ANTONIO LÓPEZ HABAS
PRE-ISL
Born in Córdoba, 1957, López had an unassuming career as a professional footballer, appearing in 48 La Liga matches over the course of four seasons, eight of those for Sevilla FC to where he arrived in 1977 from local amateurs CD Pozoblanco, first being assigned to Sevilla Atlético.
He also represented Real Murcia, Burgos CF and Atlético Madrid (no appearances for the latter), retiring from the game at only 29 years of age. In 1981–82 he scored an astonishing 13 goals in 32 games fr Burgos, which
nonetheless suffered Segunda División relegation due to financial irregularities.
Habas started his managerial career 33 years old. During his first tentative years, he trained less Spanish clubs before he took on his first major coaching job as coach of the Bolivian national team 1995. With this national team, he managed to win a silver medal in the Copa America.
In 1997 he returned to his home country and trained among others Sporting Gijon and Cordoba for short periods before he disappeared from the football scene a few years.
Three years after his last job, with lowly Granada CF, López was hired by Valencia CF to help develop its youth sides. However, after the sacking of Italian Claudio Ranieri, he managed the first team for 14 games, as the Che, the previous league champions, eventually finished seventh.
He went on to coach Tenerife and Celta Vigo in his home country but decided to settle as the directot for the Target Football Academy in Thailan 2010. In recent years Habas was additionally involved
with South African football as a coach.
Indian Super League
In August 2014, López was named coach of Atlético de Kolkata in the
Indian Super League. From the first moment he expressed his desire
to put together a strong squad, and said he tactically drew inspiration
from the club's owner, Atletico Madrid, with fast counterattack soccer.
Upon his first visit to Kolkata's training ground Habas expressed his
dissatisfaction for the facilities. He compared the ground with the ones he
had when he coached Bolivia and moved Kolkata's pre-season to Spain.
On 25 October he was given a four-match suspension and fined INR
for his involvement in a spat with FC Goa's Robert Pires, which was
reduced to two upon appeal.
Habas made history when he became the first manager to win the ISL. After the final match, he expressed his joy for his players and staff. He called the Indian Super League a "fantastic experience," and said it had been a lot tougher than he had thought.
TIMELINE COACHING CAREER
90-91
At.Madrid B
91-92
Las Rozas
92-93
Aranjuez CF
93-94, 95-97
Bolivia
94-95, 00-01
Bolivar
95-96
Lleida
98
Sporting Gijon
01
Granada
05
Valencia
05
Tenerife
07-08
Celta Vigo
10-11
Mamelodi Sundowns
12-13
Wits University
14 -
Atl. Kolkata
ATLETICO KOLKATA STATS
6 WINS DEBUT: October 12, 2014 - Mumbai City
8 DRAWS LAST APPERANCE: December, 20 - Kerala Blasters
3 LOSSES
QUOTES & INTERVIEWS
July 8, 2014 - "I think that we have the necessary infrastructure and facilities present. We need to build on it because the young players today require the best of facilities and good guidance to nurture their talent. I've also coached the Bolivian team with similar infrastructure. I can understand where we need to progress and what can be done to achieve the next level in terms of players and the infrastructure." [ATLETICO KOLKATA FACEBOOKPAGE]
July 8, 2014 - "This is the first time I will coach in Asia and that in itself is a challenge... (click for more)" [TELEGRAPH INDIA]
August 23, 2014 - "The training in Spain will look to introduce the players to the Spanish or the La Liga methodology and the Atletico Madrid philosophy, which will form the basis of the team’s approach in the tournament." [THEHINDU]
September 5, 2014 - "First objective for me is to build a group of people. After that we have to build a competetive team...(click for more)" [ATLETICO KOLKATA YOUTUBE]
September 8, 2014 - "Training in Spain is our primary measure towards building a team. The desicion to train at a higer altitude would put the abilities of the players under scruinty and in the long run benefit the players to match pace and energy when they play in familiar condititions in India. " [NDTV SPORTS]
October 10, 2014 - "We're calm and ready to face the challenge of the Indian Super League... (click for more)" [ATLETICO MADRID WEBSITE]
October 11, 2014 - "We want to play in fatafati style. I want Kolkata to play in their own style. We have gone well with the people of the city but result is more important. We have professional players playing all over the world. [ZEENEWS]
November 14, 2014 - "It is not right to ban someone and then warn him too. They found no proof against me [punching Pires] when they reviewed the incident. As a coach, I know what to do and that makes accepting the sentence more difficult." [HINDUSTANTIMES]
November 14, 2014 - "The international draft is not the best. If there has to be a draft, it must be restricted to Indian under-21 or under-23 players because this, after all, is about development of Indian football." [HINDUSTANTIMES]
November 15, 2014 - "We always think positive, we fight hard for good results. We always have the same plan, we try to play with discipline, we fight hard and always keep a good respect for our opponents." [FOOTIECULTURE]
December 2, 2014 - "I don’t know why the referees have been against us from the beginning of the league." [INDIANEXPRESS]
December 19, 2014 - "Coaching Kolkata was a wonderful experience... (click for more)" [INDIAN SUPER LEAGUE]
