Joaquín, Real Betis captain and legend, announces his retirement. The historic Green and White '17' will say goodbye to professional football at the end of the current season, 23 years after his debut and having played for Real Betis in 14 seasons, more than 500 games and two Copa del Rey titles Real Betis Captain and legend Joaquín Sanchez has announced his retirement from professional football at the end of the current season. The player (El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, 21/07/1981) will close this way a long and brilliant career as a footballer, not only at real Betis, but in Spanish football in general.

Because Joaquín is currently the second footballer with most games played in LaLiga, with 615 appearances, just seven games short of Andoni Zubizarreta. He has also broken all the records at Real Betis. He holds the record of games played with the Green and White shirt, with 521 so far, surpassing Club legends such as José Ramón Esnaola, Julio Cardeñosa, or Rafael Gordillo. His numbers at Real Betis: 400 games in the LaLiga, 38 in Second division, 42 in Copa del Rey, 32 in Europa League / UEFA Cup, 8 in Champions League, 1 in the Spanish Supercup, and scored 66 goals.

He is also the only player in the history of the Club that has lifted two titles with the Club, the Copa del Rey in 2005 and 2022, and also in Youth category in 1999.

A long and brilliant career. 

Joaquín made his debut in Santiago de Compostela under manager Fernando Vázquez on the 3rd of September of 2000, aged just 19. His first goal was on the 14th of October of said year at Benito Villamarín Stadium against Universidad Las Palmas. In his first season, Joaquín played 38 games and was a key player to achieve promotion to the top division.

His first goal in the First Division came on the 9th of September of 2001 against RCD Espanyol and, one week later, he scored one of the goal that gave the team the win against Real Madrid. Real Betis finished in sixth position that year in LaLiga 2001/2002.

And that same year, he received his first call-up to the national team by coach Jose Antonio Camacho, when the young player was just 20 years old. His first international game was Spain ? Portugal (1-1).

His exceptional moment made him one of the players selected by Spain top lay in the South Korea and Japan World Cup 2002. He was one of the main characters of the quarter-finals games against South Korea. He was one of the starters and put on a brilliant performance in a game marked by the controversial decisions of the referee Gamal Al-Ghandour and his assistants. One of them, disallowing a goal by Fernando Morientes following and assist from Joaquín.

The game ended with a bitter taste for Joaquín as he missed the fifth and final penalty in the shoot-out, but he had already earned the respect and love of all the fans in the country. With the national team, Joaquín played 51 games between 2002 and 2007, 42 of them as a Real Betis player. He played in two World Cups (2002 and 2006) and one Euros (2004), and scored four goals.

Joaquín was part, in his first spell at Real Betis, of a team that regularly was in the upper part of the table and that, in 2005, completed its best season. The team won the Copa del Rey, beating CA Osasuna in the final, and achieved qualification to the Champions League, something that had never happened before.

In the summer of 2006, Joaquín signed for Valencia CF, where he stayed for five seasons, also winning the Copa del Rey in 2008, and played in three editions of the Champions League. Later, he signed for Malaga CF, where he reached heights never

seen before in the club. They even reached the Champions League quarter-finals, with Manuel Pellegrini at the helm. His only spell outside Spain was in Italy, in ACF Fiorentina.

But Joaquín's target was to return home. Nine years later after he left, he went back to Heliopolis. On the 1st of September of 2015, he was presented at Benito Villamarín Stadium in front of many Béticos that filled the stands. In this second spell, eight seasons, he has contributed so far in achieving three qualifications to European competitions and the great deed, winning the Copa del Rey.

The legend of Joaquín goes beyond sports. A professional committed to society and, of course, with the club of his life. Hi is one of the main shareholders of the institution, an icon for different generations of academy players, and a personality that has made of him one of the most charismatic and beloved players at national level. An icon, a myth, a unique player that will bid farewell to his sporting career at the end of the season.