sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Julen Guerrero López (born 7 January 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played solely for Athletic Bilbao and the Spain national team.[1] Since July 2018, he is also the Spain national under-17 football team coach.[2] Often hailed as one of the greatest attacking midfielders of his generation,[3][4] and one of the promising stars of the 90s, his career was controversially cut short in the early 2000s, playing few games and minutes, prompting his early retirement in 2006.[5] Guerrero was ambidextrous, and was renowned for his free kicks, headers, and finishing skills, derived from his sharp nose for goals.[6] He was often referred to by the media as El Rey León (The Lion King) and La Perla de Lezama (The Pearl of Lezama).[7]

Julen Guerrero

Pictured in a 1995 advert
Personal information
Full name	Julen Guerrero López
Date of birth	(1974-01-07) 7 January 1974 (age 48)
Place of birth	Portugalete, Spain
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1982–1992	Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992	Bilbao Athletic	12	(6)
1992–2006	Athletic Bilbao	372	(101)
Total		384	(107)
National team
1989–1990	Spain U16	9	(7)
1990–1991	Spain U17	8	(3)
1990–1991	Spain U18	14	(2)
1992–1994	Spain U21	12	(8)
1993–2000	Spain	41	(13)
1993–2006	Basque Country	11	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Guerrero advanced rapidly through the ranks of the Lezama Youth Academy from age 8, occupied the midfield position and developed his entire career at Athletic Club. His arrival at the first team in 1992 at the hands of Jupp Heynckes was met with unprecedented furor amongst the younger population, both by his footballing abilities and his charisma.[8] He became one of the first football celebrities and his pop-like figure boosted Athletic's image overseas.[9] In 1995, he became the youngest captain in Athletic's history, aged 21, and was the fifth-highest goalscorer during that season.[10] By 1996, he had already been offered important lucrative contracts by Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Liverpool and Lazio, but refused to play for any team other than his home club, consolidating his 'legend' status amongst Athletic's supporters until today.[11][12][13] Guerrero's career in the first team spanned 14 years, of which he earned 430 caps and scored 116 goals. He helped the Bilbao side reach a league runner-up place in the 1997-1998 season. The following year, he was instrumental in the team's UEFA Champions League run, the club's first since the 1984–85 European Cup. Despite failing to qualify to the knockout phase, Guerrero put strong performances and netted against Juventus and Galatasaray.[14]

A Spain international since 1993, Guerrero went through all the youth categories of the national team, with a total 41 caps and 13 goals with the first team. He featured in two World Cups, namely the 1994 and 1998 competitions, as well as in the UEFA Euro 1996.

Club career

Born in Portugalete, Biscay, Guerrero joined Athletic Bilbao as an eight-year-old,[15][16][17] and subsequently progressed through the junior ranks of the club. Along with Aitor Karanka he was a member of the under-19 team that won a national double of cup and league in 1991–92, and also appeared and scored for the reserves in the second division during the same season.

In September 1992, aged 18, Guerrero made his senior debut for Athletic under Jupp Heynckes.[18] He quickly made an impact and, although a midfielder, scored 28 La Liga goals in his first two seasons combined (65 in his first six). He was awarded the New Spanish Player of the Year by El País in 1993, and won the Spanish Footballer of the Year by both Don Balón and El País the following year;[19] during the 1993–94 campaign he scored a hat-trick against Albacete Balompié (4–1, home),[20] adding four against Sporting de Gijón (7–0 also at the San Mamés Stadium).[21]

The early promise Guerrero showed attracted interest from, among others, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Juventus FC, S.S. Lazio and Manchester United. However, he remained loyal to Athletic and, in 1997, signed a ten-year contract[16][18] which was the longest in the club's history, and also made him the team's highest-paid player.

In 1997–98, Guerrero netted eight times in 29 matches as the Basques finished second, leading to direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League. However, in the following years, his career went into decline and, in 2002, he was dropped by coach Luis Fernández while still only 28;[15][18] in his last four seasons combined he could only manage 57 games with just four goals but, despite his poor form, remained a fan favourite,[1] and the decision to drop him caused some controversy.[22]

On 11 July 2006, Guerrero announced his retirement as a player at an emotional press conference.[15][16] He scored 116 goals in 430 competitive matches over the course of 14 seasons, including four in 17 appearances in various European competitions,[23] but did not win any major honours.[1]

Immediately after retiring, Guerrero took charge of the Lezama youth ranks,[16] leaving the post after two years.[24]

International career

On 27 January 1993, when still only 19, Guerrero made his debut for Spain in a friendly game with Mexico, in Las Palmas.[15][25] He went on to play 41 games and score 13 goals,[16] and also represented the nation at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euro 1996.

Among Guerrero's personal international highlights were hat-tricks against Malta (3–0 in Attard, on 18 December 1996)[26] and Cyprus (8–0, 8 September 1999).[27] His last international took place in October 2000.[28]

Between 1993 and 2006, Guerrero also played 11 times[lower-alpha 1] for the Basque Country autonomous team, scoring six goals – this included another hat-trick in 1997, against Yugoslavia. Both were records for some years,[29] although Xabi Prieto went on to appear in more matches[30] and Aritz Aduriz scored more goals.[31]

Personal life

Guerrero's younger brother, José Félix, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He also represented Athletic Bilbao, but only the reserves.[32]

Julen also opened the Restaurante Julen Guerrero in Zamudio, and worked as an online columnist for Eurosport.[33]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[34][35]

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Other[lower-alpha 1]		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bilbao Athletic	1991–92	12	6	–		–		–		12	6
Athletic Bilbao	1992–93	37	10	0	0	–		–		37	10
	1993–94	36	18	4	3	–		–		40	21
	1994–95	27	13	2	1	4	2	–		33	16
	1995–96	33	9	6	1	–		–		39	10
	1996–97	38	15	5	1	–		–		43	16
	1997–98	29	8	3	0	1	0	–		33	8
	1998–99	36	9	2	1	8	2	–		46	12
	1999–2000	32	6	3	0	–		–		35	6
	2000–01	27	4	2	0	–		–		29	4
	2001–02	20	5	6	2	–		–		26	7
	2002–03	14	0	2	2	–		–		16	2
	2003–04	14	1	0	0	–		–		14	1
	2004–05	12	3	4	0	2	0	–		18	3
	2005–06	17	0	2	0	2	0	–		21	0
	Total	372	101	41	11	17	4	-	-	430	116
Career total		384	107	41	11	17	4	-	-	442	122

International

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Guerrero goal.

List of international goals scored by Julen Guerrero[28]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 June 1993	Žalgiris Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania	Lithuania	1–0	2–0	1994 World Cup qualification
2				2–0
3	8 September 1993	Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain	Chile	1–0	2–0	Friendly
4				2–0
5	29 March 1995	Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Belgium	1–0	1–1	Euro 1996 qualifying
6	6 September 1995	Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain	Cyprus	1–0	6–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
7	20 September 1995	Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain	Argentina	2–0	2–1	Friendly
8	18 December 1996	Ta' Qali, Attard, Malta	Malta	1–0	3–0	1998 World Cup qualification
9				2–0
10				3–0
11	8 September 1999	Vivero, Badajoz, Spain	Cyprus	3–0	8–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
12				5–0
13				6–0

Honours

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Third-place 1994[36]

Individual

• La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: 1993[19]
• Spanish Player of the Year: 1994[19]

See also

• List of one-club men

References

External links

• Julen Guerrero at BDFutbol
• Julen Guerrero at Athletic Bilbao
• Julen Guerrero at National-Football-Teams.com
• Julen Guerrero – FIFA competition record (archived)

На других языках

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[de] Julen Guerrero

Julen Guerrero López [.mw-parser-output .IPA a{text-decoration:none}'ʝulen ge'reɾo 'lopeθ] (* 7. Januar 1974 in Portugalete, Biscaya) ist ein ehemaliger spanischer Fußballspieler, der für Athletic Bilbao, Spanien und die baskische Fußballauswahl aktiv war.

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- [en] Julen Guerrero

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[es] Julen Guerrero

Julen Guerrero López (Portugalete, Vizcaya, 7 de enero de 1974) es un exfutbolista, entrenador y periodista español. Ocupa el cargo de seleccionador nacional de fútbol sub-17 de España, desde el 24 de julio de 2018.[1]

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[fr] Julen Guerrero

Julen Guerrero, né le 7 janvier 1974 à Portugalete en Espagne, est un footballeur international espagnol évoluant au poste de milieu de terrain à l'Athletic Bilbao et devenu ensuite membre de l'encadrement technique de ce club. Il est à partir de 2018 entraîneur de la sélection espagnole masculine des moins de 16 ans.

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[it] Julen Guerrero

Julen Guerrero López (Portugalete, 7 gennaio 1974) è un ex calciatore spagnolo, di ruolo centrocampista, attuale commissario tecnico della nazionale under-17 spagnola.

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[ru] Герреро, Юлен

Ю́лен Герре́ро[1] (баск. и исп. Julen Guerrero; род. 7 января 1974, Португалете, Испания) — баскский футболист, завершивший игровую карьеру, выступал на протяжении всей карьеры за клуб «Атлетик Бильбао». С 2018 года — тренер юношеской сборной Испании до 16 лет.

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