Iván Daniel Alonso Vallejo (born 10 April 1979) is a Uruguayan former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. Gifted with an excellent aerial ability, he was most noted for his Alavés stint, and spent the bulk of his professional career in Spain, playing for three teams and appearing in seven

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

seasons, three each with Alavés and

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

Club career

Early years and Alavés

Born in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Alonso started his professional career with local

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez, Buenos Aires, Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city ...

. After two seasons he moved to Spain's

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

, scoring eight league goals – often as a substitute – in first season while also being an important attacking element in the Basque side's

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

exploits, as he netted in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, lost 5–4 in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

; during his spell, he formed a formidable partnership with Javi Moreno (later of A.C. Milan). After playing 2003–04 in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, Alonso stayed in that tier, moving to Real Murcia and scoring 11 goals in his debut campaign. An undisputed starter from his arrival onwards, he added 14 in 40 matches in 2006–07 as the club returned to

after a three-year absence. Iván Alonso

Espanyol

In the 2007–08 season, Alonso was again the team's top scorer at 10, but they would be nonetheless immediately relegated. In January 2009, however, he returned to the top flight, joining

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

2.4 million on a deal running until the end of the season and two more. Benefitting from injuries and loss of form to legendary

Raúl Tamudo Raúl Tamudo Montero (born 19 October 1977) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. An icon at Espanyol, he captained the club for almost a decade, playing nearly 400 official games, winning two Copa del Rey and ...

he netted some important goals for the Catalans, including two at UD Almería on 23 May 2009 which guaranteed their permanence in the top division a further year. On 23 September 2009, Alonso scored in the club's first win of the 2009–10 campaign, the first ever at new

Estadi Cornellà-El Prat RCDE Stadium, also known as Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (; es, Estadio Cornellà-El Prat ), is an all-seater football stadium on the outskirts of Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, in the wider Barcelona urban area (Catalonia, Spain ...

, against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

(2–1), and dedicated it to

Daniel Jarque Daniel Jarque González (1 January 1983 – 8 August 2009) was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a central defender and spent his entire career with Espanyol. He was named team captain one month before his death from a heart attac ...

, deceased in the team's preseason in Italy. He would lose his starting job following the arrival, in January 2010, of Dani Osvaldo, on loan; however, on 11 April, one day after his 31st birthday, he managed to add his name to the scoresheet in Espanyol's 3–0 home victory over

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

, having played only one minute after having replaced precisely the Argentine.

Late career

In June 2011, after 11 years in Spain (amassing professional totals of 344 games and 80 goals), the 32-year-old Alonso moved countries and signed with

Deportivo Toluca F.C. Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega ...

of Mexico, being the

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

's top scorer in his first and only season even though the team could only rank in 12th position overall. In early July 2012, Alonso left the Red Devils because of a

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

condition, subsequently retiring from football – his doctor advised him not to play with Toluca as the

high altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of the city might worsen his condition. In early 2013, however, he returned to active, joining hometown's

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

. He scored 23 goals in the 2014–15 season, helping his team win the

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, ...

for the 45th time in history. Alonso announced his retirement in April 2018, after two years in Argentina with

. On 6 December 2021, he was appointed director of football of Mexico's C.F. Pachuca.

Personal life

Alonso's younger brother, Matías, was also a footballer and a forward. He too began his career at River Plate. His cousin

Diego Alonso Diego Martín Alonso López (; born 16 April 1975) is a Uruguayan professional football head coach and former player who played as a striker. Other than in his own country, he played football in Argentina, Spain, Mexico and China in a 16-year ...

also played several years in Spain.

Honours

Alavés *

runner-up: 2000–01 Nacional *

: 2014–15 River Plate * Copa Argentina: 2015–16 *

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual *

top scorer: Apertura 2011; joint-top scorer Clausura 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alonso, Ivan 1979 births Living people Uruguayan men's footballers Footballers from Montevideo Men's association football forwards Uruguayan Primera División players Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo) players Club Nacional de Football players La Liga players Segunda División players Deportivo Alavés players Real Murcia players RCD Espanyol footballers Liga MX players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina