Jesús Capitán Prada (born 26 March 1977), known as Capi, is a Spanish former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and the current manager of Real Betis C.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jesús Capitán Prada | ||
Date of birth | 26 March 1977 | ||
Place of birth | Camas, Spain | ||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Betis C (manager) | ||
Youth career | |||
Camas | |||
Betis | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1995–1999 | Betis B | 127 | (11) |
1997–2010 | Betis | 269 | (19) |
1999–2000 | → Granada (loan) | 33 | (4) |
2010–2012 | Xerez | 59 | (3) |
2012–2014 | Camas | ||
Total | 488 | (37) | |
International career | |||
2002 | Spain | 4 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2014–2016 | Betis B (assistant) | ||
2018–2019 | Camas (youth) | ||
2019–2021 | Camas | ||
2022– | Betis C | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
He spent most of his professional career with Betis, which included 209 La Liga games and 16 goals over the course of nine seasons (13 overall).[1]
Capi was born in Camas, Seville, Andalusia. Apart from a loan spell at Granada CF in the Segunda División B, he spent the vast majority of his career at Real Betis.[1] He started out with their reserves in the same league,[1] and made his first-team and La Liga debut against Valencia CF on 26 May 1997, one of only two during the season.[2][3]
Capi went to play over 300 competitive games for the Estadio Benito Villamarín-based club, always as an important part of the squad.[4] He scored his first goal for them on 19 November 2000, albeit in a 1–3 home defeat to neighbouring Sevilla FC where he excelled before being stretchered off with 15 minutes to go and the score at 1–1,[5] as the campaign in Segunda División ended in promotion for both sides in the city. However, in 2004–05, as the team achieved a fourth place in the league, with qualification to the UEFA Champions League, he appeared in only 11 matches, mainly due to injuries.[1]
After another two-and-a-half-month spell in the sidelines, Capi returned to action on 4 April 2009, netting as a second-half substitute in a 3–3 home draw with CD Numancia.[6][7] Betis were eventually relegated to division two.[1]
Capi continued to be bothered with injuries in the 2009–10 season, but still contributed 26 appearances – only three complete – as the club failed to regain its lost status.[1] On 19 June 2010, the 33-year-old appeared in his last game as a Verdiblanco, the useless 4–0 home win over Levante UD (they finished in fourth place, tied with both the second and third-placed teams), his contract subsequently expiring and not being renewed.[8]
In summer 2012, after a couple of second-tier campaigns with another side in his native region, Xerez CD,[9] Capi signed with amateurs Camas Club de Fútbol, his first-ever club as a footballer.[10] He retired in 2014 at age 37, being immediately appointed as Juan Merino's assistant manager at Betis B.[11]
Capi earned four caps for the Spain national team, making his debut on 27 March 2002 against the Netherlands in a 1–0 friendly loss in Rotterdam.[12] He featured in a further three internationals the same year.[1]
Betis