Antonio López Habas (born 28 May 1957) is a Spanish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who played as a defender. He is the head coach of

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 Inter Kashi.

Playing career

Born in

Pozoblanco Pozoblanco () is a town in the Córdoba Province, Spain, province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatil ...

, Córdoba, López had an unassuming career as a professional footballer, appearing in 48

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 ...

matches over four seasons, eight of those for

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

to where he arrived in 1977 from local amateurs

, first being assigned to the B team. He also represented

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

(no appearances for the latter), retiring from the game at only 29 years of age due to a knee injury. In 1981–82 he scored an astonishing 13 goals in 32 games for Burgos, which nonetheless suffered

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 ...

relegation due to financial irregularities.

Coaching career

López started coaching in the early 1990s, with Atlético's reserves. After one season apiece in amateur football, also in the Madrid area, he took charge of the Bolivia national team, first as an assistant to Xabier Azkargorta, and eventually appeared with it them as head coach at two

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments. He then returned to club action with

Club Bolívar Club Bolívar () is a Bolivian professional football club that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1925 in honor of military leader Simón Bolívar, the club has used light blue kits throughout its history, which is why ...

, followed by a spell in his homeland with

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

in the second tier – whilst at the Catalan side, he briefly accumulated with his work as the national coach of the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n country, which he left for good in 1997 to sign with

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

of the Spanish second tier, being dismissed shortly after his arrival. Three years after his last job, with

, López was hired by

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

as assistant to

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

. However, after the sacking of Italian

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Serie A club AS Roma, Roma but will leave on 30 June 2025, followin ...

, he managed the first team for 14 games as the ''Che'', the previous league champions, eventually finished seventh. Additionally, he worked at the

Mestalla Stadium Mestalla Stadium ( , ) is a football stadium in Valencia, Spain. The stadium is the home of Valencia and has a capacity of 49,430 seats, making it the 8th-largest stadium in Spain, and the largest in the Valencian Community. The stadium's name o ...

as youth system coordinator. López became

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

's second head coach of the following campaign in November 2005, being fired himself after only six second-division matches. Two years later, he joined

Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov (; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional Association football, footballer and current football commentator for TUDN. A prolific Forward (association football), forward, he is widely regarded as the g ...

's staff at Celta in the same tier. With the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

constantly battling relegation until the last month of

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

, he was named interim coach for the final three months as the team eventually stayed afloat; he was the third manager for the club in approximately one year, after replacing

Juan Ramón López Caro Juan Ramón López Caro (; born 23 March 1963) is a Spanish football manager. He managed Real Madrid and Levante in La Liga, as well as Celta and Real Madrid Castilla in the Segunda División. After a spell in charge of Spain under-21 he mov ...

. In

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

López, who was assistant to Stoichkov at

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

of the

South African Premier Division The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afric ...

, took over the reins of the senior team. They made their best-ever start to a season and topped the standings at the end of the first round, eventually staying in contention for the league title until the second-last match; he resigned in February citing personal reasons, and went back to Spain. In January 2012, López was appointed director of the Target Football Academy in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. On 13 July he signed for South African club Bidvest Wits, agreeing to a two-year contract but leaving on 4 January of the following year. In August 2014, after a short spell in Atlético Madrid's youth system, López was named coach of ATK in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

. On 25 October he was given a four-match suspension and fined for his involvement in a spat with

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

Robert Pires Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French former professional footballer. He is widely regarded as one of Arsenal's greatest ever players and considered by some to be one of the best wingers in the history of the sport. Pires play ...

, which was reduced to two upon appeal. After a dip in form from midway through the season, López led his team to the semi-finals by drawing with Goa, meeting the same opponent once again and defeating them on penalties. In the decisive match, against

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in India. The club was esta ...

, he benched marquee player Luis García and also-compatriot Jofre, for which he was praised by critics, and the side won thanks to a goal by Mohammed Rafique in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play 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 only if the game is required t ...

. On 25 April 2016, López was appointed at fellow top-tier club

Pune City Pune ( ; , ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona ( the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan plateau in Western India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Pune district, and of Pune ...

. On 16 September 2017, after a run-in with the board of directors, he left his position. In May 2019, López returned to ATK. On 14 March 2020, in a final played behind closed doors, he won the national championship against Chennaiyin to become the first manager to achieve the feat twice with the same team. López signed with the newly formed ATK Mohun Bagan on 15 March 2020. In his first season his side finished level with Mumbai City in the first stage, but pushed down to second place on head-to-head points and lost the final 2–1. On 3 April 2021, he agreed to a one-year contract extension. On 18 December 2021, he resigned after a poor run of results. López returned to Mohun Bagan – now renamed Mohun Bagan Super Giant – in June 2023, as technical director. He was appointed their interim head coach the following 3 January, after the sacking of Juan Ferrando. On 25 July 2024, López signed as manager of

club Inter Kashi.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Murcia *

: 1982–83

Manager

Bolivia *

runner-up:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

ATK *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, 2019–20 Mohun Bagan Super Giant *Indian Super League Winner's Shield: 2023–24

References

External links

* *
Target Academy profileOfficial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Antonio 1957 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CD Pozoblanco players Sevilla Atlético players Sevilla FC players Burgos CF (1936) footballers Real Murcia CF players Atlético Madrid footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Atlético Madrid B managers UE Lleida managers Sporting de Gijón managers Valencia CF managers CD Tenerife managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. managers Indian Super League managers ATK (football club) managers FC Pune City managers Mohun Bagan Super Giant managers Inter Kashi FC managers Bolivia national football team managers 1995 Copa América managers 1997 Copa América managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Bolivia Expatriate soccer managers in South Africa Expatriate football managers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Valencia CF non-playing staff