Iván de la Peña López (; born 6 May 1976) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.
Having started out at Barcelona, he closed out his 18-year senior career, where he earned the nicknames ('Little Buddha') and ('The Shaven One') due to his shaven head and small stature, at neighbouring Espanyol, amassing La Liga totals of 269 games and 19 goals. He won the 2005–06 Copa del Rey with the latter club, and several others with the former.
De la Peña earned caps for Spain in 2005.
Club career Born in Santander, Cantabria, de la Peña was recruited to FC Barcelona's academy in 1991 and made his senior debut for the reserves two years later. He went on to play 37 games for them, and first-team manager Johan Cruyff handed him his official debut for the main squad on 3 September 1995 as he came on as a substitute – and scored – in a 2–0 away win against Real Valladolid; at 19, he was initially regarded as the natural successor to Pep Guardiola. However, he gradually fell out of favour and found himself dropped, although he netted 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 squad that won the Copa del Rey/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Supercup treble in 1997. He was also voted best young player by newspaper El País twice during this timeframe.
De la Peña was deemed surplus to requirements at Barça once again after another Dutch coach was appointed, Louis van Gaal, and he was consequently transferred to SS Lazio along with Fernando Couto. However, he failed to establish himself in Serie A and was loaned to Olympique de Marseille. This move was not successful either, and he returned to Barcelona on loan for 2000–01; after only appearing nine times throughout the season under Lorenzo Serra Ferrer (one start, against Racing de Santander), he returned to Italy, being released the following summer.
On 29 August 2002, de la Peña signed a one-year deal with Barcelona neighbours RCD Espanyol, where he produced some of the best football in his career. In 2004–05, he helped the Catalan club to finish fifth in La Liga, enabling it to qualify for the UEFA Cup. In the 2006 domestic cup final, he masterminded a 4–1 victory over Real Zaragoza, being directly involved in two goals: Raúl Tamudo scored in the second minute when he headed in a rebound following a de la Peña free kick, and the pair combined again to set up Luis García; as a result, Espanyol again qualified for the UEFA Cup and eventually reached the competition final, losing to Sevilla FC on penalties.
From 2007 to 2009, with his contract extended, de la Peña was severely hindered by injury problems. However, on 21 February 2009, he managed to net twice in a 2–1 win at Barça in the Derbi Barceloní, as one side ranked first in the league and the other last.
After the death of new captain Daniel Jarque in August 2009, de la Peña was named as his replacement. His physical problems continued to bother him tremendously, to a point which he said that if this became a major issue he would retire, which happened on 22 May 2011 at the age of 35 at the end of a home match against Sevilla.
International career De la Peña, alongside the likes of Gaizka Mendieta, Fernando Morientes and Raúl, played for the Spanish under-21s at both the 1996 UEFA European Championship and the 1996 Summer Olympics. He helped the nation reach the quarter-finals in the latter.
Despite this, de la Peña did not make his debut for the senior team until 9 February 2005, at the age of 28 years and 9 months in a 5–0 victory over San Marino for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers held in Almería. He made a further four appearances until the end of the year, his last being against the same opponents.
Style of play De la Peña was known for his technical skills and accurate passing ability.
Post-retirement On 8 June 2011, de la Peña joined Serie A club AS Roma's coaching staff under new manager Luis Enrique, a former Barcelona teammate. It was announced in August that he would be taking a leave of absence for family reasons.
De la Peña subsequently worked as a player agent, with his agency Footalent representing Barcelona youth products Carles Aleñá, Eric García and Gavi among others.
Personal life De la Peña's son, also named Iván (born 2001), played as a defender in the lower leagues.
On 6 July 2000, he married Lourdes Asensi, daughter of the legendary Barcelona player Juan Manuel Asensi.
Career statistics Club Source: ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBarcelona B1993–94Segunda División30———301994–95314———3141995–9631———31Total375———375Barcelona1995–96La Liga3174072—4291996–973322060114231997–98172202000212Total8111801521110514Lazio1998–99Serie A1503041102312001–02101000—20Total160404110251Marseille (loan)1999–2000Ligue 11210070—191Barcelona (loan)2000–01La Liga901030—120Espanyol2002–03La Liga29000——2902003–0425100——2512004–0529310——3032005–063006080—4402006–0726010101103812007–0812030——1502008–0922400——2242009–104010——502010–112000——20Total1798120181102109Career total334252404743140830
International SpainYearAppsGoals200550Total50
Honours Barcelona La Liga: 1997–98 Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98 Supercopa de España: 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97 UEFA Super Cup: 1997
Lazio Supercoppa Italiana: 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1998–99
Espanyol Copa del Rey: 2005–06 UEFA Cup runner-up: 2006–07
Spain UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 1996
Individual Don Balón Award – Breakthrough Player of the Year: 1995–96, 1996–97
References
External links