Alexander López

Alex López

Personal information
Full name	Alexander Agustín López Rodríguez
Date of birth	(1992-06-05) 5 June 1992
Place of birth	Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1999–2009	Olimpia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2010–2013	Olimpia	51	(23)
2013–2015	Houston Dynamo	28	(0)
National team‡
2008–2009	Honduras U17	8	(1)
2010–2011	Honduras U20	4	(3)
2011–2012	Honduras U23	9	(1)
2010–2013	Honduras	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:25, 21 July 2015 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:25, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Alexander Agustín "Alex" López Rodríguez (born 5 June 1992 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras) is a Honduran footballer who currently plays as an attacking midfielder for the Honduran national team

Career

Early career

Born in Tegucigalpa, Distrito Central, Francisco Morazán, Alexander joined Olimpia's youth system at the age of 7. He remained in Olimpia's youth ranks until 2010, where he was finally able to make the breakthrough into the first team.

Olimpia

2010-11

On 8 August 2010, López made his domestic league debut against Hispano coming in for Bani Lozano in the 70th minute, where he scored his second goal of the match to help seal a 2-0 victory, scoring his first goal for the club.^[1] On 17 August 2010, he made his debut in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League coming in for Bani Lozano in the 64th minute against Puerto Rico Islanders in a 1-1 draw. He impressed heavily for Olimpia in his first season, aged 19, where he provided 7 league goals in 22 games for the club, as well as providing 12 assists in the league. To add to this, the impressive López provided a further three assists in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League, ending his debut season with a total of 8 goals and 15 assists.

2011-12

At the start of the 2011-12 season, López continued his good run of form with Olimpia, providing 2 goals and 3 assists in the opening 6 games of the season, along with a goal and 2 assists in the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League, before a cruciate ligament injury effectively ended his season for Olimpia.

2012-13

Following the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, López was continuously linked with a move to Europe, with Rosenborg and Wigan Athletic^[2][3] being alleged suitors for the young playmaker. However, these transfer links came to nothing, and López remained at Olimpia for the following 2012-13 season. He continued the scintillating form that brought him to prominence in his inaugural season, netting 6 goals in the opening 12 games of the season and providing 9 assists from the apex of Olimpia's midfield three. Speculation continued to surround López in the January transfer window, however this time not from Europe but America. López claimed to have received an offer from Houston Dynamo,^[4] an offer confirmed by his international teammate Oscar Boniek Garcia who claimed that Houston were tracking López ^[5] as well as attracting interest from both Toronto FC and the San Jose Earthquakes,^[6][7][8] however, contrary to some reports in Honduran media,^[9] López did not make the move to the MLS, instead choosing to stay with Olimpia, where he finished his season with 12 goals and 21 assists in 26 games.

Houston Dynamo

2013

Alexander López signed for Houston Dynamo on 6 August 2013, on a four-year deal worth $213,000 a year,^[10] and was unveiled with the iconic number 10 shirt. López made his debut against Montreal Impact on 24 August, playing 60 minutes of the match. Despite impressing fans with demonstrations of his individual skill - most notably his 30-yard rabona chip for Jason Johnson^[11] on his first start against the New York Red Bulls - López was unable to hold down a place in the Dynamo side for the remainder of the 2013 season, as issues with homesickness and fitness prevented Dominic Kinnear from giving the Honduran an extended run in the side.^[12] He finished the season with 2 appearances, and providing 1 assist, playing no part in Dynamo's performance in the 2013 Eastern Conference finals.

2014-2015

López started pre-season for Dynamo by undertaking an intensive training programme - suggested by Dominic Kinnear - to build up his levels of fitness, and to strengthen his defensive capabilities.^[13] Kinnear was keen to emphasise the importance of Dynamo's so-called "two-way system" of attack and defence, and stressed that López needed to cultivate his defensive abilities in order to carve a place out in the starting XI. López made his first appearance of the 2014 season on 3 May 2014 as a substitute against Chivas USA, and made a further appearance against D.C. United on the 21 May, suggesting a steady emergence back into the side.

International career

On 18 November 2008, he debuted for Honduras, playing the 2009 CONCACAF U-17 Championship qualification match against Belize where he scored his first goal in the 53rd minute.^[14] In 2009 he was included by Emilio Umanzor in Honduras's 21-man squad for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

López made his senior debut for Honduras in an October 2010 friendly match against Guatemala and has, as of January 2013, earned a total of 3 caps, scoring no goals. He has represented his country at the 2012 Summer Olympics^[15] and played at the 2011 UNCAF Nations Cup.^[16]

International goals

Under–17

Scores and results list Honduras's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	18 November 2008	Estadio Virgilio Tejeira, Penonomé, Panama	Belize	3–0	9–0	2009 CONCACAF U-17 Championship qualification

Under–20

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 December 2010	Estadio Nilmo Edwards, La Ceiba, Honduras	El Salvador	3–0	4–0	2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying
2	31 March 2011	Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala	Jamaica	2–1	2–1	2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship
3	2 April 2011	Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala	Guatemala	3–1	3–1	2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship

Career statistics

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Alexander López at National-Football-Teams.com

Honduras squads Honduras men's football squad – 2012 Summer Olympics 1 Mendoza 2 Crisanto 3 Figueroa 4 Colón 5 Velásquez 6 A. Peralta 7 Martínez 8 Mejía 9 Lozano 10 López 11 Bengtson 12 O. Peralta 13 Hernández 14 Najar 15 Espinoza 16 Leverón 17 Garrido 18 Reyes Coach: Suárez Honduras squad – 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finalists 1 Mendoza 2 O. Chávez (c) 3 Beckeles 4 Jo. Palacios 5 Velásquez 6 García 7 Reyes 8 Rodas 9 Je. Palacios 10 M. Martínez 11 R. Martínez 12 Peralta 13 Medina 14 Najar 15 Berríos 16 López 17 M. Chávez 18 Hernández 19 Fuentes 20 Claros 21 Rojas 22 Escober 23 Delgado 24 Norales Coach: Suárez