Juanma López (footballer)

Juan Manuel López Martinez (born 3 September 1969) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a central defender (occasionally he could operate in the flanks).

Not to be confused with Juan Manuel López (boxer).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.
Juanma López
Personal information
Full name Juan Manuel López Martinez
Date of birth (1969-09-03) 3 September 1969
Place of birth Madrid, Spain
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1992 Atlético Madrileño 65 (2)
1991–2001 Atlético Madrid 156 (3)
Total 221 (5)
International career
1992 Spain U23 7 (0)
1992–1997 Spain 11 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Olympic medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's Football
Gold medal – first place1992 BarcelonaTeam Competition

López was prone to suspensions, often being considered overaggressive in his approach.[1][2] Having spent his entire career with Atlético Madrid, he retired after sustaining a serious knee injury.

Club career

López was born in Madrid. During his professional career he played solely for Atlético Madrid, his debut with the first team coming in the dying stages of 1990–91 as he was still registered for the reserves, and would be the following season.

During the 1995–96 campaign, López, often dubbed Super López, formed a solid centre-back partnership with another Atlético graduate, Roberto Solozábal, as the capital club achieved an historic double, with the former appearing in 32 La Liga matches with two goals, in home wins against Real Oviedo (3–0)[3] and CD Tenerife (3–1).[4]

From 1997 to 2001 (with the last season being played in the Segunda División), however, consistent injuries limited the often considered over-aggressive player to just 12 games, and he eventually retired due to an anterior cruciate ligament ailment from which he never fully recovered.[5][6][2]

López subsequently worked as a football agent.[7]

International career

For Spain, López won the gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona,[8] and participated at UEFA Euro 1996, receiving 11 full caps in a five-year span. His senior debut came on 9 September 1992 in a friendly 1–0 win against England in Santander, also the first for coach Javier Clemente – both López and Solozábal played the entire match.[9]

Honours

Atlético Madrid

Spain U23

See also

References
  1. Qué fue de... Juanma López (Whatever happened to... Juanma López); 20 minutos, 2 February 2009 (in Spanish)
  2. Juanma López, el Súper defensa (Juanma López, Super defender); at La Roja en el Olimpo (in Spanish)
  3. "El Atleti recupera el liderato y se escapa" [Atleti reclaim first place and make a run for it] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 27 November 1995. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  4. "Victoria trabajada del líder" [Hard-fought win for the leaders] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 7 January 1996. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  5. López será baja seis meses y Antic piensa en fichar en diciembre (López out six months and Antic thinks about signing in December); El Mundo, 19 November 1997 (in Spanish)
  6. Especialistas afirman roturas ligamento cruzado anterior están a nivel normal (Experts find anterior cruciate ligament ruptures to be at a normal level) Archived 11 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine; Terra, 27 February 2007 (in Spanish)
  7. "Juanma López: leyenda del Atlético, representante de jugadores y exdueño del Recreativo" [Juanma López: Atlético legend, player agent and former Recreativo owner] (in Spanish). 20 minutos. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  8. "La Roja de 1992, nuestra medalla de oro Olímpica" [1992's La Roja, our Olympic gold medal] (in Spanish). Antena 3. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  9. La nueva etapa se abre con victoria (New era gets started with win); Mundo Deportivo, 10 September 1992 (in Spanish)
  10. "Supervivientes de oro" [Golden survivors] (in Spanish). El País. 25 February 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
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