Antonio López Habas

Born in Pozoblanco, Córdoba, López had an unassuming career as a professional footballer, appearing in 48 La Liga matches over four seasons, eight of those for Sevilla to where he arrived in 1977 from local amateurs Pozoblanco, first being assigned to the B team. He also represented Real Murcia, Burgos and Atlético Madrid (no appearances for the latter), retiring from the game at only 29 years of age due to a knee injury. In 1981–82 he scored an astonishing 13 goals in 32 games for Burgos, which nonetheless suffered Segunda División relegation due to financial irregularities.

López started coaching in the early 1990s, with Atlético's reserves. After one season apiece in amateur football, also in the Madrid area, he took charge of the Bolivia national team, first as an assistant to Xabier Azkargorta, and eventually appeared with it them as head coach at two Copa América tournaments. He then returned to club action with Club Bolívar, followed by a spell in his homeland with Lleida in the second tier; whilst at the Catalan side, he briefly accumulated with his work as the national coach of the South American country, which he left for good in 1997 to sign with Sporting de Gijón of the Spanish second tier, being dismissed shortly after his arrival. In summer 2001, López was hired by Valencia as assistant to Rafael Benítez. However, after the sacking of Italian Claudio Ranieri, he managed the first team for 14 games as the Che, the previous league champions, eventually finished seventh. Additionally, he worked at the Mestalla Stadium as youth system coordinator. López became Tenerife's second head coach of the following campaign in November 2005, being fired himself after only six second-division matches. Two years later, he joined Hristo Stoichkov's staff at Celta de Vigo in the same tier. With the Galicians constantly battling relegation until the last month of competition, he was named interim coach for the final three months as the team eventually stayed afloat; he was the third manager for the club in approximately one year, after replacing Juan…

Player

Murcia

Segunda División: 1982–83

Manager

Bolivia

Copa América runner-up: 1997 ATK

Indian Super League: 2014, 2019–20 Mohun Bagan Super Giant

Indian Super League: 2023–24 Inter Kashi

I-League: 2024–25