Miguel Angel Lopez (born 1 March 1942 in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

), nicknamed ''Zurdo'', is an Argentine former

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 ...

and manager. As a player, López had his most successful tenure on Independiente, where he won eight titles.

Player career

López started playing in Unión Central of

Villa María, Córdoba Villa María is a city in Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province, Argentina, and the head town of the General San Martín Department, Córdoba, General San Martín Department. It is located in the center of rich agricultural land. The ...

, then moving to Club Universitario. In 1963 he was traded to Sarmiento de Junín, then to

Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

to make his debut in 1964. Three years later he signed for

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

in exchange for Felipe Ribaudo. His good performances in Ferro led López to be capped 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 ( ...

. At club level, he then moved to River Plate, then to Independiente, where he spent his most successful years as a player. With the Avellaneda team López won four

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 ...

(1972, 1973, 1974, 1975), three

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 ...

(1972, 1974, 1975) and one Intercontinental Cup in 1973 v Italian

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Miguel Ángel López, una vida ligada al fútbol
on Colombia.com After winning eight titles with Independiente, López emigrated to Colombia to play for

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

, where he won the National championship in 1976.

Managerial career

After retiring from football, López became a

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 ...

, starting to coach the youth divisions of Atlético Nacional in 1977. Two years later he returned to Argentina as

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 ...

manager, where he coached rising star

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

. In 1980 he signed for Independiente, winning his first title, the friendly tournament "Torneo Villa de Madrid". López returned to Colombia in 1982 to coach Atlético Nacional, where he spent a brief time before becoming manager of

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 ...

but he only spent one season with the team. In 1984 López signed for Mexican

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

, where he won the 1984–85 championship. After a season with Ferro C. Oeste in 1988, López made his third return to Colombia to manage

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, capital of the department of Atlantic ...

. His next team was C.D. Guadalajara in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Miguel Angel Argentine men's footballers Living people 1942 births Men's association football defenders Club Atlético Sarmiento footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Ferro Carril Oeste footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Atlético Nacional footballers Argentine football managers Argentine expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Colombia Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Ecuador Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Spain Atlético Nacional managers Atlético Junior managers Argentinos Juniors managers Club Atlético Independiente managers Boca Juniors managers Ferro Carril Oeste managers Rosario Central managers Club América managers C.D. Guadalajara managers Barcelona S.C. managers Santos Laguna managers Deportivo Toluca F.C. managers Club León managers Al-Ahli Saudi FC managers Club Puebla managers CD Badajoz managers Arsenal de Sarandí managers Copa Libertadores–winning players 20th-century Argentine sportsmen Categoría Primera A managers