Iván de la Peña
Personal information
Full name	Iván de la Peña López
Date of birth	May 6, 1976 (1976-05-06) (age 33)
Place of birth	Santander, Spain
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Espanyol
Number	9
Youth career
1991–1993	Barcelona
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1996 1995–1998 1998–2002 1999–2000 2000–2001 2002–	Barcelona B Barcelona Lazio → Marseille (loan) → Barcelona (loan) Espanyol	037 0(5) 080 (11) 015 0(0) 012 0(1) 009 0(0) 173 0(8)
National team2
1992 1994 1995 1995–1996 1996 2005	Spain U17 Spain U18 Spain U20 Spain U21 Spain U23 Spain	004 0(1) 007 0(3) 005 0(2) 010 0(1) 004 0(0) 005 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 May 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2005. * Appearances (Goals)

Iván de la Peña López (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈβan delaˈpeɲa]), born May 6, 1976 in Santander, Cantabria) is a Spanish footballer who currently plays for RCD Espanyol, as a central midfielder.

During his career, De la Peña earned the nicknames Little Buddha^[1] and Lo Pelat (The Shaven One) due to his shaven head and slight frame. He is known for skills and his pin-point accurate passing, also being a free kick specialist.

[edit] Club career

De la Peña was recruited by FC Barcelona as a youth player in 1991 and made his debut for the B team in 1993. He went on to play 37 games for them, and then manager Johan Cruyff gave him his debut with the senior team on September 3, 1995, as he came on as a substitute and scored, in a 2–0 win at Real Valladolid. At 19 he was initially regarded as the natural successor to Josep 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 Spanish Cup/European Cup Winners' Cup/European Supercup treble in 1997. He was also voted the best young player by El País in both 1996 and 1997.

De la Peña found himself out of favour at Barça once again, after the arrival of Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal, and he was consequently transferred to S.S. Lazio. However, he failed to establish himself in Serie A and was loaned to Olympique de Marseille during the 1999–00 season. This move was not successful either and he returned to Barcelona, on loan, for 2000–01. After only appearing 9 times (one start, against Racing de Santander) throughout the season, under then coach Llorenç Serra Ferrer, De la Peña returned to Italy, being released.

In 2002, De la Peña moved to RCD Espanyol,^[2] where he found the continuity and stability to produce some of the best football in his career. In 2005 he helped the Catalan outfit finish fifth in La Liga, enabling them to qualify for the UEFA Cup. In the 2006 domestic cup final, De la Peña masterminded a 4–1 victory against Real Zaragoza, setting up two goals. Raúl Tamudo scored after two minutes when he headed in a rebound following a De la Peña free-kick. Tamudo and De la Peña combined again to carve open the Zaragoza defence to lay on a goal for Luis García. As a result, Espanyol again qualified for the UEFA Cup and reached the 2007 competition final, where they lost to Sevilla FC on penalties.

From 2007–09, after extending his contract,^[3] De la Peña was severely hindered with injury problems. However, on February 21, 2009, he managed to net twice in a 2–1 derby win at Barça, with one side ranking first in the league and the other last.^[4]

After the shocking death of new team captain Daniel Jarque, in August 2009, de la Peña was named as his replacement.

[edit] International career

De la Peña, along with Fernando Morientes, Raúl and Gaizka Mendieta, played for the Spain U-21s at both the 1996 European U-21 Championship and at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Despite this, he did not make his debut for the senior Spain team until February 9, 2005, at the age of 28 years and 9 months, in a 2006 World Cup qualifier against San Marino (Almería, 5–0). He subsequently played for Spain on five occasions during the year, with his last coming against the same opponent.

[edit] Club statistics

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

• FC Barcelona:
  • UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97
  • UEFA Super Cup: 1997
  • Spanish Cup: 1996–97
  • Spanish League: 1997–98, runner-up 1996–97
  • Spanish Supercup: 1996, runner-up 1997

• Espanyol:
  • Spanish Cup: 2005–06
  • UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2006–07

• Lazio:
  • UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1998–99
  • Supercoppa Italiana: 1998

[edit] National team

• Spain U-21:
  • UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship: Runner-up 1996

[edit] Individual

• Don Balón Award - Breakthrough Player of the Year in La Liga: 1996

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Spain - Footballer of the year, at RSSF
• Iván de la Peña French league stats at lfp.fr (French)
• The lost boys of Barcelona, by Ronald Atkin, February 2005
• Iván de la Peña FIFA competition record

v • d • e Spain squad – 1996 Summer Olympics 1 Mora • 2 Mendieta • 3 Aranzábal • 4 Navarro • 5 Santi • 6 Óscar • 7 Raúl • 8 Roberto • 9 Corino • 10 José Ignacio • 11 Idiakez • 12 Karanka • 13 Aizkorreta • 14 Morientes • 15 de la Peña • 16 Lardín • 17 Sietes • 18 Dani • Coach: Clemente