Julen Guerrero

Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Julen Guerrero López (born 7 January 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played solely for Athletic Bilbao as an attacking midfielder.

He appeared in 430 official games for his only club, scoring 116 goals and helping them to finish second in La Liga in the 1997–98 season.<ref name=Legend>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A Spain international between 1993 and 2000, Guerrero represented the country at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, as well as Euro 1996. After retiring, he coached several age groups of the national team, and had a brief spell at club level with Amorebieta.

Club career

Born in Portugalete in Biscay, Guerrero joined Athletic Bilbao as an eight-year-old,<ref name=Boots>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Goodbye>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and subsequently progressed through the junior ranks of the club. Along with Aitor Karanka, he was a member of the under-19 team that won a national double of cup and league in 1991–92, and also appeared and scored for the reserves in the Segunda División during the same season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Guerrero made his senior debut on 6 September 1992 aged 18, under Jupp Heynckes.<ref name=Pride>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> He quickly made an impact and, although a midfielder, totalled 28 La Liga goals in his first two seasons (65 in six). He was awarded the New Spanish Player of the Year by El País in 1993, and won the Spanish Footballer of the Year by both Don Balón and El País the following year.<ref name=POTY>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1993–94 he scored a hat-trick against Albacete (4–1, home),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> adding four against Sporting de Gijón (7–0 also at the San Mamés Stadium);<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> his arrival at the first team was met with unprecedented furor amongst the younger population due to both his footballing abilities and his charisma,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and he became one of the first football celebrities as his pop-like figure boosted Athletic's image overseas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He finished the campaign with 18 – fifth in the charts<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>– and was named the side's youngest-ever captain by Dragoslav Stepanović shortly after.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The early promise Guerrero showed attracted interest from, among others, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Juventus, Lazio and Manchester United. However, he remained loyal to Athletic and, in 1997, signed a ten-year contract which was the longest in the club's history, and also made him the team's highest-paid player.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Goodbye/><ref name=Pride/>

In 1997–98, Guerrero netted eight times in 29 matches as the Basques finished second, leading to direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League where he put on strong performances in the group stage against Juventus and Galatasaray.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Subsequently, however, his career went into decline and, in 2002, he was deemed surplus to requirements by coach Luis Fernández while still only 28;<ref name=Boots/><ref name=Pride/> in his last four seasons he could only manage 57 games with just four goals but, despite his poor form, remained a fan favourite,<ref name=Legend/> and the decision to drop him caused some controversy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Guerrero announced his retirement as a player at an emotional press conference on 11 July 2006.<ref name=Boots/><ref name=Goodbye/> He scored 116 goals in 430 competitive matches over the course of 14 seasons, including four in 17 appearances in various European competitions,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but did not win any major honours.<ref name=Legend/>

International career

Guerrero training with Spain in 1994

On 27 January 1993, when still only 19, Guerrero made his debut for Spain in a friendly with Mexico, in Las Palmas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Boots/> He went on to play 41 games and score 13 goals,<ref name=Goodbye/> and also represented the nation at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euro 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Among Guerrero's personal international highlights were hat-tricks against Malta (3–0 in Attard, on 18 December 1996)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Cyprus (8–0, 8 September 1999).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His last international took place in October 2000.<ref name=RSSSF>Template:Cite web</ref>

Guerrero also played 11 timesTemplate:Efn for the Basque Country autonomous team between 1993 and 2006, scoring six goals – this included another hat-trick in 1997, against Yugoslavia. Both were records for some years,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although Xabi Prieto went on to appear in more matches<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Aritz Aduriz scored more goals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Style of play

Often hailed as one of the greatest attacking midfielders of his generation,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Boots/> Guerrero was ambidextrous, and was renowned for his free kicks and finishing skills, derived from his sharp nose for goals. He was often referred to by the media as El Rey León (The Lion King) and La Perla de Lezama (The Pearl of Lezama).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Coaching career

Immediately after retiring, Guerrero took charge of the Lezama youth ranks,<ref name=Goodbye/> leaving the post after two years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was subsequently in charge of Spain's youths, working with the under-16s, under-15s and under-17s until his departure on 5 June 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 20 June 2024, Guerrero was appointed manager of Amorebieta, recently relegated to Primera Federación.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 29 October, with only one win in ten matches and with his team bottom of the table, he was dismissed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Guerrero's younger brother, José Félix, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He was also brought up at Athletic Bilbao, but only appeared for the reserve team.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Julen also opened the Restaurante Julen Guerrero in Zamudio, and worked as an online columnist for Eurosport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His son Julen Jon Guerrero is also a midfielder who developed mainly at Real Madrid,<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Subscription required</ref> represented Spain at youth levels<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and briefly played under his father at Amorebieta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>Template:BDFutbol</ref>

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bilbao Athletic	1991–92	12	6	–		–		12	6
Athletic Bilbao	1992–93	37	10	0	0	–		37	10
	1993–94	36	18	4	3	–		40	21
	1994–95	27	13	2	1	4	2	33	16
	1995–96	33	9	6	1	–		39	10
	1996–97	38	15	5	1	–		43	16
	1997–98	29	8	3	0	1	0	33	8
	1998–99	36	9	2	1	8	2	46	12
	1999–2000	32	6	3	0	–		35	6
	2000–01	27	4	2	0	–		29	4
	2001–02	20	5	6	2	–		26	7
	2002–03	14	0	2	2	–		16	2
	2003–04	14	1	0	0	–		14	1
	2004–05	12	3	4	0	2	0	18	3
	2005–06	17	0	2	0	2	0	21	0
	Total	372	101	41	11	17	4	430	116
Career total		384	107	41	11	17	4	442	122

International

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Guerrero goal.

List of international goals scored by Julen Guerrero<ref name=RSSSF/>

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 June 1993	Žalgiris Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	1994 World Cup qualification
2				2–0
3	8 September 1993	Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	Friendly
4				2–0
5	29 March 1995	Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	Euro 1996 qualifying
6	6 September 1995	Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain	Template:Fb	1–0	6–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
7	20 September 1995	Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain	Template:Fb	2–0	2–1	Friendly
8	18 December 1996	Ta' Qali, Attard, Malta	Template:Fb	1–0	3–0	1998 World Cup qualification
9				2–0
10				3–0
11	8 September 1999	Vivero, Badajoz, Spain	Template:Fb	3–0	8–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
12				5–0
13				6–0

Honours

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship third place: 1994<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Individual

• La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: 1993<ref name=POTY/>
• Spanish Player of the Year: 1994<ref name=POTY/>

See also

• List of one-club men

External links

• Template:BDFutbol
• Template:Athletic Bilbao profile
• Template:NFT player
• Template:FIFA player