Jesús Capitán Prada (born 26 March 1977), known as Capi, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
He spent most of his career with Betis, which included 209 La Liga games and 16 goals over the course of nine seasons (13 overall).Yo jugué en el Real Betis: Capi (I played for Real Betis: Capi) ; Vavel, 21 September 2013 (in Spanish)
Club career Betis Capi was born in Camas, Seville, Andalusia.Qué es de... Jesús Capitán, "Capi" (What became of... Jesús Capitán, "Capi"); Royal Spanish Football Federation, 24 November 2016 (in Spanish) Apart from a loan spell at Granada CF in the Segunda División B, he spent the vast majority of his career at Real Betis. He started out with their reserves in the same league, and made his first-team and La Liga debut against Valencia CF on 26 May 1997, one of only two during the season.1–1: La garra del Valencia no consigue apagar los fogonazos del Betis (1–1: Valencia spunk can not put out Betis fires); ABC, 27 May 1997 (in Spanish)0–1: El público del Villamarín festejó el triunfo del Sporting (0–1: Villamarín crowd celebrated Sporting triumph); ABC, 1 June 1997 (in Spanish)
Capi went to play 302 competitive games for the Estadio Benito Villamarín-based club, always as an important part of the squad.Capi deja atrás casi dos décadas como jugador del Real Betis (Capi leaves nearly two decades as Real Betis player behind); Marca, 20 June 2010 (in Spanish)El perfil: Capi (The profile: Capi); Real Betis, 26 March 2017 (in Spanish) He scored his first goal for them on 19 November 2000, albeit in a 1–3 home defeat to neighbouring Sevilla FC where he excelled before being stretchered off with 15 minutes to go and the score at 1–1,El Sevilla volvió a sacar tajada de su visita al campo del Betis (Sevilla fished again in trip to Betis' ground); Marca, 19 November 2000 (in Spanish) as the campaign in the Segunda División ended in promotion for both sides in the city. However, in 2004–05, as the team achieved a fourth place in the league, with qualification to the UEFA Champions League, he appeared in only 11 matches, mainly due to injuries.
After another two-and-a-half-month spell in the sidelines, Capi returned to action on 4 April 2009, scoring as a second-half substitute in a 3–3 home draw with CD Numancia.Partido loco, pero todo sigue igual (Crazy game, but everything remains the same); Marca, 4 April 2009 (in Spanish)Betis y Numancia empatan a tres goles con un final de locura (Betis and Numancia draw three-all in frantic finish); Diario de Mallorca, 5 April 2009 (in Spanish) Betis were eventually relegated to the second tier.
Capi continued to be bothered with injuries in the 2009–10 season, but still contributed 26 appearances – only three complete – as the club failed to regain its lost status. On 19 June 2010, the 33-year-old appeared in his last game as a Verdiblanco, the useless 4–0 home win over Levante UD (they finished in fourth place, tied with both the second and third-placed teams), his contract subsequently expiring and not being renewed.Capi: El adiós a un grande (Capi: Farewell to a great); ABC, 20 June 2010 (in Spanish)
Later career In summer 2012, at the end of a couple of second-division campaigns with another side in his native region, Xerez CD,Capi ficha por el Xerez y Díaz de Cerio y Vélez no quieren dejar el Athletic de Bilbao (Capi signs for Xerez and Díaz de Cerio and Vélez do not want to leave Athletic de Bilbao); La Verdad, 17 July 2010 (in Spanish) Capi signed with amateurs Camas Club de Fútbol, his first-ever club as a footballer.Capi firma por el Camas CF y jugará esta temporada en Primera Provincial (Capi signs for Camas CF and will play this season in Primera Provincial); Ideal, 16 August 2012 (in Spanish)
International career Capi earned four caps for the Spain national team, making his debut on 27 March 2002 against the Netherlands in a 1–0 friendly loss in Rotterdam.Ensayo preocupante (Worrying rehearsal); Mundo Deportivo, 28 March 2002 (in Spanish) He featured in a further three internationals the same year.
Coaching career Capi retired in 2014 at age 37, being immediately appointed as Juan Merino's assistant manager at Betis B.Capi volverá a Granada como segundo entrenador del Betis B, y Cervián con el filial sevillista (Capi will return to Granada as Betis B assistant manager, and Cervián with Sevilla's reserves); Ideal, 9 July 2014 (in Spanish) On 16 August 2022, he became head coach of the club's C team.Ya es oficial el regreso de Capi para dirigir al Betis C (Capi's return to be in charge of Betis C is already official); ABC, 16 August 2022 (in Spanish)
Honours Betis Copa del Rey: 2004–05Dani delivers for Betis; UEFA, 11 June 2005
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