José Mari, polishing his game at practice this week, scored twice last weekend. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
COMMERCE CITY — Explaining why his favorite player is Sergio Busquets of FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, José Mari said it’s because he plays the same position and is also “very skinny.” Then he wiggles his pinkie finger to emphasize the point, and punctuates it with a grin.
The Rapids’ new defensive midfielder stands 5-foot-11 and weighs a mere 145 pounds, but he has made a big impact since joining the MLS team last month. His two second-half goals last Saturday gave Colorado a come-from-behind, 2-1 win at Vancouver, and both were exceptional. The first was named the goal of the week by ESPN Soccer.
“There’s not many of us in the world that can do that, right?” said Rapids technical director Paul Bravo, joking. “I was sitting next to the Vancouver radio people, who were kind of scratching their heads as to how that happened. It was a fantastic strike.”
With his back to the goal just outside the left corner of the penalty box in the 79th minute, José Mari took a pass from left back Marc Burch, flicked the ball up with his right foot, pivoted clockwise and laced a shot with the outside of his left foot that swerved wickedly and found the goal just inside the far post.
“The best goal in my career, for the difficulty and the execution,” he said. “At the moment the ball goes in, there’s a tremendous happiness. You just want the game to start up again so you can score another goal, and that’s how it happened — in two minutes.”
In the 81st minute he struck another nasty bender, this one with his right foot, that again found net just inside the right post. After both goals he celebrated by doing an imitation of a bull fighter.
“Every player has a way to celebrate goals,” he said. “When I came here to Colorado, as a Spanish player I was going to do that celebration. Thank God it came, the moment came to be able to do that.”
José Mari, 26, grew up in Rota, Cadiz, which is situated on the southwestern coast of Spain about halfway between the border with Portugal and the Strait of Gibraltar. It’s a town of about 25,000 whose population triples in the summer. He grew up around Americans because there is a U.S. Navy base nearby.
Rota has great natural beauty, especially its beaches.
“For me, it’s the most beautiful place in the world,” José Mari said. “My people are there, my friends are there, and I definitely miss my land. But I’m happy to be here, I’m really happy to have taken this step.”
He grew up with a soccer ball at his feet. When the school day ended, he would grab a bite to eat, then play until dark with kids twice his age. He wasn’t a very good student but was earnest about playing professional soccer.
“I had to give up going out with friends. I had to go to bed earlier on the weekends,” he said. “From when I was young, I behaved like a professional, sincerely.”
He worked his way up through the ranks of Spanish soccer, reaching the first division — “La Liga,” considered one of the world’s top four leagues — with Real Zaragoza in the 2012-13 season. But Zaragoza was relegated to the second division this season, and that made him expendable.
“You have a lot of teams over there that are struggling to pay their players,” Bravo said. “And when they drop from the first division to the second division, those players become reachable for us.”
That was fine with José Mari, a cheerful and jovial player who loves clowning with his teammates.
“I needed a change in my life, but more so in the sporting aspect of it,” José Mari said. “I needed to be in a different environment, in a different league. I wanted to find a good opportunity, to learn a new language, to get to know a different league and to grow as a footballer.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnmeyer
What’s in a name?
The full name of Colorado’s new defensive midfielder from Spain is José María Martín Bejarano-Serrano. His father’s family name is Martin, his mother’s Bejarano-Serrano.
“It’s complicated,” he says, smiling good-naturedly.
His “soccer name,” however, is José Mari with surnames omitted in all references.
“Not just Mari,” he says. “My name is José Mari. Solo eso (only that).”
He is not the José Mari who played for Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, AC Milan and the Spanish national team, however. That José Mari is 35 years old and plays forward. This José Mari is 26 years old and plays in the midfield.
José María Martín Bejarano-Serrano
Known as: José Mari. Birthplace: Cadiz, Spain. Age: 26.
Raised: Rota, Spain. Position: Defensive midfielder.
Career timeline:
2005-07 Union Deportiva Roteña (amateur)
2007-09 Atletico Sanluqueño (third division)
2009-10 Real Murcia “B” (second division)
2010-12 Real Jaén (second division)
2012-14 Real Zaragoza (first division, “La Liga”)
March 2014 Rapids
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