Roberto Ríos
Spanish footballer and coach
 Ríos training with Betis in 2010 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roberto Ríos Patus | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1971-10-08) 8 October 1971 (age 52) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bilbao, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1990 | Betis | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Betis B | 24 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1997 | Betis | 114 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | Athletic Bilbao | 78 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 216 | (18) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Spain U19 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Spain U21 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Spain | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Basque Country | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Betis (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | West Bromwich Albion (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Betis (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Deportivo La Coruña (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Las Palmas (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Roberto Ríos Patus (born 8 October 1971) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a central defender.
Club career
Although Basque-born (in Bilbao), Ríos emerged through the youth system of Real Betis, making his professional debut in the Segunda División in the 1992–93 season.[1] He went on to contribute importantly in the Andalusians' promotion the following year – although appearing in only 19 matches, he scored four times – and become a regular first-team member onwards.
In summer 1997, following rumours of a transfer to Manchester United earlier in February, Ríos was signed by Athletic Bilbao for 2 billion pesetas, a then-record for a national player.[2] In his first season, he netted twice in 32 games (including once in a 5–1 home win over CP Mérida, on 21 December 1997)[3] as the Basque side finished runners-up in La Liga.
After spending the first months of the 2002–03 campaign without a club and having totalled only 27 appearances in his last three years at Athletic, Ríos trained with West Bromwich Albion. However, in January 2003 he rejected a contract offer from the Gary Megson-led team, stating "I don't want to fool anyone" about his chances of regaining full fitness.[4]
Ríos retired aged 30, due to persistent injury problems.[5] He returned to Betis in 2010, as part of newly appointed manager Pepe Mel's coaching staff.[6][7]
International career
Ríos was capped 11 times by Spain,[8] with his debut coming on 9 October 1996 in a 0–0 away draw against the Czech Republic in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[9] In spite of having appeared significantly during the campaign and coming from a solid club season with Athletic, he was overlooked for the final stages in France.[10]
Personal life
Ríos' father, Eusebio, was also a footballer and a defender. He too played most of his career at Betis, and later managed the club.[11]
Honours
Spain U21
- UEFA European Championship third place: 1994
References
- ^ El Betis supo marcar las diferencias en Sestao (Betis knew how to make a difference in Sestao); ABC, 14 September 1992 (in Spanish)
- ^ Ríos y el Athletic pasan a la historia (Ríos and Athletic make history); El Mundo, 20 July 1997 (in Spanish)
- ^ Fin de año con goleada (Rout to end the year); El Mundo, 22 December 1997 (in Spanish)
- ^ Rios snubs Baggies; BBC Sport, 21 January 2003
- ^ Bilbao Ríos 2000; El Desmarque, 29 October 2015 (in Spanish)
- ^ Pepe Mel negocia con Chivas (Pepe Mel negotiates with Chivas); Diario AS, 27 September 2014 (in Spanish)
- ^ Ríos: “No me veo como primer entrenador; mi intención es estar muchos años con Mel” (Ríos: "I do not see myself as head coach; I intend to spend many years with Mel"); ABC, 7 October 2015 (in Spanish)
- ^ Roberto Ríos, el hombre de los 2.000 millones (Roberto Ríos, the 2.000 million man); La Provincia, 6 March 2019 (in Spanish)
- ^ La nueva España aguó la fiesta checa (New Spain crashed Czech party); La Vanguardia, 10 October 1996 (in Spanish)
- ^ Alfonso: «Me extraña lo de Ríos» (Alfonso: "I find that Ríos stuff strange"); El País, 8 May 1998 (in Spanish)
- ^ Fallece a los 73 años Eusebio Ríos (Eusebio Ríos dies at the age of 73); Diario de Sevilla, 12 May 2008 (in Spanish)
External links
- Roberto Ríos at BDFutbol
- Betisweb stats and bio (in Spanish) at archive.today (archived 19 August 2013)
- Roberto Ríos at Athletic Bilbao
- Roberto Ríos at National-Football-Teams.com
- Roberto Ríos – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Roberto Ríos at EU-Football.info
