Íñigo López (footballer)

Íñigo López Montaña (born 23 July 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Montaña.
Íñigo López
Personal information
Full name Íñigo López Montaña[1]
Date of birth (1982-07-23) 23 July 1982[1]
Place of birth Logroño, Spain[1]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
Las Rozas
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Las Rozas
2004–2006 Atlético Madrid B 34 (4)
2006–2007 S.S. Reyes 27 (1)
2007–2010 Alcorcón 85 (17)
2010–2013 Granada 91 (8)
2013–2014 PAOK 3 (0)
2014 → Celta (loan) 9 (1)
2014–2015 Córdoba 21 (0)
2015–2018 Huesca 63 (3)
2018–2019 Extremadura 7 (0)
2019 Deportivo La Coruña 1 (0)
2019–2020 S.S. Reyes 7 (0)
Total 348 (34)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Logroño, La Rioja, López began his career with Atlético Madrid B in the Segunda División B in 2004, going on to spend six seasons in that tier, his next club being Madrid neighbours UD San Sebastián de los Reyes. In 2007, he signed for AD Alcorcón also in the community, appearing in 35 league games in his first year (five goals) but only five in the following.

López was again a regular starter for Alcorcón in 2009–10, and scored a career-best seven goals as the team promoted to Segunda División for the first time ever.[2][3] He also took part in the memorable Alcorconazo in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey, in which the club secured the most famous victory in its history after defeating Real Madrid 4–0 at home and 4–1 on aggregate.[4]

In the summer of 2010, López joined Granada CF in the second division,[5] and achieved a second consecutive promotion, also the second in a row for the Andalusians, while contributing four goals. He made his La Liga debut on 1 October 2011 in a 1–0 away loss against Valencia CF,[6] and netted four times during the season – two of those in narrow wins over Athletic Bilbao (1–0, away)[7] and Málaga CF (2–1, at home)[8]– to help the side to retain their league status.

López moved abroad for the first time on 19 June 2013, with the 30-year-old signing a two-year contract with PAOK FC from the Super League Greece.[9] He returned to Spain on 23 January of the following year, after being loaned to RC Celta de Vigo for five months.[10]

On 1 August 2014, López agreed to a one-year deal at Córdoba CF, recently promoted to the top flight.[11] He played 21 matches as his team were immediately relegated, and signed for SD Huesca in the second tier on 14 July 2015.[12]

López helped to achieve promotion to the top division in the 2017–18 campaign, but contributed just four appearances to this feat.[13] He subsequently terminated his contract, and signed a one-year deal with Extremadura UD in the same league after having trained with them since August.[14]

On 31 January 2019, free agent López moved to division two side Deportivo de La Coruña on a six-month deal.[15]

Personal life

López's older brother, Jorge, was also a footballer.[16]

References
  1. Íñigo López at WorldFootball.net
  2. "AD Alcorcón, rival para el ascenso" [AD Alcorcón, promotion rivals] (in Spanish). Granada en Juego. May 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  3. "El Ontinyent, sin ascenso tras un descalabro arbitral" [Ontinyent, no promotion after refereeing meltdown] (in Spanish). Super Deporte. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  4. "Nadie supera el 'Alcorconazo'" [No one tops the 'Alcorconazo'] (in Spanish). Marca. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  5. Iñigo López deja el Alcorcón y pone rumbo a Granada (Íñigo López leaves Alcorcón and heads for Granada); Diario AS, 29 July 2011 (in Spanish)
  6. Valencia triumphant despite profligacy; ESPN Soccernet, 1 October 2011
  7. Granada shock Bilbao; ESPN Soccernet, 27 November 2011
  8. Lopez strike sinks Malaga; ESPN Soccernet, 6 February 2012
  9. Ο Íñigo López Montaña στον ΠΑΟΚ (Íñigo López Montaña signs with PAOK); PAOK FC, 19 July 2013 (in Greek)
  10. Íñigo López llegará cedido al Celta (Íñigo López will arrive on loan at Celta); Marca, 23 January 2014 (in Spanish)
  11. Iñigo López nuevo jugador del Córdoba C.F. (Iñigo López new player of Córdoba C.F.); Córdoba CF, 1 August 2014 (in Spanish)
  12. Íñigo López, nuevo fichaje (Íñigo López, new signing); SD Huesca, 14 July 2015 (in Spanish)
  13. "Íñigo López no tiene sitio en el Huesca" [Íñigo López has no room in Huesca] (in Spanish). Ideal. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  14. El club inscribe a Íñigo López (The club registers Íñigo López); Extremadura UD, 21 September 2018 (in Spanish)
  15. "Iñigo López, nuevo jugador del Dépor" [Iñigo López, new player of Dépor] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  16. "Jorge López apuesta por el gran sueño amarillo" [Jorge López bets on big yellow dream] (in Spanish). Marca. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
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