Germán Lux

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Germán Darío Lux (born 7 June 1982) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

After starting out at River Plate, he spent most of his career in Spain with Mallorca and Deportivo.

Club career

River Plate

Lux was born in Carcarañá, Santa Fe Province. Nicknamed Poroto, he joined Club Atlético River Plate's youth system aged 16, and made his Primera División debut in 2001. Shortly after, he became first choice.<ref name=RIVER>Germán Lux vuelve a atajar en River 11 años después (Germán Lux saves them again at River 11 years later); Diario AS, 8 August 2017 (in Spanish)</ref>

In the 2006 Apertura, Lux lost his job to emergent talent Juan Pablo Carrizo<ref>Lux sale del ostracismo y se va a España (Lux emerges from the shadows and goes to Spain); Infobae, 2 July 2007 (in Spanish)</ref> and, a few months after, was cut from the squad by coach Daniel Passarella.<ref>Germán Lux no para de recibir malas noticias (Bad news just keep coming for Germán Lux); Infobae, 9 December 2006 (in Spanish)</ref> In the beginning of the year he also lost his brother, who committed suicide.<ref name=ESPN>Quizás no sea el mejor momento para jugar (Perhaps this is not the best moment to play); ESPN Deportes, 22 January 2006 (in Spanish)</ref>

Mallorca

Lux signed a four-year deal with RCD Mallorca for 2007–08,<ref>El Mallorca ficha al portero internacional argentino Germán Lux (Mallorca sign Argentine international goalkeeper Germán Lux); Diario de Mallorca, 2 July 2007 (in Spanish)</ref> as a backup to youth graduate Miguel Ángel Moyá, but benefitted from an injury to the latter to appear in ten La Liga matches during the season.<ref>Porteros en rotación (Rotating goalkeepers); El Norte de Castilla, 12 December 2007 (in Spanish)</ref><ref name=Chance>La enésima oportunidad de Lux (Lux's umpteenth chance); Diario de Mallorca, 8 May 2011 (in Spanish)</ref> In his second year, the same occurred: Moyá was again downed with physical problems and Lux was promoted to starter,<ref>Moyá: "No aguantaba el dolor y era mejor parar" (Moyá: "I could not take the pain and it was better to stop"); Diario AS, 3 November 2008 (in Spanish)</ref> but lost his job in January 2009 with the signing of Dudu Aouate from Deportivo de La Coruña.<ref name=Chance/>

Deportivo

In the following two seasons, Lux was almost exclusively restricted to Copa del Rey matches with Mallorca, only totalling five league appearances.<ref name=Chance/> The same fate befell him at his next club, Deportivo La Coruña,<ref>El Deportivo ficha al portero argentino Germán Lux (Deportivo sign Argentine goalkeeper Germán Lux); Última Hora, 23 July 2011 (in Spanish)</ref> where he initially played second-fiddle to Dani Aranzubia.<ref>Aranzubia quiere estar ante el Valladolid (Aranzubia wants to be against Valladolid); Marca, 3 May 2012 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>Germán Lux abraza al Deportivo (Germán Lux embraces Deportivo); Vavel, 3 July 2013 (in Spanish)</ref>

Lux was again the starter in the 2013–14 campaign, as the Galicians finished runners-up in the Segunda División and subsequently returned to the top flight.<ref>Germán Lux opta al 'Mejor Portero Liga Adelante 2014' (Germán Lux a candidate to the 'Liga Adelante 2014 Best Goalkeeper'); La Opinión A Coruña, 13 October 2014 (in Spanish)</ref> Afterwards, he alternated in goal with Fabricio.<ref>La "espina" que se sacó Fabricio en el Deportivo ("Thorn" off Fabricio's side at Deportivo); La Voz de Galicia, 22 October 2014 (in Spanish)</ref>

Return to River

On 26 June 2017, ten years after leaving for Europe, the 35-year-old Lux returned to River Plate on a three-year contract.<ref>Germán Lux se marcha a River Plate (Germán Lux goes to River Plate); La Voz de Galicia, 26 June 2017 (in Spanish)</ref> In December 2021, after several years as backup to Franco Armani where he was often criticised for his performances,<ref>Germán Lux demostró una vez más que no está capacitado para ser el arquero de River (Germán Lux showed once again he does not have what it takes to be River's goalkeeper); Sports Illustrated, 8 April 2019 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>Franco Armani dejó la concentración y el arco de River de nuevo está en la mira (Franco Armani left training camp and River goal is again a topic); Clarín, 10 April 2019 (in Spanish)</ref> he announced his retirement.<ref>Germán Lux anunció su retiro (Germán Lux announced his retirement); El Gráfico, 20 December 2021 (in Spanish)</ref>

International career

As a starter during the 2004 Summer Olympics (all six matches, no goals conceded), Lux was instrumental in the gold medal triumph of the Argentina national team, who scored 17.<ref name=GOLD>El oro de la mano de Bielsa (Gold by the hand of Bielsa); Télam, 28 August 2020 (in Spanish)</ref> He made his full debut on 9 March 2005 in a 1–1 friendly draw against Mexico, as manager José Pékerman only fielded players based in the Argentine league.<ref name=Nursery>El semillero de la selección (The national team's nursery); El Gráfico, 20 May 2009 (in Spanish)</ref>

Lux was also first-choice in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup for the runners-up.<ref>Germán Lux: "La Selección Argentina siempre es favorita" (Germán Lux: "The Argentina national team are always the favourites"); La Nueva Provincia, 24 June 2005 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>Brazil claim Confederations Cup; UEFA, 29 June 2005</ref> He was left out of the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, however, and Oscar Ustari was picked instead.<ref name=Nursery/>

Personal life

Lux's older brother, Javier, was also a footballer. A midfielder, he played for several teams during his career.<ref name=ESPN/>

Career statistics

<ref name=SW>Template:Soccerway</ref>

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
River Plate	2001–02	Primera División	3	0	—		0	0	—		3	0
	2003–04		15	0	—		2	0	—		17	0
	2004–05		6	0	—		4	0	—		10	0
	2005–06		28	0	—		10	0	—		38	0
	2006–07		2	0	—		2	0	—		4	0
	Total		54	0	—		18	0	—		72	0
Mallorca	2007–08	La Liga	10	0	4	0	—		—		14	0
	2008–09		14	0	3	0	—		—		17	0
	2009–10		1	0	4	0	—		—		5	0
	2010–11		4	0	4	0	—		—		8	0
	Total		29	0	15	0	—		—		44	0
Deportivo La Coruña	2011–12	Segunda División	4	0	4	0					8	0
	2012–13	La Liga	4	0	2	0	—		—		6	0
	2013–14	Segunda División	37	0	0	0	—		—		37	0
	2014–15	La Liga	7	0	2	0	—		—		9	0
	2015–16		29	0	0	0	—		—		29	0
	2016–17		25	0	0	0	—		—		25	0
	Total		106	0	8	0	—		—		114	0
River Plate	2016–17	Primera División	0	0	3	0	3	0	—		6	0
	2017–18		7	0	2	0	2	0	—		11	0
	2018–19		5	0	1	0	2	0	—		8	0
	2019–20		0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	2020–21		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		12	0	6	0	8	0	—		26	0
Career total			201	0	29	0	26	0	0	0	256	0

Honours

River Plate

• Argentine Primera División: 2002 Clausura, 2004 Clausura<ref name=RIVER/>
• Copa Libertadores: 2018<ref name=SW/>
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2019<ref name=SW/>

Deportivo

• Segunda División: 2011–12<ref name=SW/>

Argentina

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2001<ref>Mundial Sub 20: cómo le fue y quiénes jugaban en Argentina cuando le tocó ser sede (Under 20 World Cup: how it went down and who played for Argentina when they were hosts); El Litoral, 17 April 2023 (in Spanish)</ref>
• Summer Olympic Games: 2004<ref name=GOLD/>
• CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2004<ref>Preolímpico: La duda de Bielsa es bajo los tres palos (Pre-Olympic: Bielsa's doubt lies between the posts); El Mercurio, 4 January 2004 (in Spanish)</ref><ref>La Argentina se clasificó para Atenas 2004 (Argentina qualified for Athens 2004); La Nación, 23 January 2004 (in Spanish)</ref>

External links

• Template:BDFA
• Template:BDFutbol
• Template:NFT player
• Template:FIFA player