José Manuel Velázquez

José Manuel Velázquez
Personal information
Full name	José Manuel Velázquez Rodríguez
Date of birth	8 September 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Alverca
Senior career*
Years	Team
2007–2008	ACD Lara
2008–2009	Anzoátegui
2009–2012	Villarreal B
2011–2012	→ Mineros (loan)
2012–2014	Panathinaikos
2014–2015	Mineros
2015–2017	Arouca
2017–2019	Veracruz
2019	Nacional
2020	Deportivo Táchira
2021–2023	Arouca
2023–2024	Santa Clara
2024–	Alverca
International career‡
2008–2009	Venezuela U20
2009–	Venezuela
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 January 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:40, 27 January 2022 (UTC)

José Manuel "Sema" Velázquez Rodríguez, (born 8 September 1990) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga Portugal 2 club Alverca and the Venezuela national team.

Club career

Velázquez started his career at just six when he started to play for various youth clubs in town. He made his professional debut with ACD Lara in 2007. Having made himself a regular at the age of 17, Deportivo Anzoátegui secured his services at the beginning of 2008.

He signed for Villarreal in 2009 to play for its reserve team. However, he did not feature in any match since he joined the squad, and was loaned to Venezuelan club Mineros de Guayana for the end of the 2010–11 season and the whole 2011–12 campaign.

On 7 July 2012, he signed a three-year contract for Panathinaikos F.C.

International career

Velázquez has played at every level from under-15 to under-20.

International goals

As of match played 13 June 2016. Venezuela score listed first, score column indicates score after each Velázquez goal.^[1]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	13 May 2009	Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela	5	Costa Rica	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2	13 June 2016	NRG Stadium, Houston, United States	19	Mexico	1–0	1–1	Copa América Centenario
3	3 June 2017	Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, United States	25	United States	1–0	1–1	Friendly

Under 20s

Velázquez was selected to play for Venezuela in the 2009 South American Youth Championship by César Farías, partnering Carlos Salazar in central defence. During the Round of 16 of the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Egypt, he play the full 90 minutes against UAE but Venezuela was eventually defeated 1–2.