| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Ignacio Sáenz Marín | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-09-28)28 September 1973 (age 52) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Logroño, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| CD Logroñés | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | CD Logroñés B | 42 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | CD Logroñés | 48 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | Valencia | 61 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | Zaragoza | 146 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Celta | 73 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Logroñés CF | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 380 | (21) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Spain U21 | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Spain U23 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Spain | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
José Ignacio Sáenz Marín (born 28 September 1973), known asJosé Ignacio, is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder.
Born inLogroño,La Rioja, José Ignacio made his professional debut for hometown clubCD Logroñés. Upon itsLa Liga relegation at the end of the1994–95 season he signed forValencia CF, helping with 27 matches to a finalrunner-up place in his first year.[1][2]
In the summer of 1997, José Ignacio moved toReal Zaragoza, where he would spend five seasons. In the2000–01 campaign he scored a career-best six goals, including one in a 14 April 2001thriller atFC Barcelona that finished 4–4[3] as theAragonese went on to barely avoid relegation (17th, addingthat year'sCopa del Rey),[4] which would eventually befallthe next year.[5][6]
José Ignacio joinedRC Celta de Vigo for2002–03, making 33 league appearances as theGalician sidequalified for theUEFA Champions League; in that tournament, he closed the 2–1 away win overAC Milan on 9 December 2003 to qualify his team for the knockout stages alongside the Italians. However, they would also be relegated toSegunda División on thedomestic front.[7]
Upon retiring in 2006 aged 33,one year after playing only 11 games as Celtareturned to the top tier, José Ignacio rejoined his first club Logroñés as adirector of football.[8] Over 11 top-flight seasons, he amassed totals of 317 matches and 17 goals.
José Ignacio earned twocaps forSpain in 2001. The first came in the2002 FIFA World Cupqualifiers againstLiechtenstein on 5 September,[9] and he also appeared in afriendly inHuelva withMexico two months later.[10]
Previously, José Ignaciorepresented the nation at the1996 Summer Olympics.[11][12]
Zaragoza
Spain U21
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