Roberto Solozábal
.jpg) 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 |
Roberto Solozábal Villanueva (born 15 September 1969) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender.
He appeared in 273 La Liga games over 11 seasons, representing in the competition Atlético Madrid and Betis.[1]
Club career
[edit]Atlético Madrid
[edit]A 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.[2]
Betis
[edit]After leaving Atlético, Solozábal signed with Real Betis.[3] 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.[4][5]
International career
[edit]Solozábal was captain of the Spanish side that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona,[6] and also earned 12 full caps in two years,[1] the first coming on 17 April 1991 in a 0–2 friendly loss to Romania, in Cáceres.[7]
Personal life
[edit]Solozábal's second son Hugo was also a professional footballer. The oldest, Iker (born 2001), was a triathlete.[8][9]
Honours
[edit]Atlético Madrid
Spain U23
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Cuando un órdago de Solozábal permitió que el fútbol desfilara en Barcelona '92 y enamoró a Guardiola: "Me despertó del letargo"" [When a Solozábal ultimatum enabled football to parade at Barcelona '92 and made Guardiola fall in love: "It made me snap out of my lethargy"] (in Spanish). Relevo. 27 July 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
- ^ a b c "Los 23 protagonistas del doblete del Atlético" [The 23 protagonists of Atlético's double] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 23 May 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
- ^ 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)
- ^ "The children of former LaLiga stars who are following in their father's footsteps". Marca. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "Hugo Solozábal, ADN del doblete atlético en el Leganés" [Hugo Solozábal, Atlético double's DNA at Leganés] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 18 October 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
- ^ "Qué fue de... Roberto Solozábal: leyenda atlética y ahora 'superatleta'" [What happened to... Roberto Solozábal: Atlético legend and now 'superathlete'] (in Spanish). 20 minutos. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
- ^ "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
- 1969 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Spanish sportsmen
- Spanish men's footballers
- Footballers from Madrid
- Men's association football central defenders
- La Liga players
- Segunda División B players
- Atlético Madrid B players
- Atlético Madrid footballers
- Real Betis players
- Spain men's youth international footballers
- Spain men's under-21 international footballers
- Spain men's under-23 international footballers
- Spain men's international footballers
- Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers for Spain
- Olympic gold medalists for Spain
- Olympic medalists in football
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics