Full name Sergi Lopez Segu Name Sergi Segu Place of birth Granollers, Spain Role Footballer | Place of death Granollers, Spain Height 1.8 m Years Team | |
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Date of birth (1967-10-06)6 October 1967 Date of death 4 November 2006(2006-11-04) (aged 39) Died November 4, 2006, Granollers, Spain | ||
Sergi López Segu - El alma de la Recopa - Real Zaragoza
Sergi López Segú (6 October 1967 – 4 November 2006) was a Spanish footballer who played as a central defender.
Contents
- Sergi Lpez Segu El alma de la Recopa Real Zaragoza
- Football career
- Post retirement and death
- Honours
- References
During his career he played professionally for three clubs, mainly Barcelona. He appeared in 62 La Liga games over the course of eight seasons (two goals), also representing in the competition Mallorca and Zaragoza.
After some personal problems, Sergi López (the older brother of Barcelona and Valencia's Gerard López) committed suicide in 2006, at the age of 39.
Football career
Born in Granollers, Barcelona, Catalonia, in his early years López was a promising talent, and both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were interested in signing him for its youth squads. The former's scout, Oriol Tort, whom at that time also followed players like Sergi Barjuán and Pep Guardiola, convinced the López family to choose his club.
López started out in Barcelona's cantera, with younger brothers Juli and Gerard following later. He made his first-team debut on 6 November 1988, in a 0–0 away draw against Real Valladolid where he came on as a 46th-minute substitute for Gary Lineker; including Copa del Rey and European matches, he eventually totalled less than 30 appearances, and helped Barça win one La Liga championship, two Spanish Cups and the 1988–89 edition of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup to which he contributed with one hour of play in a 0–0 home draw to Aarhus Gymnastikforening for the quarter-finals' second leg.
In the 1991 summer, López moved to RCD Mallorca, but was transferred to fellow league side Real Zaragoza after only one season. Although he never featured much, he still helped the Aragonese to a domestic cup, being discarded by manager Víctor Fernández for the final of the following Cup Winners' Cup; after a small spell with modest CF Gavà in Segunda División B, the 28-year-old retired due to recurrent knee problems.
Post-retirement and death
After his football career, López moved to Argentina where he married, and where his only child was born. The marriage failed eventually and this, in combination with the early end of his playing days, resulted in clinical depression. While still in Argentina he was taken to a psychiatric hospital, but was forced to return to Spain due to financial problems; he committed suicide by throwing himself under a train on 4 November 2006, at 39.
López's funeral, held on 6 November, was attended by many notable people from within the world of football. Former teammates Guillermo Amor, Txiki Begiristain, Guardiola and Sergi (Barcelona), Xavier Aguado and Santiago Aragón (Zaragoza) and Josep Serer (Mallorca) were all present, alongside Barcelona president Joan Laporta and player Samuel Eto'o, former Valencia CF president Pedro Cortés and the full squad and staff of AS Monaco FC (to support brother Gerard, who represented the French).