Claudio López (footballer)
Personal information | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Claudio Javier López | |||||||||||||
Date of birth | 17 July 1974 | |||||||||||||
Place of birth | Río Tercero, Argentina | |||||||||||||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | |||||||||||||
Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
1992–1996 | Racing Club | 116 | (25) | |||||||||||
1996–2000 | Valencia | 126 | (47) | |||||||||||
2000–2004 |
Lazio | 106 | (29) | |||||||||||
2004–2007 | América | 87 | (27) | |||||||||||
2007–2008 | Racing Club | 34 | (10) | |||||||||||
2008–2009 |
Kansas City Wizards | 57 | (13) | |||||||||||
2010 | Colorado Rapids | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||
Total | 537 | (151) | ||||||||||||
International career | ||||||||||||||
1996 |
Argentina Olympic | 17 | (7) | |||||||||||
1995–2003 | Argentina | 55 | (10) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Claudio Javier López (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈklawðjo ˈlopes], born 17 July 1974) is an Argentine former footballer, who played as a forward. Nicknamed Piojo (louse), he is best known for his spells with Valencia in Spain and Lazio in Italy. López also had a notable impact in the Argentina national team, participating in two World Cups.
Club career
Early career
López began his professional career with
Europe
After a slow start in 1996–97, Claudio López would enjoy a prolific spell with Valencia over the 3 years that followed, averaging 20 goals each season between 1997–98 and 1999–2000. That included a season best in 1998–99 which saw him find the net on 30 occasions across competitions to become the club's top scorer (3rd best in la Liga behind Raul and Rivaldo, despite taking fewer penalties than his rivals).
Valencia entrenched their status as one of Spain's emerging clubs throughout the late 1990s, rising from their usual mid-table position to
López remained with Valencia for four years, helping the team to the
After Crespo left for
In December 2002 he made headlines during a Serie A clash with Inter that ended 3-3: after netting a hat-trick that gave his side a 3-0 lead,[3] Claudio López improvised an "Aserejé" goal celebration with teammate Bernardo Corradi, inspired by the dance routine of Spanish band Las Ketchup. In an interview 13 years later, he explained that the unexpected celebration had happened because "crazy Corradi enjoyed doing such things!"[4]
In the
Mexico, return to Racing
López joined
In 2007 López returned to Racing, 11 years after his departure from the club, and the country. In most of those games, usually coming in as a late sub, López scored several important goals.
Major League Soccer
On 7 March 2008, it was announced López had signed with the
On 23 February 2010 the Argentine striker left after two seasons Kansas City Wizards.[6] "We would have liked to have Claudio back in 2010, but unfortunately it became clear early in the contract negotiations that we could not give him what he desired," Wizards Manager Peter Vermes said.[7]
López was later signed by league rivals Colorado Rapids on 2 April 2010.[8]
After the
International career
López had a distinguished career with Argentina. After winning a silver medal with the Under-23 team during the 1996 Summer Olympics, López made appearances in both the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He scored a goal against the Netherlands in the 1998 FIFA World Cup quarter-final, when he kicked the ball between Edwin van der Sar's legs to tie the match temporarily, although Argentina were ultimately defeated 2–1.[9]
Style of play
According to media López was capable of playing anywhere along the
Media
López was sponsored by sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials. In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scopion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Edgar Davids, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".[11][12]
Career statistics
Club
Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
Argentina | League | Cup | South America | Total | ||||||
1992–93 | Racing | Primera División | 19 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
1993–94 | 36 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 8 | ||
1994–95 | 26 | 3 | - | - | 2 | 0 | 28 | 3 | ||
1995–96 | 35 | 17 | - | - | 2 | 2 | 37 | 19 | ||
Spain | League | Copa del Rey | Europe | Total | ||||||
1996–97 | Valencia | La Liga | 32 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 40 | 5 |
1997–98 | 32 | 12 | 5 | 0 | - | - | 37 | 12 | ||
1998–99 | 32 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 42 | 33 | ||
1999–00 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 54 | 17 | ||
Italy | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Total | ||||||
2000–01[14] | Lazio | Serie A | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 5 |
2001–02 | 29 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 38 | 12 | ||
2002–03 | 34 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 47 | 17 | ||
2003–04 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 4 | ||
Mexico | League | Cup | North America | Total | ||||||
2004–05 | América | Primera División |
33 | 13 | ||||||
2005–06 | 30 | 5 | ||||||||
2006–07 | 12 | 3 | ||||||||
Argentina | League | Cup | South America | Total | ||||||
2006–07 | Racing | Primera División | 18 | 5 | ||||||
2007–08 | 16 | 5 | ||||||||
United States | League | Open Cup
|
North America | Total | ||||||
2008 | Kansas City Wizards |
Major League Soccer | 28 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 7 | ||
2009 | 29 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 7 | ||||
2010 | Colorado Rapids | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
Country | Argentina | 150 | 35 | |||||||
Spain | 130 | 47 | 20 | 9 | 28 | 11 | 173 | 67 | ||
Italy | 106 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 27 | 9 | 143 | 38 | ||
Mexico | 75 | 21 | ||||||||
United States | 68 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 74 | 14 | ||||
Total | 525 | 148 |
International
Argentina | ||
Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|
1995 | 2 | 0 |
1996 | 5 | 0 |
1997 | 8 | 2 |
1998 | 12 | 3 |
1999 | 4 | 0 |
2000 | 8 | 2 |
2001 | 8 | 3 |
2002 | 6 | 0 |
2003 | 2 | 0 |
Total | 55 | 10 |
Honours
Valencia
- Copa del Rey: 1998–99
- Supercopa de España: 1999
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 1999–2000,[15]
Lazio
América
- Primera División de México: Clausura 2005
- Campeón de Campeones: 2005
- CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 2006
Colorado Rapids[16]
- 2010
- MLS Eastern Conference: 2010
Argentina
- Summer Olympics Silver Medal: 1996
See also
- List of current MLS players with national team caps
References
- ^ "Claudio López". S.S. Lazio. Archived from the original on 23 April 2003. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ "El fichaje estrellado: Claudio 'piojo' López". Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ "La Repubblica/calcio2002_partite_a: Inter, la grande rimonta All'Olimpico finisce 3-3". www.repubblica.it. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^ "ESCLUSIVA - El Piojo Lopez: "Ho la Lazio nel cuore! Aserejé? Colpa di quel pazzo di Corradi!"". www.lalaziosiamonoi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^ KC OnDemand.com Article Detail Archived 29 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Claudio Lopez a Wizard no more | Sounders Insider – The News Tribune Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Blog.thenewstribune.com (23 February 2010).
- ^ Wizards part ways with Claudio Lopez Archived 19 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Colorado signs Argentine Claudio Lopez. Usatoday.Com (2 April 2010).
- ^ Wilson, Jonathan (21 March 2020). "Ranked! The 10 best players of France 98". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Massimiliano Cappello (9 May 2015). "Che fine ha fatto? Lopez, una vita al massimo della velocità" [Whatever happened to him? Lopez, a life at top speed] (in Italian). Calcio Mercato. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ^ "A lighter shoe, cooler kits, a faster ball, a Secret Tournament – every touch counts". NikeBiz. Nike. Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ^ Cozens, Claire (3 April 2002). "Cantona hosts World Cup with a difference". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ^ a b Claudio López at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ Stats do not include 1/2 in Supercoppa Italiana.
- ^ "Real storm to Cup glory". BBC Sport. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "Claudio López". www.coloradorapids.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
External links
- Claudio López at Major League Soccer
- Guardian statistics at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 September 2012)
- Profile and statistics of Claudio López at Football Database
- Racing Club's official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 5 April 2007) (in Spanish)
- Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI at the Wayback Machine (archived 1 March 2012) (in Spanish)
- rallyargentino.org.ar at the Wayback Machine (archived 25 May 2013)