Alejandro ''Álex'' Sánchez López (born 6 June 1989) is a Spanish professional

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 lea ...

who plays as a striker. He came to fame in 2009, when he became the first player to appear in a professional game with just one hand whilst representing

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

.Debuta Álex Sánchez, el primer jugador sin mano (Debut of Álex Sánchez, first player without hand)
; Marca, 9 November 2009 (in Spanish)

Club career

Born in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, Sánchez started his football career with local Colegio Jesús-María El Salvador, joining

's youth system aged 15. In 2008, he began playing as a senior in both the national and regional leagues, with its B and C teams. On 8 November 2009, Sánchez made his professional debut for the club, playing 20 minutes in the 3–1

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

away loss against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

after having come on as a substitute for Ángel Lafita. He became the first player to appear in a professional game with only one hand, but continued to be mainly registered with the reserves, however. Sánchez rejected the offer to continue playing with Zaragoza B in mid-June 2011, going on to resume his career in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

with

CD Teruel Club Deportivo Teruel is a Spanish football team based in Teruel, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1954, the club plays in the , and holds home games at ''Estadio Pinilla'', with a capacity of 4,500 seats. History Founded in 195 ...

and

CD Tudelano Club Deportivo Tudelano is a Spanish football team based in Tudela, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1935 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Ciudad de Tudela'', with a capacity of 11,000 seats. History Early His ...

. On 2 July 2015, after scoring 15 goals the previous campaign, he signed a two-year deal with

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. In January 2018, after representing in quick succession Tudelano (two spells) and Osasuna's second team, the 28-year-old Sánchez moved abroad for the first time and joined

Sydney Olympic FC Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrant ...

in the Australian

National Premier Leagues NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, one of the two organising bodies in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier L ...

. Sánchez subsequently competed in the Spanish lower leagues, with Tudelano,

SD Ejea Sociedad Deportiva Ejea is a Spanish football team based in Ejea de los Caballeros, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1927, it plays in , holding home games at '' Municipal de Luchán'', with a 2,249-seat capacity. History SD Eje ...

and

Utebo FC Utebo Fútbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Utebo, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1924 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Santa Ana'', with a capacity of 5,000 seats. Season to season ---- *1 season in ...

. He went abroad again in July 2023, signing for

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

club

Gokulam Kerala FC Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Kozhikode, Kerala. Founded in 2017, the club competes in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system. They won the 2020–21 I-League title t ...

. On 5 November, he scored twice in a 4–1 home win over

NEROCA FC NEROCA Football Club (known fully as North Eastern Re-Organising Cultural Association Football Club) is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Imphal, Manipur, that currently competes in the I-League 2. It previousl ...

. He added a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

four days later, as the hosts defeated

Rajasthan United FC Rajasthan United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Founded in 2018 as ''JECRC CF'', the academy team participated in inaugural edition of R-League A Division in 2019, and clinched the title. In 2 ...

5–0.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

top scorer: 2023–24 (19 goals)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Alex 1989 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Zaragoza Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Segunda Federación players Tercera Federación players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CD Universidad de Zaragoza players Deportivo Aragón players Real Zaragoza players CD Teruel footballers CD Tudelano footballers CA Osasuna players CA Osasuna B players SD Ejea players Utebo FC players Sydney Olympic FC players I-League players Gokulam Kerala FC players SC Bengaluru players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish disabled sportspeople Association football players with limb difference