Maxi López
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Maximiliano Gastón López | ||
Date of birth | 3 April 1984 | ||
Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
Height | Script error: No such module "person height". | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Team information | |||
Current team
|
Torino | ||
Number | 11 | ||
Youth career | |||
1997–2001 | River Plate | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2001–2005 | River Plate | 56 | (13) |
2005–2007 | Barcelona | 14 | (0) |
2006–2007 | → Mallorca (loan) | 29 | (3) |
2007–2009 | FC Moscow | 22 | (9) |
2009 | → Grêmio (loan) | 25 | (12) |
2010–2014 | Catania | 78 | (23) |
2012 | → Milan (loan) | 8 | (1) |
2012–2013 | → Sampdoria (loan) | 17 | (4) |
2014 | → Sampdoria (loan) | 11 | (1) |
2014–2015 | Chievo | 13 | (1) |
2015– | Torino | 35 | (11) |
International career | |||
2001 | Argentina U17 | 5 | (3) |
2001–2004 | Argentina U20 | 29 | (8) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:50, 15 December 2015 (UTC) |
Maximiliano Gastón López (born 3 April 1984) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian club Torino.
López holds both an Argentine and an Italian passport.[2][3] He is known as El Rubio (The Blonde) and La Gallina de Oro (The Golden Hen).[1]
Contents
Club career
River Plate
López started his career in 1997 with River Plate. On 19 August 2001, at the age of 17, he made his senior debut against Talleres de Córdoba. That same season, the player was officially promoted to the senior squad, following 5 years with the youth program. With River Plate, he was a standout striker and the club won the Torneo Clausura in 2002, 2003, and 2004. López remained with the club until his transfer to Spanish giants FC Barcelona in January 2005. With River Plate, López made 70 appearances, scoring nearly 16 goals.
Barcelona
In January 2005, FC Barcelona signed López for €6.2 million following an injury to striker Henrik Larsson. On his UEFA Champions League debut on 23 February 2005, he came on as a second-half substitute for Ludovic Giuly and within four minutes beat Chelsea defender William Gallas to score an equaliser with his first shot for the club in a 2-1 first-leg win.[4] His only other goal for the club came in a Copa del Rey tie against Zamora CF on 11 January 2006.[5] López failed to break into the club's first team: in his first season in La Liga, he made just 13 league appearances.
Mallorca, Moscow and Grêmio
He transferred to RCD Mallorca on loan for the 2006–07 season, scoring three goals in 25 matches, and returned to Barcelona in the summer of 2007, only to be sold subsequently to FC Moscow on 16 August 2007, after a transfer fee of €2 million was agreed with Barcelona.[6] With the club, López made 22 league appearances scoring 9 goals, but on 13 February 2009, Brazilian club, Grêmio signed López on a season-long loan.[7] He made his debut the following month in a game against Santa Cruz. His first goal for the club came against Esporte Clube São José on 18 March 2009. On 24 June 2009, López was accused of racism by Cruzeiro player Elicarlos in the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores. López denied the charge and, so far, nothing has been proven. López scored four goals in the Copa Libertadores 2009, and the winner in the centenary Gre-Nal derby match. He was scouted as a transfer target by several European clubs including Catania, Chievo Verona, Genoa and Wolfsburg.
Catania
On 20 January 2010 he transferred to Catania for a fee of €3 million, signing a contract until 30 June 2013.[2] He made his debut in Serie A on 31 January, [24] playing 55 minutes in the match against the Udinese.[8] In the next game, away to Lazio (0-1), he scored his first goal and the match-winner for the Rossazzurri.[9] On 3 April, he scored his first brace in the Italian top flight during the Sicilian derby against Palermo.[10] He closed the season in double figures, scoring 11 goals in 17 appearances and contributed to the safety of the Etnei in Serie A.[11]
The following season he scored his first goal in a 2–0 home victory against Cesena on 22 September 2010.[12] At the end of the season he scored eight goals in 35 appearances, finishing 12th with Catania.
In the 2011–12 season he scored his first goal on 18 September 2011, converting a penalty against Cesena.[13] On 18 December 2011, in the match won 2–0 by Catania against Palermo, he converted his second penalty of the season and was tearfully substituted by Gonzalo Bergessio, for a possible farewell before the winter session of the transfer window.[14][15]
Milan (loan)
On 27 January 2012 the Argentine was officially transferred to Milan, in loan sale (€1.5 million) with a buying option set at €8 million.[16] He signed a contract with Milan until 30 June 2015 to receive €700,000 until the end of the 2011–12 season and €1.5 million per year for the following three seasons. He chose the number 21 jersey.
He scored his first goal as a Milan player on 11 February 2012 in an away game against Udinese, equalising for Milan before going on to assist Stephan El Shaarawy to score the game-winning goal. At the end of the season he returned to Catania.
Sampdoria (loan)
On 11 July, he joined Sampdoria on a season-long loan deal.[17]
He returned to Catania from a loan spell for the duration of the 2013–14 season and on 28 January 2014, he rejoined on loan Sampdoria for the remainder of the Serie A campaign. He scored a winning goal in his first match back for Sampdoria against Genoa on 3 February 2014.[18]
Chievo Verona
On 30 June 2014, Maxi López signed a one-year deal with Serie A side Chievo Verona with an option to extend for a further year.[19] He made his debut on the first day of the season, 30 August, against Juventus, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 home loss.[20] In his second match, on 14 September, he scored the only goal as Chievo defeated Napoli.[21]
Torino
On 13 January 2015 López joined Torino;[22] with the Granata he signed a 6 month contract with an option for another year. He debuted the next day against Lazio, a match valid for the second round of Coppa Italia. On 18 January López scored his first goal for Torino against Cesena, won 3–2. On 19 February, he scored a brace during the Europa League round of 32 against Athletic Bilbao, thus managing to score in five different leagues (Argentine, Spanish, Russian, Brazilian and Italian) and in all international competitions (Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Champions League and Europa League).[23] He scored again in the victorious return leg in Spain seven days later,[23] then the 28th round of the league away at Parma.[24] On 17 May he scored his first brace for Torino in Serie A in the 2–0 victory over his former club, Chievo Verona.
After renewing for another year, on 24 November 2015 he signed a new contract with Torino until 2018.[25]
International career
Maxi López represented his birth nation of Argentina at Under-15, Under-17 and Under-20 levels, also taking part to the 2003 South American Youth Championship. He is currently eligible for both Argentina and Italy, as he holds both citizenships and has never represented any national team at senior level. In July 2010 he explicitly stated he might accept a call-up from the Azzurri.[26]
Maxilopezian "Church"
López's surprising change of luck from being a criticised forward in River Plate to being signed by world's giants Barcelona made him an Internet meme in his native Argentina. Satirical blogs were created lobbying for his inclusion in the Argentinian squad for the 2006 World Cup. After the Argentinian elimination from the cup (without López getting any caps at all) the nature of the meme changed to a series of reasons explaining his lack of time play on Barcelona with hyperbolic claims about López's virility, skilfulness and a supposed affair with the wife of Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkaard which closely resembled Chuck Norris Facts. In interviews, López has stated that he is OK with this unexpected following and the Church of the "White Drogba", so called as he is known for missing a crucial penalty kick for River against arch-enemies Boca Juniors on the same week Didier Drogba missed one against Egypt in the final of 2006 African Cup of Nations.[27][28]
Personal life
Maxi López was married to Argentine model Wanda Nara from 2008 to 2013. The couple have three sons, Valentino Gastón (born 25 January 2009), Constantino (born 19 December 2010) and Benedicto (born 20 February 2012).[1]
Nara and López split after her relationship with López's former Sampdoria teammate Mauro Icardi, now with Internazionale, was exposed. She and López began divorce proceedings in December 2013. Nara and Icardi subsequently married on 27 May 2014.[29] During the April 2014 Serie A match between Sampdoria and Inter, López notably refused to shake Icardi's hand, leading the press to dub the game "Wanda derby".[30]
López is currently dating Swedish model Daniela Christiansson.[31]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 20 December 2015.
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
River Plate | |||||||||||
2001–02 | 17 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 19 | 1 | |||
2002–03 | 6 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | |||
2003–04 | 17 | 6 | — | 8 | 1 | — | 25 | 7 | |||
2004–05 | 16 | 5 | — | 3 | 2 | — | 19 | 7 | |||
Total | 56 | 13 | — | 14 | 3 | — | 70 | 16 | |||
Barcelona | |||||||||||
2004–05 | 8 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | — | 10 | 1 | |||
2005–06 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | ||
Total | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 19 | 2 | ||
Mallorca (loan) | |||||||||||
2006–07 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 30 | 5 | |||
Total | 28 | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 30 | 5 | |||
FC Moscow | |||||||||||
2007 | 9 | 6 | — | — | — | 9 | 6 | ||||
2008 | 13 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 3 | |||
Total | 22 | 9 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 9 | |||
Gremio (loan) | |||||||||||
2009 | 25 | 12 | — | 9 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 41 | 17 | ||
Total | 25 | 12 | — | 9 | 4 | — | 41 | 17 | |||
Catania | |||||||||||
2009–10 | 17 | 11 | — | — | — | 17 | 11 | ||||
2010–11 | 35 | 8 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 10 | |||
2011–12 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 16 | 5 | |||
2013–14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 1 | |||
Total | 78 | 23 | 5 | 4 | — | — | 83 | 27 | |||
Milan (loan) | |||||||||||
2011–12 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 11 | 2 | ||
Total | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 11 | 2 | ||
Sampdoria (loan) | |||||||||||
2012–13 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 18 | 5 | |||
2013–14 | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | ||||
Total | 28 | 5 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 6 | |||
Chievo | |||||||||||
2014–15 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 | |||
Total | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 | |||
Torino | |||||||||||
2014–15 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | 23 | 11 | ||
2015–16 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 20 | 5 | |||
Total | 35 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | — | 43 | 16 | ||
Career total | 307 | 78 | 17 | 11 | 32 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 363 | 101 |
Honours
Club
- River Plate
- Torneo Clausura: (3) 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04
- Barcelona
- La Liga: (2) 2004–05, 2005–06
- Supercopa de España: (1) 2005
- UEFA Champions League: (1) 2005–06
References
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- ↑ Sampdoria snap up Lopez on loan; ESPN Soccernet, 11 July 2012. Retrieved on 12 July 2012.
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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- European Champions Cup/UEFA Champions League Winning Squads
- Maxi López – FIFA competition record
- Profile and statistics at FootballDatabase
- Guardian statistics
- team profile and statistics at FK Moscow website
- (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics
- [1] Eurosport
- Use dmy dates from July 2013
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages using infobox football biography with height issues
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Articles with Spanish-language external links
- 1984 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Buenos Aires
- Argentine emigrants to Italy
- Argentine footballers
- Argentine people of Italian descent
- Naturalised citizens of Italy
- Argentine Primera División players
- River Plate footballers
- Argentine expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
- La Liga players
- FC Barcelona players
- RCD Mallorca players
- Expatriate footballers in Russia
- Russian Football Premier League players
- FC Moscow players
- Expatriate footballers in Brazil
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
- Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- Serie A players
- Calcio Catania players
- A.C. Milan players
- U.C. Sampdoria players
- A.C. Chievo Verona players
- Torino F.C. players
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain
- Pan American Games competitors for Argentina
- Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina
- Internet memes