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

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player, who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. 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 association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

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

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

Playing career

Club

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

Reinaldo Merlo Reinaldo Carlos Merlo (born 20 May 1950) is an Argentine association football, 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 ca ...

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

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; ), mostly known simply as Talleres ( in Rioplatense Spanish, Rioplatense accent and or in Cordobés Spanish, Cordobés accent; ), is an Football in Argentina, Argentine professional sports club based in the city of C ...

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

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, 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 (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...

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. 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, Argentina, Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on 15 April 1907. Unión is mostly known for its asso ...

, Rosario Central 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, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. 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 is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

twice, after the departures of Leonardo Astrada first and then Ángel Cappa. 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 Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953) is an Argentine former Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who is considered one of the greatest Defender (association football), defenders of all time. As a ...

Honours

River Plate * Primera División: 1975 Metropolitano, 1975 Nacional, 1977 Metropolitano, 1977 Nacional, 1979 Metropolitano, 1979 Nacional, 1980 Metropolitano *

runner-up:

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Argentinos Juniors * Primera División: 1984 Metropolitano, 1985 Nacional *

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 n ...

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

: 1986

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Juan Jose 1950 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Men's 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 Club Olimpo managers Club Atlético River Plate managers Copa Libertadores–winning players 20th-century Argentine sportsmen