Iván de la Peña
De la Peña playing for Espanyol in 2009
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Iván de la Peña López | ||
| Date of birth | 6 May 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Santander, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Racing Santander | |||
| 1991–1993 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1995 | Barcelona B | 37 | (5) |
| 1995–1998 | Barcelona | 81 | (11) |
| 1998–2002 | Lazio | 15 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | → Marseille (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2000–2001 | → Barcelona (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2002–2011 | Espanyol | 179 | (8) |
| Total | 331 | (25) | |
| National team | |||
| 1991–1992 | Spain U16 | 17 | (2) |
| 1992 | Spain U17 | 4 | (1) |
| 1994 | Spain U18 | 7 | (3) |
| 1995 | Spain U20 | 5 | (2) |
| 1995–1996 | Spain U21 | 10 | (1) |
| 1996 | Spain U23 | 4 | (0) |
| 2005 | Spain | 5 | (0) |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
Iván de la Peña López (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈβan delaˈpeɲa]; born 6 May 1976) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central midfielder. During his career, de la Peña earned the nicknames Pequeño Buddha (Little Buddha) and Lo Pelat (The Shaven One) due to his shaven head and slight frame.
Having started as a youth prodigy at Barcelona, he incidentally closed out his extensive career at neighbouring Espanyol, amassing La Liga totals of 269 games and 19 goals over the course of 12 seasons.
De la Peña was known for his technical skills and accurate passing ability, although his career was affected by several injuries.
Born in Santander, Cantabria, de la Peña was recruited by FC Barcelona as a youth player in 1991 and made his debut for the B-team two years later. He went on to play 37 games for them, and first-team manager Johan Cruyff gave him his official main squad debut on 3 September 1995 as he came on as a substitute – and scored – in a 2–0 away win against Real Valladolid; at 19 he was initially regarded as the natural successor to Pep Guardiola. However, he gradually fell out of favour with Cruyff and found himself dropped, although he achieved a career-best seven league goals in that rookie season.
With the arrival of Bobby Robson in 1996, de la Peña was given a second chance to establish himself in the team. He subsequently developed a partnership with Ronaldo and was a prominent member of the team that won the Copa del Rey/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Supercup treble in 1997. He was also voted the best young player by El País in both 1996 and 1997.
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