Jorge López Montaña

Jorge López

López in training with Zaragoza
Personal information
Full name Jorge López Montaña
Date of birth (1978-09-19) 19 September 1978
Place of birth Logroño, Spain
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
Logroñés
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1999 Logroñés B
1997–1999 Logroñés 14 (2)
1998 → Las Rozas (loan)
1999–2003 Villarreal 134 (30)
2003–2007 Valencia 45 (4)
2004–2005 → Mallorca (loan) 29 (1)
2007–2008 Racing Santander 36 (6)
2008–2011 Zaragoza 94 (9)
2011–2012 OFI Crete 24 (1)
2013 Gent 15 (2)
2014 Cádiz 11 (1)
Total 402 (56)

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


This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is López and the second or maternal family name is Montaña.

Jorge López Montaña (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxoɾxe ˈlopeθ]; born 19 September 1978) is a Spanish retired footballer who plays as a right midfielder.

Over the course of 11 seasons he amassed La Liga totals of 271 games and 36 goals, representing Villarreal, Valencia, Mallorca, Racing de Santander and Zaragoza in the competition and winning major titles with the second club, including the 2004 national championship.

Football career

López was born in Logroño, La Rioja. A product of hometown CD Logroñés' youth system he was purchased by Villarreal CF in the summer of 1999, with whom he achieved La Liga promotion at the end of the season. Making his top flight debut on 10 September 2000 in a 1–5 home loss against Rayo Vallecano, he finished the campaign missing only three league games and scoring eight goals, with the Valencian finishing seventh.

Joining neighbours Valencia CF for 2003–04, López played 26 matches and netted four times as the club was proclaimed national champions. After a loan to fellow league side RCD Mallorca, he would only collect 19 league appearances in the next two seasons combined, mainly due to injuries.

López was released by Valencia in summer 2007, and was signed by Racing de Santander on a free transfer, where he was a key element in the team's first-ever qualification to the UEFA Cup after a sixth-place finish.[1] On 25 November 2007, he scored the game's only goal in a home triumph against his previous team.[2]

Having already played one game in the 2008–09 season with Racing, a 1–1 home draw with Sevilla FC, López was sold to second division's Real Zaragoza on 1 September 2008, for €3 million.[3] He scored seven goals in 38 matches as his new club immediately returned to division one,[4] surpassing the 3,000-minute mark, but featured significantly less in the following campaign although he began it in the starting XI.

López left Zaragoza in July 2011, after failing to negotiate a new contract with the Aragonese.[5] At the age of 33 he had his first experience abroad, joining OFI Crete in Greece.

In January 2013 López, who had become a free player due to financial problems in his previous club, moved to Belgium and joined several compatriots (including manager Víctor Fernández) at K.A.A. Gent.

Personal life

López's younger brother, Iñigo, is also a footballer. A defender, he spent most of his career in the lower leagues, mainly with AD Alcorcón.[6]

Honours

Villarreal
Valencia

References

  1. ↑ "El Racing se mete por primera vez en la UEFA al ganar a Osasuna (1–0)" [Racing reaches UEFA for the first time after beating Osasuna (1–0)] (in Spanish). 20 Minutos. 18 May 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Racing leave Valencia standing". UEFA.com. 25 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Jorge López jugará en el Zaragoza" [Jorge López will play in Zaragoza]. Marca. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Jorge López da al Zaragoza la victoria en el campo del líder" [Jorge López gives win to Zaragoza in leader's ground]. Diario AS. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Real Zaragoza announce surprise departures of Carlos Diogo and Jorge Lopez". A Different League. 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Jorge López apuesta por el gran sueño amarillo" [Jorge López bets on big yellow dream]. Marca. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
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