Ángel López (footballer, born 1981)

Ángel
Personal information
Full name	Ángel Domingo López Ruano
Date of birth	10 March 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Las Palmas, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Right-back, midfielder
Youth career
	Las Palmas
Senior career*
Years	Team
1998–2000	Las Palmas B
2000–2003	Las Palmas
2003–2007	Celta
2007–2012	Villarreal
2012–2013	Betis
2013–2016	Las Palmas
Total
International career
2001–2003	Spain U21
2006–2008	Spain
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ángel Domingo López Ruano, known simply as Ángel (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈaŋxel ˈlopeθ]; born 10 March 1981), is a Spanish former professional footballer. An attacking right-back, he could also operate as a right midfielder.

Club career

Ángel was born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands. After first appearing professionally with hometown's UD Las Palmas, playing 64 La Liga games from 2000 to 2002, he made a name for himself as a stamina-filled wingback at fellow league club RC Celta de Vigo,^[1] signing with the Galicians in the 2003 January transfer window. He appeared in 15 league matches in the second part of the season as the team qualified to the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever; however, also with the player as first-choice, they would be relegated at the end of the 2003–04 campaign.^[2]

On the last day of 2007–08's summer transfer deadline, Ángel joined Villarreal CF. In a season where the team dubbed the Yellow Submarine achieved a best-ever runner-up league position, he split right-back duties with veteran Javi Venta, a situation which again befell the following campaign (22 matches for Venta, 21 for López).^[3]

In 2009–10, Ángel again battled with Venta for first-choice status.^[4] On 4 April 2010 he scored his first goal for Villarreal, shooting from 30 yards to open the score at Real Valladolid in an eventual 2–0 win.^[5]

After Venta's departure to Levante UD, Ángel was the undisputed right-back. On 9 January 2011, during a 4–2 away loss against Real Madrid, he suffered a severe injury in his left knee – anterior cruciate ligament – being sidelined for the next six months.^[6]

International career

Ángel won his first cap for the Spain national team in a 0–1 friendly defeat with Romania in Cádiz, on 15 November 2006.^[7]

References

^ "Ángel watches over Celta". UEFA. 13 February 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
^ "Ángel López" (in Spanish). Yo Jugué en el Celta. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
^ Pérez, Javier (23 October 2011). "Javi Venta, un lateral bien caro" [Javi Venta, quite an expensive fullback]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
^ "Ángel: "Tengo ganas de jugar y no salir más del once titular"" [Ángel: "I'm looking forward to playing and staying in the starting XI for good"]. Marca (in Spanish). 27 November 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
^ "Villarreal claim rare away win". ESPN Soccernet. 4 April 2010. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
^ Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel (12 January 2011). "Ángel estará seis meses de baja" [Ángel to miss six months]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 January 2011.
^ Jurado, José Carlos (15 November 2006). "Marica da otro varapalo a la España de Luis" [Marica strikes another blow to Luis' Spain]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 April 2014.