Reyes Josè Antonio
José Antonio Reyes Calderón was a Spanish professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger but also as a forward. He made his debut for Sevilla aged 16 and signed for England’s Arsenal in January 2004, winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his spell in London. He returned to Spain in September 2006, going on to represent the two largest clubs in the capital city, Real Madrid (on loan) and Atlético Madrid, winning La Liga with the former and the Europa League twice with the latter. He also had a short loan spell in Portugal with Benfica, re-joining Sevilla late in his career and winning the Europa League another three times for a record personal total of five; after a brief stint at Extremadura, he died in June 2019 at the age of 35 in a car crash. Reyes earned 21 caps for Spain, and represented the nation at the 2006 World Cup. He also made one appearance for the Andalusia autonomous team in 2013.
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Born in Utrera, Province of Seville to Romani parents, Reyes joined the youth ranks of local Sevilla FC at the age of 10 and went on to represent the club at all youth levels. Reyes finally signed a full contract in 1999, making his first-team debut during the 1999–2000 season at the age of 16, against Real Zaragoza. He was later called up to Spain’s squad for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, where he scored one goal in the group stage. With the Andalusians now in Segunda División, Reyes added another appearance. After they were promoted, he established his reputation as a versatile attacking unit in the following years, his 21 La Liga goals over four seasons leading to other teams taking notice. Despite Sevilla manager Joaquín Caparrós’s wishes to retain him, Reyes signed with English side Arsenal during the January transfer window of the 2003–04 campaign. A £10.5 million transfer fee was negotiated with bonuses, depending on the success of Arsenal, which eventually rose to £17 million. On 5 January 2012, Sevilla confirmed the signing of Reyes, who agreed to a contract until June 2015. He played his first game three days later, starting in a 1–2 away loss against Rayo Vallecano, and scored his only goal of the season on 5 May, in a 5–2 win in the reverse fixture. His first goals of the following campaign came on 18 November 2012, through a first-half brace in a 5–2 Seville derby rout of Real Betis – the opening goal came after eleven seconds. Reyes scored twice in 12 Europa League matches as Sevilla won the tournament in 2013–14, including one in the second leg of their last-16 win over city rivals Betis.[58] On 27 May 2015, in the final of the following season’s tournament, reportedly his final game for the club, he captained and assisted Carlos Bacca’s first of two goals as the team came from behind to defeat FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3–2 in Warsaw.[59] However, he remained, starting as skipper in the ensuing Super Cup against Barcelona in Tbilisi and scoring once his side came from 1–4 down to take the game to extra time, but lose nonetheless. Reyes netted twice as Sevilla advanced to the final of the Copa del Rey, including once in a 4–0 home win over Betis for the round of 16. He missed the final weeks of competition after undergoing surgery to his appendix, and on 1 June 2016 it was announced the 32-year-old would be released upon the expiration of his contract.
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The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, the 43rd season of Europe’s secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. It was played at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy on 14 May 2014, between Spanish side Sevilla and Portuguese side Benfica. Sevilla won the match 4–2 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra time. Sevilla secured their third title in eight years, after winning the competition in 2006 and 2007. With this triumph, they joined Juventus (1977, 1990, 1993), Inter Milan (1991, 1994, 1998) and Liverpool (1973, 1976, 2001) as the teams with the most wins. Benfica lost their second consecutive UEFA Europa League final, following their defeat against Chelsea in the 2013 final. Including their runner-up finish in 1983, Benfica are the team with the most lost finals in the competition. As the winners, Sevilla earned the right to play against 2013–14 UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup.
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Reyes won his first full cap for Spain on 6 September 2003, coming on as a half-time substitute during a 3–0 friendly win against Portugal in Guimarães. On 11 October, again coming from the bench, this time for Vicente, he scored twice in the final three minutes of a 4–0 victory in Armenia for the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifiers, but was left out of Iñaki Sáez’s final squad. Two years later, Reyes was picked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but only took part in one match – the 1–0 group stage win against Saudi Arabia, with Spain already qualified in first place. He was again overlooked for the victorious Euro 2008 tournament, as manager Luis Aragonés preferred the likes of David Silva and Santi Cazorla on the wings. Reyes also appeared once for the Andalusia regional team. Reyes married Noelia López in June 2017. Together, they had two daughters, Noelia and Triana. Reyes also had a son, José Antonio Jr., from a previous relationship. His son signed for Real Madrid in June 2019, aged 11. On 1 June 2019, Reyes died at the age of 35 following a car accident while traveling between Utrera and Seville with his cousins, Jonathan Reyes, who also died, and Juan Manuel Calderón, who was taken to a hospital in serious condition. Police estimated that the car was traveling between 111 km/h (66 mph) and 130 km/h (81 mph) and that he had suffered a steering or tyre failure which led to him losing control of the car. This report disputed the earlier claims that he had been traveling at 220 km/h (135 mph) as previously reported. Many footballers and his former clubs offered their condolences to Reyes’ family, and a moment of silence was observed at the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final, played in Madrid later that day. His funeral took place on 3 June in his hometown of Utrera, and his last team Extremadura retired his shirt number shortly after; in February 2020 this number was controversially given to Chinese new signing Gao Leilei, with the error being later rectified.
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Reyes was linked to Real Madrid along with Arsenal teammate Cesc Fàbregas in the summer of 2006, when presidential candidate Arturo Baldasano claimed he would sign both if elected. After making two official statements on Arsenal’s website denying media reports of being unhappy, alleged quotes from Reyes in the Spanish press contradicted his denials. This tested the patience of Wenger, who reacted angrily to Real Madrid’s attempts to unsettle his player, suggesting that it was not the first time that club had used the media and agents in Spain as a destabilising tactic; shortly before the closure of the transfer window, the teams agreed to exchange him for Brazilian international Júlio Baptista, each on a season-long loan deal. Reyes scored his first goal for Real on 17 September 2006, with a free kick against Real Sociedad, in a 2–0 home win. On the final day of the season, the focus was on soon-to-be-departed David Beckham and Roberto Carlos, but Reyes, brought from the bench for injured Beckham, netted twice as Real came from behind to beat RCD Mallorca and claim yet another league title. Real Madrid appointed former Getafe CF coach Bernd Schuster on 8 July 2007, increasing the chances that Reyes would sign a permanent deal and stay in Spain.
