Julen Guerrero
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Julen Guerrero López (born January 7, 1974 in Portugalete) is a Spanish football player who played for Athletic Bilbao from 1992 to 2006.
At 18 Guerrero won the Spanish League and Cup with the under 19 Athletic Bilbao junior team. Jupp Heynckes promoted him to play for the senior team in 1992, where he quickly became known as the "Lezama pearl".
He passed up the opportunity to sign up for the likes of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona or major Italian clubs, and decided to stay in the Basque Country with his beloved hometown club, wearing the number '8' shirt, and signed a long-term contract. At the time this was one of the biggest contracts in European football, tying him to the club until June 30, 2007.
In recent years he has not recovered the form that made him an indispensable player for the team. Even the coach that helped launch his career, Jupp Heynckes, lost confidence in him during his recent second spell at Athletic Bilbao, leaving him out of the squad several times. However, as of 2005 he has made a total of 367 appearances for the club, scoring 107 goals.[[Citing sources citation needed]] He is very much a fan favourite thanks to his loyalty to the club, and still an important symbol of Athletic Bilbao; he is currently the club captain, along with Joseba Etxeberria.
Guerrero played for Spain in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups as well as Euro 96.
He currently has 41 caps for the national team, scoring 13 goals, though has not been called up for several years.
While a skilled footballer, Guerrero's best attribute may well be his physical condition; he is fast, agile and has great stamina and work rate.
As of July 11, 2006 Julen Guerrero is retired from professional football. The anouncement was made at a press conference which the player was unnable to finish, due to his emotional frame of mind. It came as an unexpected decision, Guerrero had been presented as part of the 2006-2007 Athletic de Bilbao squad the previous day.[[Citing sources citation needed]] He has been offered the role of youth coach.
Clubs
- 1991-1992 : Athletic de Bilbao youth team
- 1992-2006: Athletic de Bilbao
External links
- [Guerrero says goodbye at Athletic] uefa.com 11 July 2006
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