Fali (footballer, born 1993)
Spanish footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rafael Jiménez Jarque (born 12 August 1993), known as Fali, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or a defensive midfielder.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rafael Jiménez Jarque[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 12 August 1993[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Valencia, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Positions | |||
| Youth career | |||
| Benimarc | |||
| 2003–2009 | Villarreal | ||
| 2009–2010 | Catarroja | ||
| 2010–2012 | Levante | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2013 | Levante B | 33 | (1) |
| 2013–2015 | Huracán | 66 | (3) |
| 2015–2019 | Gimnàstic | 49 | (4) |
| 2016–2018 | → Barcelona B (loan) | 72 | (1) |
| 2019 | → Cádiz (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2019–2026 | Cádiz | 169 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20 June 2025 | |||
Club career
Levante and Huracán
Born in Valencia, Fali joined Levante UD's youth setup in 2010 at age 17, after starting out at Villarreal CF and Catarroja CF. He made his senior debut with their reserves, spending one season apiece in Segunda División B and Tercera División.[2]
Fali terminated his contract with the Valencians on 16 August 2013,[3] and signed with third-tier club Huracán Valencia CF just hours later.[4] In the 2014–15 campaign he appeared in 42 matches and scored three goals, as the team missed out on promotion in the play-offs.[5]
Gimnàstic
On 6 July 2015, Fali agreed to a two-year deal with Gimnàstic de Tarragona, newly promoted to Segunda División.[6] He played his first game as a professional on 30 August, coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Sergio Tejera in a 2–1 away win against CD Tenerife.[7]
Fali scored his first goal in the second division on 19 December 2015, his team's second in a 3–1 home victory over Real Zaragoza.[8] On 7 January of the following year, he was loaned to FC Barcelona Atlètic until June.[9]
On 11 July 2016, Fali's loan was extended until 2018 with a buyout clause.[10] He returned to Nàstic in late January 2018.[11]
Cádiz
On 10 May 2019, Fali moved to fellow second tier side Cádiz CF on loan until the end of the season, as a replacement for the injured Aleksandar Pantić.[12] On 8 July, he signed a permanent three-year deal.[13]
Fali renewed his contract 10 February 2020, until 2024.[14] He scored once from 30 appearances that season, helping to a return to La Liga after 14 years.[15]
On 20 September 2020, Fali made his debut in the Spanish top flight, playing the second half of the 2–0 away defeat of SD Huesca.[16] He was a regular in the following campaigns, but was left out of the squad in 2025–26 and fired by the club in January 2026 due to discipline problems.[17]
Personal life
Fali is from a gypsy community; he was married at age 16, and had a child at 17. He worked in a scrapyard.[2]
Career statistics
- As of match played 25 May 2024[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Levante B | 2012–13 | Segunda División B | 23 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |
| Huracán | 2013–14 | Segunda División B | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Segunda División B | 42 | 3 | — | 42 | 3 | ||
| Total | 66 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 67 | 3 | ||
| Gimnástic | 2015–16 | Segunda División | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Barcelona B (loan) | 2015–16 | Segunda División B | 16 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Segunda División B | 36 | 1 | — | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2017–18 | Segunda División | 20 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| Total | 72 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 1 | ||
| Gimnástic | 2017–18 | Segunda División | 14 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | Segunda División | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 3 | |
| Total | 49 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 4 | ||
| Cádiz (loan) | 2018–19 | Segunda División | 4 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| Cádiz | 2019–20 | Segunda División | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| 2020–21 | La Liga | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | La Liga | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | La Liga | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| Total | 147 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 152 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 361 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 369 | 9 | ||