Full name Enrique Alvarez Costas 1965–1971 Celta Position Defender Years Team Height 1.79 m | Playing position Role Football player Place of birth Vigo, Spain Name Quique Costas | |
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Date of birth (1947-01-16) 16 January 1947 (age 68) | ||
Enrique 'Quique' Álvarez Costas (born 16 January 1947) is a Spanish retired football defender and coach.
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He played in 229 La Liga games over the course of 11 seasons (nine goals), in representation of Celta and Barcelona.
In the 1990s Costas began a lengthy managerial career, mainly being in charge of Barcelona B.
Club career
Born in Vigo, Galicia, Costas began his professional career with local Celta de Vigo in 1965. He played 26 second division games in his first season, including both legs of the La Liga playoff promotion against CE Sabadell FC.
After solid performances in the 1970–71 campaign, Costas moved to league powerhouse FC Barcelona after 170 overall appearances. Almost never an undisputed starter he was still used regularly, and helped the Catalans to the 1979 conquest of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in his penultimate year.
Costas took up coaching afterwards, eventually managing Barcelona's B-side on three occasions. On one of them he coincided with his son Quique Álvarez, a La Masia youth product and also a defender, who went on to play with success for Villarreal CF; he had another son, Óscar, who occupied the same position and competed mainly in the second and third levels.
International career
Costas earned 13 caps for Spain, during a five-year period. His debut came on 11 February 1970 in a 2–0 friendly win with West Germany (90 minutes played).
Costas was not selected, however, for any major international tournament, as the country did not manage to reach any during that timeframe.