Iván de la Peña
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Iván De la Peña | ||
Personal information | ||
---|---|---|
Full name | Iván De la Peña López | |
Date of birth | May 6, 1976 | |
Place of birth | Santander, Spain | |
Height | 1.69 m | |
Playing position | Central Midfielder | |
Club information | ||
Current club | RCD Espanyol | |
Number | 9 | |
Youth clubs | ||
1991–1994 1994–1995 |
FC Barcelona youth categories FC Barcelona B |
|
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1995–1998 1998–1999 1999–2000 2000–2001 2001–2002 2002– |
FC Barcelona S.S. Lazio Olympique Marseille FC Barcelona S.S. Lazio RCD Espanyol |
81 (11) – (–) – (–) 9 (0) – (–) 133 (4) |
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Iván De la Peña López (born Santander, Cantabria, May 6, 1976), is a Spanish footballer who currently plays for RCD Espanyol. He has previously played for FC Barcelona, Lazio, Olympique de Marseille and Spain. De la Peña has earned the nicknames Little Buddha due to his shaven head and slight frame and Lo Pelat ( The Shaven One).
He is known for his pin-point accurate passing and crossing.
De la Peña was recruited by FC Barcelona as youth in 1991 and made his debut for FC Barcelona B in 1993. He went on to play 37 games for the reserve team. Johan Cruyff gave him his debut with the senior FC Barcelona team in 1995. He came on as a substitute and scored in a 2-0 win over Real Valladolid. At 19 he was initially regarded as the natural successor to Josep Guardiola. However, he fell out of favour with Cruyff and found himself dropped. With the arrival of Bobby Robson in 1996, he was given a second chance to establish himself in the team. De la Peña subsequently developed a partnership with Ronaldo and was a prominent member of the team that won the Copa del Rey/European Cup Winners Cup/European Supercup treble in 1997. He was also voted the best young player by El País in both 1996 and 1997 and, along with the likes of Fernando Morientes, Raúl and Gaizka Mendieta, he was a member of the Spain squad at the 1996 Olympic Games.
De la Peña found himself out of favour at FC Barcelona once again under Louis Van Gaal and he was consequently transferred to Lazio. In Italy, he never found his place and was loaned to Olympique de Marseille during the 1999-00 season. This move was not successful either and he returned to FC Barcelona on loan in 2000. However he again failed to gain a regular place under Llorenç Serra Ferrer and went back to Lazio.
In 2002 he moved to RCD Espanyol where he found the continuity and stability to produce some of the best football in his career. In 2005 he made his senior debut for the Spain at the age of 28 and helped RCD Espanyol finish 5th in La Liga, enabling them to qualify for the UEFA Cup. In the 2006 Copa del Rey final De la Peña masterminded a 4-1 victory for RCD Espanyol against Real Zaragoza by setting up two goals. Raúl Tamudo scored after two minutes when he headed in a rebound following a De la Peña free kick. Tamudo and De la Peña combined again to carve open the Real Zaragoza defence to lay on a goal for Luis García.
[edit] Honours
FC Barcelona
- European Cup Winners Cup: 1
- 1997
- European Super Cup: 1
- 1997
- Copa del Rey: 1
- 1997
- Spanish Champions: 1
- 1997-98
- Supercopa de España: 1
- 1996
RCD Espanyol
- Copa del Rey: 1
- 2006
[edit] External links
- Iván de la Peña Tactical Formations at Football-Lineups.com
- Spain stats
- La Liga stats
- Spanish football awards
- The lost boys of Barcelona, by Ronald Atkin
RCD Espanyol - Current Squad |
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1 Gorka Iraizoz | 2 Chica | 3 David García | 4 Lacruz | 6 Costa | 7 Pandiani | 8 Zabaleta | 9 de la Peña | 10 Luis García | 11 Riera | 12 Velasco | 13 Kameni | 14 Ito | 16 Jônatas | 17 Moha | 18 Rufete | 19 Torrejón | 20 Corominas | 21 Jarque | 22 Moisés Hurtado | 23 Tamudo | 27 Julián | Coach Valverde |
Categories: 1975 births | Living people | Cantabrian footballers | Spanish footballers | Cantabria international footballers | Spain international footballers | FC Barcelona footballers | RCD Espanyol footballers | La Liga footballers | S.S. Lazio players | Olympique de Marseille players | Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics | Olympic footballers of Spain