Francisco López (footballer, born 1962)

Francisco Javier López Alfaro (born 1 November 1962), known simply as Francisco as a player, is a Spanish retired football central midfielder and manager.

Francisco
Personal information
Full nameFrancisco Javier López Alfaro
Date of birth (1962-11-01) 1 November 1962 (age 61)
Place of birthOsuna, Spain
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)Midfielder
Youth career
Sevilla
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1980–1981Sevilla B
1981–1990Sevilla258(20)
1990–1997Espanyol207(27)
Total465(47)
International career
1981Spain U182(0)
1981Spain U194(0)
1981Spain U203(1)
1983–1984Spain U219(1)
1983Spain amateur2(0)
1982–1986Spain20(1)
Managerial career
1998–2000Espanyol (youth)
2000–2001Coria
2001–2002Jaén
2002–2003Extremadura
2003–2004Figueres
2004–2005Numancia
2006–2008Badalona
2008Eivissa-Ibiza
2009Atlético Baleares
2010Sevilla C
Medal record
Representing  Spain
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up1984 France
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Francisco was born in Osuna, Province of Seville, Andalusia. During his career he represented Sevilla FC, his hometown club, and RCD Espanyol, appearing in 436 La Liga matches.[1] He finished his first season in the competition with 20 games – all starts – and one goal, helping the former to finish seventh.

In the 1992–93 campaign, Francisco experienced top-flight relegation with the Catalans, but achieved promotion the following year always as an important player. He retired at the end of 1996–97, aged nearly 35.[2]

López began working as a manager with Espanyol's youth sides, then proceeded to coach Coria CF, Real Jaén, CF Extremadura, UE Figueres[1] and top-tier CD Numancia.[3] He was dismissed after ten rounds in the 2004–05 season,[4] as the latter were eventually relegated. In July 2006, he joined Segunda División B team CF Badalona.[1]

Midway through the 2008–09 campaign, López was sacked as manager of CD Atlético Baleares, also in division three.[5] Subsequently, he was appointed at Sevilla FC C in the Tercera División.[6]

International career

Francisco earned 20 caps and scored one goal for Spain, and was selected for both the UEFA Euro 1984 and the 1986 FIFA World Cup tournaments.[7][1] His debut came on 27 October 1982, in a 1–0 win against Iceland in the Euro 1984 qualifiers.[8]

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.24 September 1986El Molinón, Gijón, Spain  Greece2–03–1Friendly[9]

Honours

Player

Espanyol

See also

References