Albert Luque

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Personal information
Albert Luque
Full name	Albert Luque Martos
Date of birth	March 11 1978 (age 31)
Place of birth	Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain
Height	1.8 m
Position	Forward, Left winger
Club information
Current club	Newcastle United
Number	7
Youth clubs
????–1997	FC Barcelona B
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–02 2002–05 2005–present	Real Mallorca Málaga (loan) Real Mallorca Deportivo La Coruna Newcastle United	5 (0) 23 (3) 68 (24) 100 (26) 16 (1)
National team**
2002–present	Spain	9 (1)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:00, 13 October 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 08:06, 09 August 2006 (UTC).

Olympic medal record
Football
Silver	2000 Sydney	Football

Albert Luque Martos (born March 11, 1978 in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a football player from Catalonia, Spain. He can play as either an attacking midfielder (left) or a striker. He currently plays for Newcastle United F.C. after signing from Deportivo de La Coruña.

[edit] History

A lifelong supporter of Barcelona, he started out in football on trial with them, but manager Louis van Gaal didn't consider him good enough and he was released by FC Barcelona B at the age of 19.

He was transferred from RCD Mallorca in 2002 in a deal worth €15 million (approximately £10 million), along with strikers Turu Flores & Walter Pandiani (on loan).

He was taken on by Real Mallorca's B-team in 1998, but broke through to the first team after a successful loan spell at Málaga CF the following year, where he made 23 La Liga appearances and scored 5 goals. Later, he scored 9 goals for Mallorca in the 2000-2001 season helping them qualify for the UEFA Champions League pre-round for the first time in their history by finishing third. Luque’s extra-time goal in the qualifying round against Hajduk Split in the summer of 2001 that carried Mallorca into the first group stage.

He also played for Spain's side in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, winning a silver medal.

The following year he scored 14 goals and earned himself a place in Spain's World Cup squad.

He made his international debut on 12 June, 2002 and appeared twice as a substitute in the Far East, coming on in the matches against South Africa and the Republic of Ireland. He made a brief appearance, out of position on the right-wing for Spain in Euro 2004.

In his first season at Deportivo, he scored the memorable winning goal against his former club Málaga with a bicycle kick. That season Luque scored other winners against Athletic Bilbao, Racing de Santander and RCD Espanyol. He scored a total of 12 goals in that season, although mostly from substitute appearances.

The 2003-2004 season saw Luque's real breakthrough into Deportivo's first team. He scored the winner against Rosenborg B.K. in the Champions League qualifying round that summer. He also scored important goals against PSV Eindhoven, Juventus and AC Milan.

In August 2005, Luque was sold to Newcastle United for a fee of €14 million (£9.5 Million), signing a 5 year contract. Albert Luque made an impressive debut against Manchester United at St. James Park but in his next game he suffered a hamstring injury while playing against Fulham.

Since returning, he has been used in a number of roles for Newcastle United including left midfield, failing to live up to his large price tag.

On the 17 April 2006, Albert Luque scored his first goal for United in the much anticipated Tyne-Wear derby football match when he broke free from the Sunderland defence and calmly beat the goalkeeper. He commented after the game that he hoped to score two or three more goals before the end of the season and thanked the Newcastle United physio for bringing him back to full fitness after the hamstring injury that has hindered his debut Newcastle season. However caretaker boss Glenn Roeder rarely picked Luque to be on the subs bench let alone the starting line up and by the end of the 2005-6 season many Newcastle United fans were still waiting to see what Luque can offer the club.

On 11 May 2006, although not in a competitive game, Luque scored a memorable volley in Alan Shearer's sold-out testimonial match against Celtic at St James' Park, which Newcastle won 3-2. This was followed with his first competitive home goal against Lillestrom at the start of Newcastle's intertoto cup tournament.

Albert Luque came on as a substitute in Newcastle's 3-2 friendly defeat to PSV Eindhoven on 29th July 2006. In this game he showed some real glimpses of his class and capped off a great performance by scoring a penalty.

However despite the glimpses of potential, including two spectacular 30 yard strikes for the Newcastle United Reserves in October 2006, Luque continues to be the apparent 6th choice striker/forward behind Owen, Martins, Ameobi, Sibierski and Rossi. His constant exclusions from even the substitues bench leave Luque in a seemingly hopeless position at Newcastle, and his future at the club must be questioned.

Despite his low status in the pecking order, a number of injuries meant that Luque was awarded a start against Serie A Table-toppers Palermo on 2nd November 2006 in the UEFA Cup and rewarded Roeder's apparent forced choice with scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win.

[edit] Source

Some of the information herein was taken from the unofficial Deportivo club site: *http://www.deportivo-la-coruna.com

[edit] External links

Albert Luque career stats at Soccerbase

Image:Flag of Spain.svg	Spain squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists	Image:Flag of Spain.svg
1 Casillas \| 2 Torres \| 3 Juanfran \| 4 Helguera \| 5 Puyol \| 6 Hierro \| 7 Raúl \| 8 Baraja \| 9 Morientes \| 10 Tristán \| 11 de Pedro \| 12 Luque \| 13 Ricardo \| 14 Albelda \| 15 Romero \| 16 Mendieta \| 17 Valerón \| 18 Sergio \| 19 Xavi \| 20 Nadal \| 21 Luis Enrique \| 22 Joaquín \| 23 Contreras \| Coach: Camacho