Enrique "Quique" Álvarez Sanjuán (; born 20 July 1975) is a Spanish retired

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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, currently

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 ...

of Girona FC B. In a 16-year professional career he appeared in 370 games, 201 in

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 ...

. Having started his career at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, where he had no impact for its first team – one match – he would be an important member of Villarreal's top-flight consolidation, representing the club for seven years.

Playing career

Álvarez was born in

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

, Galicia. Grown through the ranks of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, he played only one

game 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 ...

in the 1995–96 season, then spent one loan stint with CD Logroñés before being released, after which he joined ''Barça'' neighbours UE Lleida (both teams were 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 ...

). Álvarez made a name for himself during his spell at

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

, where he was

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

when a starter. Having made 250 competitive appearances – second-most for the club behind Argentine Rodolfo Arruabarrena– his role would diminish in the 2006–07 campaign however, as Villarreal finished fifth (only 15 matches). In July 2007, Álvarez joined

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

, where his

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

would be constantly bothered by injuries. In one of his few league appearances, on 1 March 2008, he was sent off for a dangerous challenge on

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

's Arjen Robben after just six minutes on the pitch (the former was brought on in the 64'), during a 2–3 home loss. In 2008–09 he only took part in one league game for already doomed ''Recre'', a 2–1 defeat at

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 ...

in the last round, and was subsequently released.

Coaching career

Retired at 34, Álvarez moved into coaching, starting with Barcelona's ''Juvenil A''. He returned to Villarreal on 26 September 2017, as part of his former teammate Javier Calleja's staff; the pair were fired on 10 December 2018, being reinstated the following 29 January after the dismissal of Luis García. Álvarez and Calleja later worked together at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

and

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. On 28 June 2024, he was named manager of

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

's reserves in the Tercera Federación, with his brother acting as his assistant.

Personal life

Álvarez's father, Quique Costas, also a footballer, appeared professionally for

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

and Barcelona. He later became a manager, coinciding with his son on one occasion. Álvarez's younger brother, Óscar, who occupied the same position as his sibling, played mainly in the second tier and 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 ...

Honours

Villarreal *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Quique 1975 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Catalonia Footballers from Vigo Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players CD Logroñés footballers UE Lleida players Villarreal CF players Recreativo de Huelva players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish football managers Tercera Federación managers Girona FC B managers FC Barcelona non-playing staff Villarreal CF non-playing staff