Luis Enrique Martínez García

Luis Enrique

Personal information
Full name	Luis Enrique Martínez García
Date of birth	May 8, 1970 (1970-05-08) (age 40)
Place of birth	Gijón, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Barcelona B (coach)
Youth career
1987–1989	Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989–1991	Sporting Gijón	36	(14)
1991–1996	Real Madrid	157	(15)
1996–2004	Barcelona	207	(73)
Total		400	(102)
National team
1990–1991	Spain U21	5	(0)
1991–1992	Spain U23	14	(3)
1991–2002	Spain	62	(12)
Teams managed
2008–	Barcelona B
Honours Competitor for  Spain Men's Football Gold 1992 Barcelona Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Luis Enrique Martínez García (born May 8, 1970 in Gijón, Asturias), known as Luis Enrique, is a former Spanish footballer. His usual position was right or attacking midfielder, but he was notable for his versatility, having played in all positions throughout his career except central defender and goalkeeper.

He was a prolific goalscorer, for both club and country, and was also noted for his temperament and stamina. Starting in 1991 and ending in 2004, he represented both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, with equal individual and team success.

Club career

After starting his career with Sporting de Gijón, Luis Enrique spent most of it with the two big Spanish clubs: first Real Madrid FC for five seasons and, in a stunning move, he saw out his contract and moved to fierce rivals FC Barcelona on a free transfer. The Catalan club's supporters were at first understandably hesitant about their new acquisition, but he soon won the culés heart, staying eight years with the club, eventually becoming first-team captain, and scoring several times in El Clásico against his former employers.

In his first three seasons with Barcelona, Enrique netted 46 league goals, with Barça finishing runner-up in 1996–97, subsequently winning back-to-back domestic accolades.

On August 10, 2004, at the age of 34, he announced his retirement, feeling that he could no longer keep up to the standards he set for himself.^[1] Enrique finished his professional career with 400 games and 102 goals, being named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March.^[2]

In June 18, 2008, Luis Enrique returned to Barcelona, taking over the reins of the B team. As he succeeded longtime Barça teammate Josep Guardiola, he stated: "I have come home", and "I finished playing here and now I will start coaching here." As his predecessor, he too eventually had success, helping the club return to division two after an absence of 11 years, in his second season.

International career

Enrique played for Spain in three FIFA World Cups: 1994, 1998 and 2002 (as well as UEFA Euro 1996), and accumulated 62 caps, scoring 12 goals in his international career. He was also a member of the gold-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

He the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States. In the 2–1 quarterfinal loss against Italy, Mauro Tassotti's elbow made contact with Enrique's face to bloody effect.^[3] The action was of such impact that Enrique reportedly lost a pint of blood from his face as a result. During the match the incident went unpunished. Tassotti was banned for eight games afterwards, and never played for Italy again.^[4]

When Spain met Italy at Euro 2008 on June 22, to battle for a place in the semifinals, Enrique reportedly called for the team to "take revenge" on Italy for the 1994 World Cup incident.^[5] Tassotti, now an assistant coach at his beloved A.C. Milan, told Marca newspaper that he was tired of always being reminded of this incident and that he had never intended to hurt Enrique.

International goals

Luis Enrique international goals
1.	July 2, 1994	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C., United States	Switzerland	0–2	0–3	1994 FIFA World Cup
2.	November 16, 1994	Sánchez Pizjuán, Sevilla, Spain	Denmark	3–0	3–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
3.	December 17, 1994	Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1–4	1–4	Euro 1996 qualifying
4.	September 4, 1996	Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	0–1	2–6	1998 World Cup qualification
5.	November 13, 1996	Heliodoro Rodríguez López, Tenerife, Spain	Slovakia	3–1	4–1	1998 World Cup qualification
6.	October 11, 1997	El Molinón, Gijón, Spain	Faroe Islands	1–0	3–1	1998 World Cup qualification
7.	October 11, 1997	El Molinón, Gijón, Spain	Faroe Islands	3–1	3–1	1998 World Cup qualification
8.	June 24, 1998	Félix-Bollaert, Lens, France	Bulgaria	2–0	6–1	1998 FIFA World Cup
9.	June 5, 1999	El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain	San Marino	2–0	9–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
10.	June 5, 1999	El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain	San Marino	6–0	9–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
11.	June 5, 1999	El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain	San Marino	7–0	9–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
12.	September 4, 1999	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Austria	1–3	1–3	Euro 2000 qualifying

Honours

Club

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97
• UEFA Super Cup: 1997
• Spanish League: 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99
• Spanish Cup: 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98
• Spanish Supercup: 1993, 1996

Country

• Summer Olympics: 1992

Club statistics

Other ventures

After retiring from football, Luis Enrique lived for a while in Australia to practice surfing. He took part in the 2005 edition of the New York City Marathon, finished the Amsterdam Marathon in 2006, the Firenze Marathon in 2007 and the Marathon des Sables in 2008, while also entering and finishing Frankfurt Ironman in 2007. He was supposed to take part in the Klagenfurt Ironman in July 2008, but removed due to his Barcelona manager engagement.^[7]

References

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Luis Enrique Martínez García - FIFA competition record
• Official website
• Personal blog
• Career video compilation on Youtube

Spain Squad Spain squad – 1992 Summer Olympics Gold Medalists 1 Cañizares • 2 Ferrer • 3 Lasa • 4 Solozábal • 5 López • 6 Villabona • 7 Amavisca • 8 Luis Enrique • 9 Guardiola • 10 Abelardo • 11 Manjarín • 12 Paqui • 13 Toni • 14 Vidal • 15 Soler • 16 Miguel • 17 Berges • 18 Pinilla • 19 Kiko • 20 Alfonso • Coach: Miera Spain squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta (c) • 2 Ferrer • 3 Otero • 4 Camarasa • 5 Abelardo • 6 Hierro • 7 Goikoetxea • 8 Guerrero • 9 Guardiola • 10 Bakero • 11 Begiristain • 12 Sergi • 13 Cañizares • 14 Juanele • 15 Caminero • 16 Miñambres • 17 Voro • 18 Alkorta • 19 Salinas • 20 Nadal • 21 Luis Enrique • 22 Lopetegui • Coach: Clemente Spain squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Zubizarreta • 2 López • 3 Belsué • 4 Alkorta • 5 Abelardo • 6 Hierro • 7 Amavisca • 8 Guerrero • 9 Pizzi • 10 Donato • 11 Alfonso • 12 Sergi • 13 Cañizares • 14 Kiko • 15 Caminero • 16 Otero • 17 Manjarín • 18 Amor • 19 Salinas • 20 Nadal • 21 Luis Enrique • 22 Molina • Coach: Clemente Spain squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta • 2 Ferrer • 3 Aranzábal • 4 Alkorta • 5 Abelardo • 6 Hierro • 7 Morientes • 8 Guerrero • 9 Pizzi • 10 Raúl • 11 Alfonso • 12 Sergi • 13 Cañizares • 14 Campo • 15 Aguilera • 16 Celades • 17 Etxeberria • 18 Amor • 19 Kiko • 20 Nadal • 21 Luis Enrique • 22 Molina • Coach: Clemente Spain squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Casillas • 2 C. Torres • 3 Juanfran • 4 Helguera • 5 Puyol • 6 Hierro (c) • 7 Raúl • 8 Baraja • 9 Morientes • 10 Tristán • 11 De Pedro • 12 Luque • 13 Ricardo • 14 Albelda • 15 Romero • 16 Mendieta • 17 Valerón • 18 Sergio • 19 Xavi • 20 Nadal • 21 Luis Enrique • 22 Joaquín • 23 Contreras • Coach: Camacho