Juan Manuel López (footballer)

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)
Playing position Centre back
Youth career
Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1992 Atlético Madrileño 64 (2)
1991–2001 Atlético Madrid 156 (3)
Total 220 (5)
National team
1992 Spain U23 7 (0)
1992–1997 Spain 11 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Olympic medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's Football
1992 Barcelona Team Competition
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is López and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.

Juan Manuel 'Juanma' 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).

López was prone to suspensions, often being considered overaggressive in his approach.[1][2] However, 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 club's B-side, and would be during 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) and CD Tenerife (3–1).

From 1997 to 2001 (with the last season being played in the second division), however, consistent injuries limited the often considered over-aggressive player to just 12 games combined, and he eventually retired due to an anterior cruciate ligament ailment from which he never fully recovered.[3][4][2]

International career

For Spain, López won the gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and participated at UEFA Euro 1996, receiving 11 full caps in a five-year span. His international 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.[5]

Honours

Club

Country

See also

References

  1. ↑ Qué fue de... Juanma López (Whatever happened to... Juanma López); 20 Minutos, 2 February 2009 (Spanish)
  2. 1 2 Juanma López, el Súper defensa (Juanma López, Super defender); at La Roja en el Olimpo (Spanish)
  3. ↑ 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 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Especialistas afirman roturas ligamento cruzado anterior están a nivel normal (Experts find anterior cruciate ligament ruptures to be at a normal level); Terra, 27 February 2007 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ La nueva etapa se abre con victoria (New era gets started with win); Mundo Deportivo, 10 September 1992 (Spanish)
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