Claudio López (footballer) Information & Claudio López (footballer) Links at HealthHaven.com

Claudio López
Personal information
Full name	Claudio Javier López
Date of birth	July 17, 1974 (age 35)
Place of birth	Río Tercero, Argentina
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Forward, Winger
Club information
Current club	Kansas City Wizards
Number	7
Senior career*
National team‡
Competitor for Argentina
Men's Football
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 October, 2009.; † Appearances (Goals).; ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 April, 2009

Claudio López (born July 17, 1974 in Río Tercero) is an Argentine soccer player who currently plays for Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer.

He is known by the nickname "El Piojo", meaning "the louse", and is well known for his pace, dribbling skills and world class finishing.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career in Argentina

López began his professional career with Estudiantes de La Plata in his native Argentina in 1990 as a 16-year old. However, he moved to Racing the next year, where he would remain until he transferred in 1996 to Spanish club Valencia.

[edit] Europe

López remained with Valencia for five years, helping the team to be runner-up in the UEFA Champions League in the 1999-2000 season, when he was transferred to Lazio of Serie A for a sum of 35 million Euros. He was partnered with Hernán Crespo. Unfortunately, López suffered from injury problems while at Lazio, and was unable to fulfill the hopes that accompanied him.

[edit] Mexico, return to Racing

López joined Club América for the 2004 Apertura, where he played in 17 games, scoring four goals. The following season, Clausura 2005 brought better results, with López scoring a total of 14 goals overall and helping the team to its tenth League championship in its history. It was his first and only league championship with any team. Claudio was instrumental to the team's success, also helping them win the CONCACAF Champions' Cup by scoring two goals in the Final over Tecos UAG.

In 2007 López returned to Racing, 11 years after his departure from the club, and the country. In most of those games, usually coming in as a late sub, López made scored several important goals.

[edit] Major League Soccer

On March 7 2008, it was announced Lopez had signed with the Kansas City Wizards on a free transfer. López fell under the league’s designated player qualification, which means only the first $415,000 of his salary counted against Kansas City’s team salary cap. He has since had his contract restructured to take him below designated player status. ^[1] He scored on his debut for Kansas City against DC United on March 29, 2008.

[edit] International

López had a distinguished career with Argentina. After winning a silver medal with the Under-23 team during the 1996 Summer Olympics, López made appearances in both the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He scored against Netherlands in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.