Marc Roca (footballer)

Marc Roca Junqué (born 26 November 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for RCD Espanyol as a central midfielder.

For the Spanish water polo player, see Marc Roca Barceló.
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Roca and the second or maternal family name is Junqué.
Marc Roca
Personal information
Full name Marc Roca Junqué
Date of birth (1996-11-26) 26 November 1996
Place of birth Vilafranca, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Espanyol
Number 21
Youth career
Atlètic Vilafranca
2008–2015 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Espanyol B 51 (6)
2016– Espanyol 97 (3)
National team‡
2015 Spain U19 1 (0)
2018–2019 Spain U21 7 (2)
2016– Catalonia 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 June 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2019

Club career

Born in Vilafranca del Penedès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca joined RCD Espanyol's youth setup in 2008, aged 11.[1] On 24 August 2014, he made his senior debut with the reserves, starting in a 2–2 Segunda División B home draw against Lleida Esportiu.[2]

Roca scored his first senior goal on 17 January 2015, netting his team's second in a 2–3 home loss to UE Olot.[3] On 4 August he renewed his contract until 2017,[4] and was promoted to the B-side shortly after.

On 26 August 2016, Roca made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, starting in a 2–2 home draw against Málaga CF.[5] On 11 November, he extended his link until 2022 and was definitely promoted to the main squad the following season.[6]

International career

On 28 December 2016, Roca made his debut for the Catalonia autonomous team, starting in a 3–3 draw against Tunisia (2–4 penalty loss).[7] He was named in Spain's under-21 squad for the 2019 UEFA European Championship, starting the final three games of the tournament for the eventual winners including a 4–1 semi-final victory over France in which he scored.[8][9]

Honours

International

Spain U21

References
  1. Juárez, Mari Carmen (29 July 2016). "Marc Roca, el canterano que cautiva a Quique" [Marc Roca, the youth player who captivates Quique]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  2. Blanco, Íñigo (25 August 2014). "Un empat amb dos sabors" [A draw with two tastes]. L'Esportiu (in Catalan). Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  3. "Remuntada de les que fan afició (Espanyol B 2–3 UE Olot)" [A comeback from those who were supporters (Espanyol B 2–3 UE Olot)] (in Catalan). UE Olot. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  4. "Marc Roca, renovado" [Marc Roca, renewed] (in Spanish). RCD Espanyol. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  5. Sierra, David (26 August 2016). "El Espanyol regala un punto al Málaga" [Espanyol give a point to Málaga]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  6. "El Espanyol renueva a Marc Roca hasta 2022" [Espanyol renew Marc Roca until 2022]. Sport (in Spanish). 11 November 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  7. "Catalonia impress before going down to Tunisia after penalty shootout". Sport. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  8. Glark, Gill (27 June 2019). "Marc Roca, Spain advance to 2019 U21 Euro final with 4–1 win vs. France". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. Fisher, Ben (30 June 2019). "Classy Spain sink Germany to lift Euro Under-21 Championship". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  10. Begley, Emlyn (30 June 2019). "Spain U21 2–1 Germany U21". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.