Walter López (footballer, born 1985)

Walter Alberto López Gasco (born 15 October 1985) is a Uruguayan footballer who plays in defence or midfield.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Gasco.
Walter López
López at West Ham United in 2009
Personal information
Full name Walter Alberto López Gasco
Date of birth (1985-10-15) 15 October 1985
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003 Racing Club 0 (0)
2004 San Martín de Tucumán 0 (0)
2005–2006 River Plate Montevideo 46 (5)
2007 → Xerez (loan) 11 (0)
2007 → Tecos (loan) 3 (0)
2008–2009 West Ham United 5 (0)
2009–2011 Cerro 0 (0)
2009–2010 → Brescia (loan) 30 (1)
2010 → Universitatea Craiova (loan) 0 (0)
2011 Universitatea Craiova 4 (0)
2011–2013 Peñarol 16 (2)
2012 → Cerro Porteño (loan) 28 (3)
2013–2015 Lecce 55 (2)
2015 Sol de América 20 (1)
2016–2017 Benevento 45 (1)
2017–2018 Spezia 38 (2)
2018–2019 Ternana 19 (2)
2019–2021 Salernitana 51 (0)
2021–2022 Triestina 43 (0)
International career
2006 Uruguay 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 April 2022

Club career

Born in Montevideo, López began his career at hometown club Racing Club and spent time in Argentina with San Martín de Tucumán, before moving to Uruguayan Primera División side River Plate Montevideo in 2005. While registered to the club, he spent time on loan in Spain, with Xerez, and in Mexico, with Tecos.[1][2]

He signed for West Ham United on 5 September 2008. On joining West Ham he was described by caretaker manager Kevin Keen as "a very attacking full-back who can get forward. Like David Di Michele, he is another West Ham-type player who will hopefully show everyone at the club what he can do". Michele had been signed by the club on loan around the same time.[3] López made his debut for West Ham United in a League Cup third round tie, playing the full game in an away defeat at Watford on 23 September 2008.[4] He made his Premier League debut as a late substitute in West Ham's 1–0 win over Manchester City on 1 March 2009.[5][6]

López failed to cement a place in the first team due to the presence of Congolese international Hérita Ilunga and, having made five substitute Premier League appearances, was subsequently released by West Ham at the end of the 2008–09 season.[6][7] He returned to Uruguay and signed for Primera División side Cerro. He was then loaned to Brescia of Italy's Serie B.[8] He managed one goal for the Italians, his first outside of South America, in 29 appearances.

In the summer of 2010, López was loaned to Romanian Liga 1 side FC Universitatea Craiova. After a six-month loan, at the start of 2011, the club decided to buy the player and López signed a contract for three years.[9]

In July 2011, López moved back to Uruguay and joined Peñarol. While signed to the club, he spent time on loan at Paraguayan club Cerro Porteño in 2012.[10]

In March 2013, he was arrested and sentenced to 90 days of community service for "crime simulation", after setting fire to his truck and reporting it stolen in order to claim insurance money.[11][12]

López left Peñarol in September 2013, moving back to Italy to join Serie C club Lecce.[13] After two seasons, he moved once again to Paraguay and joined Sol de América. A further spell in Italy followed, firstly with Campania club Benevento, before moving to Spezia in Liguria in August 2017.[1][14] On 19 July 2018, he signed a two-year contract with another Serie C club Ternana.[15]

On 31 January 2019, he moved to Serie B club Salernitana.[16]

On 1 February 2021 he signed a 1.5-year contract with Serie C club Triestina.[17]

López also holds a Spanish passport.[18]

International career

López made three appearances for Uruguay in 2006.[19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 6 November 2021[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Racing Club 2003 Uruguayan Segunda División 00————00
San Martín de Tucumán 2004–05 Argentino B 00————00
River Plate Montevideo 2005[1] Uruguayan Primera División 21————21
2005–06[1] Uruguayan Primera División 313————313
2006–07[1] Uruguayan Primera División 111————111
2007–08[1] Uruguayan Primera División 20————20
Total 46500000000465
Xerez (loan) 2006–07[21] Segunda División 11000———110
Tecos (loan) 2007–08[1] Primera División de México 3000———30
West Ham United 2008–09 Premier League 500010——60
Brescia (loan) 2009–10 Serie B 30100——2[lower-alpha 1]0321
Universitatea Craiova 2010–11 Liga I 4010———50
Peñarol 2011–14 Uruguayan Primera División 132————132
2012–13 Uruguayan Primera División 30——3[lower-alpha 2]0—60
Total 16200003000192
Cerro Porteño (loan) 2012 Paraguayan Primera División 283——7[lower-alpha 3]1—354
Lecce 2013–14 Lega Pro 1 24200——5[lower-alpha 1]0292
2014–15 Lega Pro 3102010——340
Total 55220100050632
Sol de América 2015 Paraguayan Primera División 20100———201
Benevento 2015–16 Lega Pro 15000——2[lower-alpha 4]0170
2016–17 Serie B 30110——5[lower-alpha 1]0361
Total 45110000070531
Spezia 2017–18 Serie B 38200———382
Ternana 2018–19 Serie C 19230———222
Salernitana 2018–19 Serie B 13000——2[lower-alpha 5]0150
2019–20 Serie B 24010———250
2020–21 Serie B 14010———150
Total 51020000020550
Triestina 2020–21 Serie C 160———1[lower-alpha 1]0170
2021–22 Serie C 110————110
Total 27000000010280
Career total 39819902010117043620
  1. Appearance(s) in Promotion Playoffs
  2. Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
  3. Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
  4. Appearance(s) in Supercoppa di Serie C
  5. Appearance(s) in Relegation Playoffs

Honours
Cerro Porteño
Peñarol

References
  1. "Walter Alberto Lopez". BDFA. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. "Walter Lopez". soccerstand.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  3. "Hammers snap up Lopez". Sky Sports. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  4. "Watford 1-0 West Ham". BBC Sport. 23 September 2008.
  5. "West Ham 1-0 Man City". BBC Sport. 1 March 2009.
  6. "Walter Lopez". westhamstats.info. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  7. "Summer squad latest". West Ham United FC. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009.
  8. "Dal West Ham arriva l'uruguaiano Lopez". Archived from the original on 11 March 2012.
  9. "Walter Lopez, DEFINITIV la Craiova". digisport.ro (in Romanian). 18 January 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  10. "Walter López deja Peñarol" [Walter Lopez leaves Peñarol]. espectador.com (in Spanish). 23 January 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  11. ""Zurdo" López fue procesado sin prisión por simular delito" ["Lefty" Lopez was indicted without detention for feigning offence]. El Observador (in Spanish). 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  12. "Walter López fue procesado" [Walter Lopez prosecuted] (in Spanish). 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  13. "Walter López, nuevo jugador de Lecce" [Walter Lopez, new player of Lecce]. futbol.com.uy (in Spanish). Montevideo COMM. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  14. "Biennale per Walter Lopez, un altro uruguaiano per lo Spezia" (in Italian). 11 August 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  15. "Dallo Spezia Calcio arriva a titolo definitivo Walter Lopez" (in Italian). Ternana Calcio. 19 July 2018.
  16. "Walter Lopez è un giocatore della Salernitana. Castiglia alla Ternana" (in Italian). Salernitana. 31 January 2019.
  17. "Calciomercato, ufficiale: Walter Lopez è un nuovo giocatore" (in Italian). Triestina. 1 February 2021.
  18. "Lopez si allena con la prima squadra" (in Italian). bresciaonline.it. 5 August 2009.
  19. "Walter Lopez". 11v11.com. Association of Football Statisticians. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  20. Walter López at Soccerway
  21. Walter López at BDFutbol
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walter Alberto López.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.