Oli (footballer)

Oli
Personal information
Full nameOliverio Jesús Álvarez González
Date of birth2 April 1972
Place of birthOviedo, Spain
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionStriker
Youth career
Oviedo
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1990–1994Oviedo B
1993–1997Oviedo111(40)
1997–2000Betis92(20)
2000–2003Oviedo105(28)
2003–2006Cádiz106(22)
Total414(110)
National team
1997Spain2(1)
Teams managed
2006Cádiz
2007–2008Marbella
2009Écija
2009–2011Betis B
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Álvarez and the second or maternal family name is González.

Oliverio Jesús Álvarez González, commonly known as Oli (born 2 April 1972), is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker, and a current coach.

He was known for his flair and scoring ability, amassing totals of 414 games and 110 goals in 14 professional seasons, nine of those spent in La Liga mainly with Real Oviedo.

Club career

Oli was born in Oviedo, Asturias. He started his career with hometown's Real Oviedo, making his La Liga debut on 10 January 1993 in a 0–0 home draw against Albacete Balompié[1] and being mainly associated with the reserves during his beginnings.

From 1994 to 1997, with Oviedo still in the top flight, Oli scored 40 league goals in 106 games, 20 of which in his final season to help his team narrowly avoid relegation.[2][3][4] Subsequently he signed for fellow league side Real Betis, pairing up front with Alfonso and netting nine times in his first year in Andalusia.

In the 1999–2000 campaign Oli could only score once for the Verdiblancos,[5] who dropped down a level after finishing 18th. He returned to Oviedo in the off-season, going on to find the net regularly but also suffer two relegations in only three years.

Oli joined Cádiz CF from Segunda División in the 2003 summer, contributing with ten goals in 40 games in his second year for a club promotion and his first and only piece of silverware.[6] At the end of 2005–06, with the Gaditanos having been sent to where they had come from, he retired from football at the age of 34.

Moving into coaching in 2006, Oli started precisely with Cádiz, but was dismissed after only a few games in charge[7] as the team eventually failed to regain its top flight status. In September 2007, he was appointed at Segunda División B side UD Marbella.[8]

In the following two seasons Oli continued in Andalusia and the third level, successively with Écija Balompié and Betis B.

International career

Oli gained two caps for Spain during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, against Slovakia and Faroe Islands. He scored in the latter, in a 3–1 win in Gijón.[9]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 October 1997 El Molinón, Gijón, Spain  Faroe Islands 2–0 3–1 1998 World Cup qualification

Honours

Cádiz

References

  1. ↑ El Oviedo no supo transformar en dianas su apabullante dominio (Oviedo could not turn overwhelming supremacy into goals); El Mundo Deportivo, 11 January 1993 (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Pesadilla Oli (Oli nightmare); El Mundo Deportivo, 11 November 1996 (Spanish)
  3. ↑ El Barça desespera (Barça despairs); El Mundo Deportivo, 3 February 1997 (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Huracán azul (Blue hurricane); El Mundo Deportivo, 6 April 1997 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Griguol le puede a Cúper en un partido dramático (Griguol bests Cúper in dramatic game); El Mundo Deportivo, 19 September 1999 (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Oli, Paz y después gloria (Oli, Paz then glory); El Mundo Deportivo, 19 June 2005 (Spanish)
  7. ↑ El Xerez retorna al primer puesto de la tabla y Oli es cesado como técnico del Cádiz (Xerez returns to top of the table and Oli is sacked as Cádiz coach); Diario de León, 6 November 2006 (Spanish)
  8. ↑ El asturiano Oli, nuevo técnico del Marbella (Asturia's own Oli, new Marbella coach); La Voz de Asturias, 20 September 2007 (Spanish)
  9. ↑ Luis Enrique ¡aclamado! (Luis Enrique cheered!); El Mundo Deportivo, 12 October 1997 (Spanish)

External links