Luis Oscar "Lucho" González (born 19 January 1981 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football player, currently with Marseille. He is a versatile midfielder, able to play in different positions, but mainly as central midfielder or as a playmaker.

He is well known for his fierce shot, crisp passing and hardworking style, and is affectionately known as El Comandante (the commander), because of his excellent leadership skills.

[edit] Club career

Lucho played from the age of 14 for Club Atlético Huracán, making his official Primera División Argentina debut on 22 April 1999. He would be transferred over to Club Atlético River Plate in 2002. At River, he was part of the 2004 Clausura championship winning team.

His performances at River Plate earned González a deal with Portuguese Liga's F.C. Porto in 2005, with Porto sharing the ownership with Global Soccer Agencies. Porto paid €4.6m to purchase half of the rights and signed a 5-year contract with the player.^[1]

In Porto, He became team captain. In November 2006, he had already signed an improved contract that would last until 2011, and in August 2007, Porto paid €6.65m to Global Soccer Agencies to achieve full ownership of the player.^[2]

Lucho was one of the most popular players at Estádio do Dragão. The fans and press nicknamed him as 'El Comandante', Spanish for 'The Commandant", due to his influence on the team.

In June 2009, Porto announced the sale of Lucho Gonzalez to Olympique de Marseille for a fee of 18M €, with the possibility of an increase to 24M €, depending on the player's performance.^[3]

[edit] International career

Under the guidance of coach Marcelo Bielsa, Lucho made his first appearance with the Albiceleste on 31 January 2003 against Honduras. González went on to represent the nation in the 2004 Copa América, scoring two goals throughout the tournament, as Argentina lost in the final on penalties, to Brazil.

González also played with the team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the 2005 Confederations Cup held in Germany he helped earn a second-place finish at the competition, once again losing to Brazil in the final.

In 2006, he played in the World Cup in which Argentina, managed by José Pekerman, lost to hosts Germany in the quarter-finals, on penalties. Subsequently, he was part of the Alfio Basile-managed squad at Copa América 2007, where Argentina lost again to Brazil in the final, 3–0.

[edit] Titles

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Argentina
Men's Football
Gold	2004 Athens	Team Competition

River Plate:

• Clausura: 2003, 2004

FC Porto:

• Portuguese League: 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09
• Portuguese Cup: 2005-06, 2008-09
• Portuguese SuperCup: 2006

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero.pt
• NationalFootballTeams data
• UEFA.com profile

Lucho González international tournaments v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2004 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Quiroga • 5 Mascherano • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Zanetti • 9 Figueroa • 10 D'Alessandro • 11 Tévez • 12 Cavallero • 13 Placente • 14 Rodriguez • 15 Fernández • 16 L.González • 17 M.González • 18 K.González • 19 Delgado • 20 Medina • 21 Rosales • 22 Coloccini • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2004 Olympic Gold Medalists 1 Caballero • 2 Ayala • 3 Heinze • 4 Fernández • 5 K. Gonzalez • 6 Coloccini • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Figueroa • 10 Tévez • 11 Delgado • 12 Rosales • 13 Rodríguez • 14 Medina • 15 D'Alessandro • 16 L. González • 17 M. González • 18 Lux • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Coloccini • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Franco • 13 Scaloni • 14 Palacio • 15 Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Cufré • 18 Rodríguez • 19 Messi • 20 Cruz • 21 Burdisso • 22 González • 23 Ustari • Coach: Pekerman v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2007 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Díaz • 4 Ibarra • 5 Gago • 6 Heinze • 7 Palacio • 8 Zanetti • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Carrizo • 13 González • 14 Mascherano • 15 G. Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Burdisso • 18 Messi • 19 Cambiasso • 20 Verón • 21 D. Milito • 22 Orión • Coach: Basile