Iván Daniel Alonso Vallejo (born 10 April 1979) is a Uruguayan former 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 played as a striker. He is the

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

club

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

. 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 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 ...

seasons, three each with Alavés and Espanyol.

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 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Alonso started his professional career with local River Plate. He moved to Spain's Alavés afterwards, scoring eight league goals – often as a substitute – in his first season while also being an important attacking element in the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

side's

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exploits, as he netted in the final against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, but ultimately lost 5–4 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 ...

; during his spell, he formed a formidable partnership with Javi Moreno (later of

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

). After playing 2003–04 in the

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 ...

, Alonso stayed in that tier, moving to

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 ...

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.

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 Espanyol for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

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 he netted some important goals for the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

, including two at

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

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, against

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

(2–1), and dedicated it to Daniel Jarque, deceased in the team's preseason in Italy. He would lose his starting job following the arrival, in January 2010, of

Dani Osvaldo Pablo Daniel "Dani" Osvaldo (; born 12 January 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born and raised in Argentina, Osvaldo represented the Italy national team internationally. Osvaldo began his career at Huracán ...

, 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, 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 ...

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

Later 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

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

of Mexico, being the

's top scorer in his 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 (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

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

high altitude Altitude 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 (e.g., aviation, geometry, geographical s ...

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

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. 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 , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

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

Post-retirement

On 6 December 2021, Alonso was appointed

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

. In June 2022, he stepped down for personal reasons. Alonso joined fellow Mexican top-tier

on 13 December 2023, in the same capacity.

Personal life

Alonso's younger brother,

Matías Matías is the Spanish version of Matthias (given name), Matthias. In Scandinavian languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish) and in Portuguese it is unaccented as Matias. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Matías Alemann ...

, 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 an Uruguayan professional football manager 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 ca ...

also played several years in Spain.

Honours

Alavés *

runner-up: 2000–01 Nacional *

: 2014–15 River Plate *

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

: 2015–16 *

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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 CF 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