Juan José "J. J." López, (born October 31, 1950) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player, who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. López spent the most part of his career in River Plate, where he won 7 titles. With

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, where he played in the 1980s, López won four titles, including one

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

Playing career

Club

López started his playing career with River Plate in 1970. He became an important player at the club, winning seven

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

titles. He played 466 games and scored 84 goals. López is one of the most decorated players in the history of River Plate, and only three other players have played more games for the club (

Amadeo Carrizo Amadeo Raúl Carrizo (12 June 1926 – 20 March 2020), popularly known by his first name "Amadeo", was an Argentine football goalkeeper and manager. Carrizo is considered a pioneer of the position, helping to innovate techniques and strategies f ...

Ángel Labruna Ángel Amadeo Labruna (28 September 1918 – 19 September 1983) was an Argentine footballer and coach who played as a forward. With 323 goals scored in official matches, which include 294 league goals, Labruna is the 2nd all-time top scorer of ...

and

Reinaldo Merlo Reinaldo Carlos Merlo (born 20 May 1950) is an Argentine football coach and former player, who played as a midfielder. Playing career Known as ''Mostaza'' (mustard) because of his off-blond hair, Merlo played his entire career for Club Atléti ...

). López left River Plate after the 1981 season to join

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; (lit. Workshops Athletic Club) mostly known simply as Talleres (lit. Workshops) or Talleres de Córdoba ) (Córdoba Workshops) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba. The institution is mostly known f ...

, where he played during 1982. He was signed by River's rivals,

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

, in 1983, and played 38 games for the club with 6 goals scored. In 1984, he joined

and helped them to secure their first ever Primera División title in the 1984 Metropolitano. The next season, Argentinos won their second championship, the 1985 Nacional; and followed it up with winning the

. In 1986, López joined Belgrano, where he played until his retirement in 1987.

National team

During the 1970s, López played for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, López has worked as the manager of several clubs in Argentina. His first managerial position was with

Racing de Córdoba Club Atlético Racing (usually referred as Racing de Córdoba) is an Argentine football club from the city of Córdoba. The team currently plays in Federal A, the regionalised third division of the Argentine football league system. History ...

. He then managed Instituto,

Unión de Santa Fe Club Atlético Unión (; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe ) is a sports club from Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on April 15, 1907 and plays in the Argentine Primera División. Althoug ...

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

and Olimpo. López has also had two spells as manager of

. In his second spell with the club, he led them to a third-place finish in the 2004 Clausura, but the club were relegated after losing a relegation playoff against Argentinos Juniors. In 2005, he took over as the manager of Libertad in

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. Since 2010, López works as a youth manager in River Plate. He has also worked as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

twice, after the departures of

Leonardo Astrada Leonardo Rubén Astrada (born 6 January 1970) is a retired Argentine footballer, who went on to become a football manager. The last team he managed was Atlético de Rafaela. Playing career Astrada was born in Buenos Aires. He played the majority ...

first and then

Ángel Cappa Ángel Alberto Cappa Polchi (born September 6, 1946) is an Argentine football manager and former player. Playing career Cappa played for Olimpo and in Villa Mitre in the 1960s and 1970s, in Bahía Blanca. His career was undistinguished. Coachi ...

. During his second period as caretaker, López obtained 13 over 18 points in the last six games of the 2010 Apertura, rounding a 4th-place finish. Therefore, at the end of the tournament he was confirmed as the team's manager for the following championship by club president

Daniel Passarella Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

Honours

Player

; River Plate * Primera División (7): 1975 Metropolitano, 1975 Nacional, 1977 Metropolitano, 1977 Nacional, 1979 Metropolitano, 1979 Nacional, 1980 Metropolitano ;

* Primera División (2): 1984 Metropolitano, 1985 Nacional *

(1):

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...

(1): 1986

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Juan Jose 1950 births Living people Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Association football midfielders Club Atlético River Plate footballers Talleres de Córdoba footballers Boca Juniors footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Argentine Primera División players Argentine football managers Racing de Córdoba managers Instituto managers Unión de Santa Fe managers Rosario Central managers Talleres de Córdoba managers Olimpo managers Club Atlético River Plate managers