Luis Enrique Martínez García

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Luis Enrique
Luisenrique.jpg
Personal information
Full name Luis Enrique Martínez García
Date of birth May 8, 1970 (1970-05-08) (age 39)
Place of birth Gijón, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Midfielder / Striker
Club information
Current club Barcelona B (coach)
Youth career
1987–1989 Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1989–1991 Sporting Gijón 36 (14)
1991–1996 Real Madrid 157 (15)
1996–2004 Barcelona 207 (73)
Total 400 (102)
National team
1990–1991 Spain U21 5 (0)
1991–1992 Spain U23 14 (3)
1991–2002 Spain 62 (12)
Teams managed
2008– Barcelona B
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This is a Spanish name; the first family name is Martínez and the second is García.

Luis Enrique Martínez García (born May 8, 1970 in Gijón, Asturias), known as Luis Enrique, is a former Spanish footballer. His usual position was right or attacking midfielder, but he was notable for his versatility, having played in all positions throughout his career except central defender and goalkeeper.

He was a prolific goalscorer, for both club and country, and was also noted for his temperament and stamina.

Contents

[edit] Club career

After starting his career with Sporting de Gijón, Luis Enrique spent most of it with the two biggest Spanish clubs: first Real Madrid for five seasons and, in a stunning move, he saw out his contract and moved to fierce rivals FC Barcelona on a free transfer. The Catalan club's supporters were at first understandably hesitant about their new acquisition, but he soon won the culés heart, staying eight years with the club, eventually becoming first-team captain, and scoring several times in El Clásico against his former employers.

In his first three seasons with Barcelona, Enrique netted 46 league goals, with Barça finishing runner-up in 1996–97, subsequently winning back-to-back domestic accolades.

On August 10, 2004, at the age of 34, he announced his retirement, feeling that he could no longer keep up to the standards he set for himself.[1] Enrique finished his professional career with 400 games and 102 goals, being named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March.[2]

In June 18, 2008, Enrique returned to Barcelona, taking over the reins of FC Barcelona B, which was renamed Barcelona Atlètic for 2008–09. As he succeeded longtime Barça teammate Josep Guardiola, he stated: "I have come home", and "I finished playing here and now I will start coaching here."

[edit] International career

Enrique played for Spain in three World Cups: 1994, 1998 and 2002 (as well as Euro 96), and accumulated 62 caps, scoring 12 goals in his international career. He was also a member of the gold-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

He the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States. In the 2–1 quarterfinal loss against Italy, Mauro Tassotti's elbow made contact with Enrique's face to bloody effect.[3] The action was of such impact that Enrique reportedly lost a pint of blood from his face as a result. During the match the incident went unpunished. Tassotti was banned for eight games afterwards, and never played for Italy again.[4]

When Spain met Italy at UEFA Euro 2008 on June 22, 2008, to battle for a place in the semifinals, Enrique reportedly called for the team to "take revenge" on Italy for the 1994 World Cup incident.[5] Tassotti, now an assistant coach at his beloved A.C. Milan, told Marca newspaper that he was tired of always being reminded of this incident and that he had never intended to hurt Enrique.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club statistics

Club Season League Cup Europe Other [6] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sporting Gijón 1989-90 1 0 - - - - - - 1 0
1990-91 35 14 9 3 - - - - 44 17
Total 36 14 9 3 0 0 0 0 45 17
Real Madrid 1991–92 29 4 6 1 6 0 - - 41 5
1992–93 34 2 6 0 8 1 - - 48 3
1993–94 28 2 4 1 6 0 2 0 40 3
1994–95 35 4 2 0 6 0 - - 43 4
1995–96 31 3 0 0 8 0 2 0 41 3
Total 157 15 18 2 34 1 4 0 213 18
Barcelona 1996–97 35 17 7 1 7 0 2 0 51 18
1997–98 34 18 6 3 6 4 1 0 47 25
1998–99 26 11 3 0 3 1 2 0 34 12
1999-00 19 3 5 3 7 6 2 0 33 12
2000–01 28 9 4 1 9 6 - - 41 16
2001–02 23 5 0 0 15 6 - - 38 11
2002–03 18 8 0 0 8 2 - - 26 10
2003–04 24 3 1 0 5 2 - - 30 5
Total 207 73 26 8 60 27 7 0 300 109
Career totals 400 102 53 13 94 28 11 0 558 144

[edit] Other ventures

After retiring from football, Luis Enrique lived for a while in Australia to practice surfing. He took part in the 2005 edition of the New York City Marathon, finished the Amsterdam Marathon in 2006, the Firenze Marathon in 2007 and the Marathon des Sables in 2008, while also entering and finishing Frankfurt Ironman in 2007. He was supposed to take part in the Klagenfurt Ironman in July 2008, but removed due to his Barcelona manager engagement.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Luis Enrique bows out
  2. ^ Pele's list of the greatest
  3. ^ Luis Enrique full of respect
  4. ^ Date set for Hendry decision
  5. ^ Luis Enrique: "Espero que Villa me vengue ante Italia" (Luis Enrique: "I hope Villa avenges me with Italy") (Spanish)
  6. ^ Includes the Supercopa de España
  7. ^ Luis Enrique correrá el Maratón de las Arenas (Luis Enrique to run Marathon des Sables) (Spanish)

[edit] External links

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