Iván Leonardo López Licht (born 13 May 1978) is a former

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n footballer. He primarily played as a central defender, and was called ''El Centre de oro'', "the golden centre", although he also played as a right wingback. López was projected to be a great player, but his career was frustrated and eventually ended early by injuries. He mostly played at Colombian clubs, and is most known for his performances for

Independiente Santa Fe Club Independiente Santa Fe, known simply as Santa Fe, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Santa Fe is one of the th ...

. As an international player for

he was part of the squad that won the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil national football team, Brazil ...

Club career

López spent his youth career at Independiente Santa Fe of Bogotá, making his professional debut for them in 1998. During his time there, he was named Bogotá Sportsman of the Year several times, and selected for the national team. In 2002, he moved to

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

, but he returned to Santa Fe the next year. In 2005, he started playing for Millonarios Fútbol Club. Toward the end of the season, he was injured badly enough that he could not play in the next season. Later in the 2006 season, López signed with the second-division Ecuadorean club

Deportivo Azogues Deportivo Azogues was an Ecuadorian football club based in Azogues. It played in the Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after ...

to try to revive his career, but after only four games he had to withdraw due to another injury. Three years later in 2009, he tried to return to his professional career at Atlético Bucaramanga, but never played a game for the team.

International career

As an international player, he made 11 caps for

. He made his international debut in 1999, and was part of the squad that came second in the

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

. A free kick he took in the final of the Copa América in 2001 was converted into a goal by Iván Córdoba, giving Colombia its first title in the cup.

References

External links

* *
Tripod
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Ivan 1978 births Living people Footballers from Bogotá Men's association football central defenders Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's international footballers 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 Copa América players Copa América-winning players Independiente Santa Fe footballers América de Cali footballers Millonarios F.C. players Deportivo Azogues footballers Atlético Bucaramanga footballers Categoría Primera A players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador