Nicolás López (footballer)
 López warming up for Roma in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicolás Federico López Alonso[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 October 1993[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Udinese | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Montevideo Wanderers | |||
| Nacional | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2011–2012 | Nacional | 6 | (3) |
| 2012–2013 | Roma | 6 | (1) |
| 2013– | Udinese | 4 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2013– | Uruguay U20 | 16 | (10) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 July 2013. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Nicolás Federico López Alonso, commonly known as Nico López (born 1 October 1993 in Montevideo) is an Uruguayan footballer who plays as a forward for Udinese in the Italian Serie A.
Club career
Youth and national career (2010–12)
Nicknamed "El Conejo" (The Rabbit) or "El Diente" (The Tooth), López started his football career with Montevideo Wanderers, but was originally rejected after he was deemed not to be physically strong enough to play professionally. He successively joined the Nacional youth academy, where he turned into a very prolific striker and, more occasionally, left winger.[2]
On 24 April 2011, after being promoted as part of the first team under head coach Juan Ramón Carrasco, López made his debut at the age of 17 in a league game against Central Español, promptly scoring also his first senior goal.[2][3]
In August 2011, López was involved in a feud with Nacional, after his father revealed the player was in Italy in order to hold talks with a number of unspecified Serie A sides, leading his Uruguayan club and the national federation to consider potential actions to the FIFA against the player.[4][5]
López ended his Nacional career with 3 goals in 6 games in all competitions.
AS Roma (2012–13)
López was acquired by Roma in the January 2012 transfer window, and then included in the Primavera under-19 squad for the rest of the season, scoring 15 times in 12 youth games.
López was taken into consideration as a first team player by new head coach Zdeněk Zeman, who included him in the senior roster for the pre-season camp and then featured him in a number of friendly games. López made his first team debut on 26 August 2012, replacing captain Francesco Totti in the final minutes of the first game of the Serie A season, a home match versus Catania, and promptly scored an injury time equaliser (the game ended 2–2). He also started the round of 16 cup match against Atalanta. Lopez played 7 times, scoring once in his first season in the Roma first team.
Udinese (2013–present)
On 13 July 2013, he joined Udinese with Valerio Verre.[6]
International career
López has represented Uruguay at Under 20 level, scoring 10 goals in his 16 caps. He played at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, earning the Silver Ball award after scoring four goals.
References
- ↑ "15 Nicolás López". Transfermarkt. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Nicolás López ; 1993 – Uruguay" (in Italian). Generazione di Talenti. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ↑ "Nacional cumplió y llega arriba al clásico" (in Spanish). Ovación Digital. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ↑ "Nicolás López no volverá a Nacional" (in Spanish). Futbol.com.uy. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ↑ "Clubes analizarán situación del juvenil Nicolas Lopez" (in Spanish). Uruguay al Día. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ↑ "Roma confirm Benatia signing". soccernews.com. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
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