work on new techniques.

Social Profile

Mata is usually all over the internet, putting up posts through his various social media profiles. Here are the links: if you want to follow Mata on Facebook- https://es-es.facebook.com/JuanMataOficial, on Instagram- http://instagram.com/juanmatagarcia and on Twitter- https://twitter.com/juanmata8.