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Iván Alonso
	Alonso in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Iván Daniel Alonso Vallejo
Date of birth	10 April 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Montevideo, Uruguay
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1993	Defensor
1994–1997	River Plate (UY)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1998–1999	River Plate (UY)
2000–2004	Alavés
2004–2009	Murcia
2009–2011	Espanyol
2011–2012	Toluca
2013–2015	Nacional
2016–2017	River Plate
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Iván Daniel Alonso Vallejo (born 10 April 1979) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Gifted with an excellent aerial ability, he was most noted for his Alavés stint, and spent the bulk of his professional career in Spain, playing for three teams and appearing in seven La Liga seasons, three each with Alavés and Espanyol.^[2]

Club career

Early years and Alavés

Born in Montevideo, Alonso started his professional career with local Club Atlético River Plate. After two seasons, he moved to Alavés in Spain, scoring eight league goals – often as a substitute – in first season, while also being an important attacking element in the Basque side's UEFA Cup exploits, as he netted in the final against Liverpool, but ultimately lost 5–4 in extra time;^[3] during his spell, he formed a formidable partnership with Javi Moreno (later of A.C. Milan).^[4]

After playing 2003–04 in the Segunda División, Alonso stayed in that tier, moving to Real Murcia and scoring 11 goals in his debut campaign.^[5] An undisputed starter from his arrival onwards, he added 14 in 40 matches in 2006–07 as the club returned to La Liga after a three-year absence.^[6]

Espanyol

In the 2007–08 season, Alonso was again the team's top scorer at 10, but they would be nonetheless immediately relegated. In January 2009, however, he returned to the top flight, joining Espanyol for €2.4 million on a deal running until the end of the season and two more.^[7] Benefitting from injuries and loss of form to legendary Raúl Tamudo he netted some important goals for the Catalans, including two at Almería on 23 May 2009 which guaranteed their permanence in the top division a further year.^[8]

On 23 September 2009, Alonso scored in the club's first win of the 2009–10 campaign, the first ever at new Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, against Málaga (2–1), and dedicated it to Daniel Jarque, deceased in the team's preseason in Italy.^[9] He would lose his starting job following the arrival, in January 2010, of Dani Osvaldo, on loan;^[10] however, on 11 April, one day after his 31st birthday, he managed to add his name to the scoresheet in Espanyol's 3–0 home victory over Atlético Madrid, having played only one minute after having replaced precisely the Argentine.^[11]

Late career

In June 2011, after 11 years in Spain (amassing professional totals of 344 games and 80 goals), the 32-year-old Alonso moved countries and signed with Toluca of Mexico,^[12] being the Liga MX's top scorer in his first and only season even though the team could only rank in 12th position overall.^[13]

In early July 2012, Alonso left the Red Devils because of a heart condition, subsequently retiring from football – his doctor advised him not to play with Toluca as the high altitude of the city might worsen his condition.^[14] In early 2013, however, he returned to playing, joining hometown's Nacional. He scored 23 goals in the 2014–15 season, helping his team win the Uruguayan Primera División for the 45th time in history.^[15]^[16]

Alonso announced his retirement in April 2018, after two years in Argentina with River Plate.^[17]^[18] On 6 December 2021, he was appointed director of football of Mexico's Pachuca.^[19]

Personal life

Alonso's younger brother, Matías, was also a footballer and a forward. He too began his career at River Plate.^[20]

His cousin Diego Alonso also played several years in Spain.^[21]

Honours

Alavés

UEFA Cup runner-up: 2000–01^[3]

Nacional

Uruguayan Primera División: 2014–15^[15]

River Plate

Individual

Liga MX top scorer: Apertura 2011; joint-top scorer Clausura 2012^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Iván Daniel Alonso Vallejo". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^ "Iván Alonso, un jugador de mucha altura" [Iván Alonso, a player of stature] (in Spanish). La Ciudad Deportiva. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Liverpool win nine-goal epic with golden goal". UEFA. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
^ García, Sergio (10 November 2017). "Una final que marca el mejor Alavés de la historia" [Final the stepping stone for best Alavés in history]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^ "Iván Alonso, la gran excepción en once temporadas" [Iván Alonso, the great exception in eleven seasons]. La Opinión de Murcia (in Spanish). 5 March 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ Pallarés Ripalda, José María (14 May 2007). "«El gol se lo dedico a los que viajaron a Ponferrada»" ["I dedicate the goal to the ones that travelled from Ponferrada"]. La Verdad (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ S. Breis, Manuel (30 January 2009). "El Murcia traspasa a Iván Alonso" [Murcia transfer Iván Alonso]. La Verdad (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2013.
^ "Almeria 0–3 Espanyol". ESPN Soccernet. 23 May 2009. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
^ "La hija de Dani Jarque nació durante el partido del Espanyol" [Dani Jarque's daughter was born during Espanyol's match]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 23 September 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
^ "Osvaldo da vida al Espanyol" [Osvaldo gives life to Espanyol]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 5 April 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^ "Espanyol boost survival hopes". ESPN Soccernet. 11 April 2010. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
^ "Toluca presenta al uruguayo Iván Alonso como refuerzo" [Toluca announce Uruguayan Iván Alonso] (in Spanish). Terra. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
^ ^a ^b García, Ana Laura (28 June 2017). "¿Qué fue de Iván Alonso, el goleador de Toluca que sufría problemas cardíacos?" [What happened to Iván Alonso, the Toluca scorer who had heart problems?]. Publímetro (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 July 2018.
^ Monforte, Felipe (8 July 2012). "Iván Alonso se retira del fútbol activo" [Iván Alonso retires from active football]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2012.
^ ^a ^b "¿Quién llega mejor a las finales?" [Who arrives better to the finals?]. La República (in Spanish). 9 June 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ "Nacional derrota a Peñarol 3–2 y es campeón uruguayo" [Nacional beat Peñarol 3–2 and are Uruguayan champions]. El Telégrafo (in Spanish). 14 June 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ "Iván Alonso deja Nacional y ficha por River Plate por motivos deportivos" [Iván Alonso leaves Nacional and signs for River Plate for sporting reasons] (in Spanish). EFE. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ "Iván Alonso anunció su retirada" [Iván Alonso announced his retirement] (in Spanish). Be Soccer. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ "Iván Alonso, nuevo director deportivo de Pachuca" [Iván Alonso, new sporting director of Pachuca]. Marca (in Spanish). 6 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^ "El Real Murcia B tendrá a Matías Alonso, hermano de Iván Alonso" [Real Murcia B will have Matías Alonso, Iván Alonso's brother] (in Spanish). Join Futbol. 8 July 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
^ Ros, Cayetano; Villalba, Juan M. (8 February 2001). "Primos hermanos bajo distinta bandera" [First cousins under a different flag]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 April 2016.
^ "River Plate win 4–3 thriller to lift Copa Argentina". Marca. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ "Recopa: River le gana 2 a 1 a Santa Fe y es bicampeón" [Recopa: River beat Santa Fe 2 to 1 and are back-to-back champions] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2019.