Roberto Solozábal Villanueva (born 15 September 1969) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central defender.
 Solozábal in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roberto Solozábal Villanueva | ||
| Date of birth | 15 September 1969 | ||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Atlético Madrid | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1989 | Atlético Madrileño | 28 | (1) |
| 1989–1997 | Atlético Madrid | 231 | (3) |
| 1997–2000 | Betis | 42 | (0) |
| Total | 301 | (4) | |
| International career | |||
| 1987–1988 | Spain U18 | 8 | (0) |
| 1988–1989 | Spain U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 1989–1990 | Spain U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 1989–1991 | Spain U21 | 4 | (0) |
| 1991–1992 | Spain U23 | 12 | (1) |
| 1991–1993 | Spain | 12 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Spain
| ||
| Men's Football | ||
 |
1992 Barcelona | Team Competition |
He appeared in 273 La Liga games over 11 seasons, representing in the competition Atlético Madrid and Betis.
Club career
editAtlético Madrid
editA product of local Atlético Madrid's youth system, Madrid-born Solozábal represented the first team from 1989 to 1997, his debut being on 2 September in a 3–1 away win against Valencia CF (90 minutes played). Other than his first season – ten appearances – he never played less than 18 La Liga games during his eight-year spell.
During the 1995–96 campaign, Solózabal formed a solid centre-back partnership with another Colchonero youth graduate, Juan Manuel López, as the capital side achieved an historic double, with the former featuring in 40 league matches.
Betis
editAfter leaving Atlético, Solozábal signed with Real Betis.[1] In his last season, where the Andalusian club was relegated and he was ousted from the squad for allegedly organising a riot, he ultimately took it to court for lack of payment in a suit which lasted several years, with the player having already retired.[2][3]
International career
editSolozábal was part of the Spanish side that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona,[4] and also earned 12 full caps in two years, the first coming on 17 April 1991 in a 0–2 friendly loss to Romania, in Cáceres.[5]
Honours
editAtlético Madrid
Spain U23
References
edit- ^ Solozábal ya es futbolista del Betis (Solozábal is already a Betis footballer); El País, 23 July 1997 (in Spanish)
- ^ El Betis despide a Solozábal un mes después del motín del equipo (Betis fire Solozábal one month after team riot); El País, 8 September 2000 (in Spanish)
- ^ Un juez da la razón al Betis ante Solozábal (Judge rules in favour of Betis against Solozábal); El País, 22 February 2001 (in Spanish)
- ^ "La Roja de 1992, nuestra medalla de oro Olímpica" [1992's La Roja, our Olympic gold medal] (in Spanish). Antena 3. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
- ^ De nuevo vencidos y sin gloria (Again beaten hopelessly); Mundo Deportivo, 18 April 1991 (in Spanish)
- ^ "Supervivientes de oro" [Golden survivors] (in Spanish). El País. 25 February 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
External links
edit- Roberto Solozábal at BDFutbol
- Betisweb stats and bio (in Spanish) at archive.today (archived 5 September 2013)
- Roberto Solozábal at National-Football-Teams.com
- Roberto Solozábal – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Roberto Solozábal at EU-Football.info