Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez, known simply as Joaquín, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for and captains Real Betis as a winger.
He is well known for his pace and acceleration, as well as excellent dribbling and crossing ability. During his career he was mainly associated with Betis and Valencia, appearing in over 500 La Liga matches over 17 seasons and scoring over 70 goals. In the competition he also represented Málaga, signing with Fiorentina from Italy in 2013.
Joaquín made his debut for the Spain national team on 13 February 2002 against Portugal, in a 1–1 friendly played in Barcelona. Brilliant club form for Betis saw him get called up for that year's FIFA World Cup, where he appeared twice: in his second match, the quarter-finals against co-hosts South Korea, he was involved in a couple of debatable decisions, including one incident where the linesman raised his flag for a goal kick as Joaquín was crossing a ball to Fernando Morientes, who was denied a golden goal – the argument was that the ball had crossed the line. However, replays showed that it did not; the game then went to penalties, and he was chosen to take Spain's fourth attempt – despite carrying an injury – which was blocked by Lee Woon-jae.
Joaquín played again for Spain through the nation's premature exit at UEFA Euro 2004, also being selected for the 2006 World Cup. He totalled five appearances, but was not first-choice at either competition, only starting twice overall.
