Nicolás López (footballer, born 1993)

Nicolás "Nico" Federico López Alonso (born 1 October 1993), also known as "El Diente," is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Tigres UANL.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Alonso.
Nicolás López
López warming up for Roma in 2012
Personal information
Full name Nicolás Federico López Alonso[1]
Date of birth (1993-10-01) 1 October 1993
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 León
Number 17
Youth career
2004–2010 Montevideo Wanderers
2010–2011 Nacional
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Nacional 6 (3)
2012–2013 Roma 6 (1)
2013–2016 Udinese 21 (2)
2014–2015 → Verona (loan) 24 (5)
2015–2016 → Granada (loan) 8 (0)
2016 → Nacional (loan) 12 (7)
2016–2019 Internacional 139 (33)
2020–2023 UANL 88 (26)
2023– León 6 (1)
International career‡
2012–2013 Uruguay U20 22 (11)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Uruguay
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Runner-up2013 Turkey
South American U-20 Championship
Third place2013 Argentina
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:17, 29 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 July 2013 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Nicknamed "El Conejo" (The Rabbit) or "El Diente" (The Tooth), López started his playing career with Montevideo Wanderers, but was originally rejected after he was deemed not to be physically strong enough to play professionally. He successively joined the Nacional youth academy, where he turned into a very prolific striker and, more occasionally, left winger.[2]

On 24 April 2011, after being born as part of the first team under head coach Juan Ramón Carrasco, López made his debut at the age of 17 in a league game against Central Español, promptly scoring also his first senior goal.[2][3] In August 2011, he was involved in a feud with Nacional, after his father revealed the player was in Italy in order to hold talks with a number of unspecified Serie A sides, leading his Uruguayan club and the national federation to consider potential actions to the FIFA against the player.[4][5]

López ended his Nacional career with 3 goals in 6 games in all competitions.

Roma

López was acquired by Roma in the January 2012 transfer window, and then included in the Primavera under-19 squad for the rest of the season, scoring 15 times in 12 youth games.

López was taken into consideration as a first team player by new head coach Zdeněk Zeman, who included him in the senior roster for the pre-season camp and then featured him in a number of friendly games. López made his first team debut on 26 August 2012, replacing captain Francesco Totti in the final minutes of the first game of the Serie A season, a home match versus Catania, and promptly scored an injury time equaliser (the game ended 2–2). He also started the round of 16 cup match against Atalanta. Lopez played 7 times, scoring once in his first season in the Roma first team.

Udinese

On 13 July 2013, he joined Udinese with Valerio Verre.[6]

Internacional

On 19 July 2016, Brazilian club Internacional announced that signed with Nico López. Colorado paid €4 million for 50% of Uruguayan footballer's rights.[7]

Tigres UANL

In December 2019, López was transferred to Tigres UANL, the Mexican club paid a $10 million fee.[8] He was the top goalscorer of the Liga MX's Apertura 2021 season.

International career

López has represented Uruguay at Under-20 level, scoring 10 goals in his 16 caps. He played at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, earning the Silver Ball award after scoring four goals.

On 21 October 2022, López was named in Uruguay's 55-man preliminary squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[9]

Career statistics

Club
As of 8 May 2021[10]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nacional 2010–11 Uruguayan Primera División 43–––43
2011–12 20–––20
Total 63–––63
Roma 2012–13 Serie A 6110––71
Udinese 2013–14 Serie A 212611[lower-alpha 1]0–283
Verona (loan) 2014–15 Serie A 10110––111
Granada (loan) 2015–16 La Liga 8020––100
Nacional (loan) 2015–16 Uruguayan Primera División 127–9[lower-alpha 2]4–2111
Internacional 2016 Série A 12021––141
2017 Série B 32952–16[lower-alpha 3]65317
2018 Série A 351140–11[lower-alpha 3]35014
2019 2518110[lower-alpha 2]38[lower-alpha 3]3518
Total 10421194103351216840
Tigres UANL 2019–20 Liga MX 40–4[lower-alpha 4]0–80
2020–21 2412–––2412
Total 2812–40003212
Career total 19547295247351228371
  1. Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
  3. Appearances in Campeonato Gaúcho
  4. Appearances in CONCACAF Champions League

Honours

Nacional

UANL

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 List of Players: Uruguay" (PDF). FIFA. 23 June 2013. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2013.
  2. "Nicolás López ; 1993 – Uruguay" (in Italian). Generazione di Talenti. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  3. "Nacional cumplió y llega arriba al clásico" (in Spanish). Ovación Digital. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  4. "Nicolás López no volverá a Nacional" (in Spanish). Futbol.com.uy. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  5. "Clubes analizarán situación del juvenil Nicolas Lopez" (in Spanish). Uruguay al Día. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  6. "Roma confirm Benatia signing". soccernews.com. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  7. "MAIS CARAS CONTRATAÇÕES DO FUTEBOL GAÚCHO: Nico López não entra no Top 10 (Most expensive signings from football of Rio Grande do Sul State: Nico López is not listed into top 10". Archived from the original on 3 November 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  8. "Já negociado, Nico López se despede do Inter: "Saio levando este clube no coração"" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globoesporte.com. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  9. "Selección: Diego Alonso entregó la lista de 55 reservados para el Mundial de Catar" (in Spanish). 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  10. "N. López". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
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