Aritz López Garai
Spanish footballer (born 1980)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aritz López Garai (born 6 November 1980) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently manager of the Mauritania national team.
|
López Garai as a Celta player in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aritz López Garai | ||
| Date of birth | 6 November 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Barakaldo, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Mauritania (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1998 | Indartsu | ||
| 1998–1999 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2002 | Basconia | 68 | (5) |
| 2001–2002 | → Gernika (loan) | 33 | (0) |
| 2002–2005 | Conquense | 103 | (2) |
| 2005–2007 | Salamanca | 73 | (4) |
| 2007–2009 | Castellón | 75 | (4) |
| 2009–2011 | Celta | 76 | (1) |
| 2011–2013 | Córdoba | 80 | (6) |
| 2013–2014 | Sporting Gijón | 14 | (0) |
| 2014 | → Córdoba (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2014 | Córdoba | 6 | (0) |
| 2015 | Rapid București | 17 | (0) |
| 2015 | Doxa | 13 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Reus | 52 | (1) |
| Total | 616 | (23) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2018 | Reus | ||
| 2018–2019 | Numancia | ||
| 2019 | Tenerife | ||
| 2020 | Albacete | ||
| 2023–2024 | Nouadhibou | ||
| 2024 | Mauritania U20 | ||
| 2024– | Mauritania | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He amassed Segunda División totals of 325 matches and 13 goals over nine seasons, in representation of six clubs. In La Liga, he played six games with Córdoba.
In 2017, López Garai started working as a manager.
Playing career
López Garai was born in Barakaldo, Biscay. An unsuccessful youth graduate of Athletic Bilbao, he spent the vast majority of his professional career in the second and third divisions.[1]
López Garai represented CD Basconia (Bilbao's farm team), Gernika Club, UB Conquense, UD Salamanca, CD Castellón, RC Celta de Vigo, Córdoba CF – two spells – and Sporting de Gijón, rarely settling with a team but being always first choice.[2] He signed with Andalusia's Córdoba for the second time in summer 2014 following a short loan spell with the same club from Gijón,[3] and made his La Liga debut on 25 August 2014 at the age of 33, starting in a 2–0 away loss against Real Madrid.[4]
On 28 January 2015, López Garai terminated his contract.[5] Less than one month later, he moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining Romania's FC Rapid București.[6]
Coaching career
For the 2015–16 campaign, López Garai represented Doxa Katokopias FC in Cyprus and CF Reus Deportiu, achieving promotion to the second division with the latter side. On 15 June 2017, they announced the 36-year-old would retire and become its head coach with immediate effect, replacing Real Zaragoza-bound Natxo González.[7]
On 24 June 2018, López Garai was appointed manager of CD Numancia after terminating his contract with Reus.[8] He signed a new deal with the former club the following 19 February,[9] but reached an agreement to leave on 11 June.[10]
On 21 June 2019, López Garai was named at the helm of CD Tenerife still in the second tier.[11] On 17 November, he was dismissed.[12]
López Garai took over Albacete Balompié of the same league on 14 October 2020 after nearly one year of inactivity, replacing the fired Lucas Alcaraz.[13] He was himself relieved of his duties on 6 December, after only winning three points out of the last 27.[14][15]
In February 2023, López Garai moved to Mauritania to become head coach of FC Nouadhibou. He won the Super D1 in each of his two seasons, and also led them to a first-ever qualification for the group stage of the CAF Champions League.[16][17]
Remaining in Mauritania, López Garai was appointed at the under-20 national team on 22 February 2024.[18] Exactly nine months later, he replaced Amir Abdou at the full side following failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.[19]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Basconia | 1999–00[20] | Tercera División | 31 | 3 | — | — | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2000–01[20] | Segunda División B | 37 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 2 | |||
| Total | 68 | 5 | — | — | 68 | 5 | ||||
| Gernika | 2001–02[21] | Segunda División B | 33 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 0 | ||
| Conquense | 2002–03[21] | Segunda División B | 34 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2003–04[21] | Segunda División B | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 35 | 1 | ||
| 2004–05[21] | Segunda División B | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
| Total | 103 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 113 | 2 | ||
| Salamanca | 2005–06[21] | Segunda División B | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| 2006–07[21] | Segunda División | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 38 | 2 | ||
| Total | 73 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 79 | 4 | ||
| Castellón | 2007–08[21] | Segunda División | 39 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 39 | 2 | |
| 2008–09[21] | Segunda División | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| Total | 75 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 76 | 4 | |||
| Celta | 2009–10[21] | Segunda División | 40 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 46 | 1 | |
| 2010–11[21] | Segunda División | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| Total | 76 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 85 | 1 | ||
| Córdoba | 2011–12[21] | Segunda División | 39 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| 2012–13[21] | Segunda División | 41 | 6 | 6 | 0 | — | 47 | 6 | ||
| Total | 80 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 6 | ||
| Sporting Gijón | 2013–14[21] | Segunda División | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| Córdoba (loan) | 2013–14[21] | Segunda División | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Córdoba (loan) | 2014–15[21] | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Rapid București | 2014–15[22] | Liga I | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |
| Doxa | 2015–16[22] | Cypriot First Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |
| Reus | 2015–16[21] | Segunda División B | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 2016–17[21] | Segunda División | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 37 | 1 | ||
| Total | 52 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 616 | 23 | 28 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 663 | 38 | ||
- Appearances in promotion play-offs
Managerial statistics
- As of 6 December 2020
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Reus |  |
15 June 2017 | 23 June 2018 | 41 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 29 | 42 | −13 | 26.83 | [23] |
| Numancia | |
24 June 2018 | 11 June 2019 | 43 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 25.58 | [24] |
| Tenerife | |
21 June 2019 | 17 November 2019 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 21 | −3 | 18.75 | [25] |
| Albacete | |
14 October 2020 | 6 December 2020 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 16.67 | [26] |
| Nouadhibou |  |
February 2023 | 22 November 2024 | 56 | 38 | 13 | 5 | 85 | 27 | +58 | 67.86 | [16] |
| Mauritania | |
22 November 2024 | present | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 9.09 | [19] |
| Total | 112 | 27 | 41 | 44 | 100 | 129 | −29 | 24.11 | — | |||