Sergi López Segú

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Sergi López Segú (right)

Sergi López Segú or Sergio López Segú (born 6 October 1967 in Granollers - died November 4, 2006 in Granollers) was a Spanish footballer. During his football career he played as a defender for FC Barcelona (1987-1991), RCD Mallorca (1991-1992) and Real Zaragoza (1992-1995).

[edit] Biography

Sergi López in his early years was a talented player and both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were interested in signing him for their youth squads and develop his football skills. FC Barcelona scout Oriol Tort who at that time also scouted players like Josep Guardiola en Sergi Barjuán convinced the López family to choose for his club.

Sergi López started to play in FC Barcelona's cantera, while his younger brothers Juli and Gerard followed him later. Sergi made his debut in FC Barcelona's first team on 31 January 1988 in the match versus UD Las Palmas in Camp Nou. Including cup and European matches he played 54 matches and scored one goal. During his time at FC Barcelona he won La Liga (1991), the Copa del Rey (1988, 1990), the Copa de Catalunya (1991) and the Cup Winners' Cup (1989).

In 1991 he moved to RCD Mallorca, but was already transferred to Real Zaragoza the season afterwards. Unless he did not play much at Zaragoza he won another Copa del Rey (1994) and another Cup Winners' Cup (1995). Because of several knee injuries in 1995 he had to retire from professional football while playing at CF Gavà in the Segunda División B. His brother Juli played in FC Barcelona B for a while before ending his career, while Gerard also reached the first team of FC Barcelona and currently plays at Recreativo.

After his football career López moved to Argentina where he married and where his only child was born. The marriage failed eventually and this, in combination with the early end of his professional career, resulted in clinical depression. While still in Argentina he was taken to a psychiatric hospital, but was forced to return to Spain due to financial problems. He committed suicide by throwing himself under a train on November 4, 2006 at the age of 39.

Sergi López's funeral on November 6, 2006 was visited by many notable people from within the world of football. His former teammates Guillermo Amor, Josep Guardiola, Sergi Barjuán, Txiki Beguiristáin (all FC Barcelona), Xavier Aguado, Santiago Aragón (both Real Zaragoza) and Josep Serer (RCD Mallorca) were all present. Also FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, FC Barcelona player Samuel Eto'o, former Valencia CF president Pedro Cortés, and the full squad and staff of AS Monaco (to support his brother Gerard) were there.

[edit] Statistics

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Goals
1987/88	FC Barcelona	La Liga	9	0
1988/89	FC Barcelona	La Liga	7	0
1989/90	FC Barcelona	La Liga	10	0
1990/91	FC Barcelona	La Liga	0	0
1991/92	RCD Mallorca	La Liga	22	2
1992/93	Real Zaragoza	La Liga	16	0
1993/94	Real Zaragoza	La Liga	5	0
1994/95	Real Zaragoza	La Liga	2	0
Total			71	2