José Ramón Alexanko

Football manager infobox
playername = José Ramón Alexanko| fullname = José Ramón Alexanko Ventosá
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1956|5|5
cityofbirth = Barakaldo, Vizcaya
countryofbirth = Spain
currentclub = FC Barcelona (staff)
position = defender
youthyears = 1972-74
youthclubs = Llodio| years = 1974-76 1976-77 1977-80 1980-93
clubs = Bilbao Athletic Deportivo Alavés Athletic Bilbao FC Barcelona
caps(goals) = 97 (9) 5 (0) 91 (8) 247 (26)
nationalyears = 1978-82 1979
nationalteam = Spain Basque Country
nationalcaps(goals) = 34 (4) 1 (0)
manageryears =
managerclubs = FC Universitatea Craiova FC Naţional Bucureşti

José Ramón Alexanko Ventosá (born May 5 1956 in Barakaldo, Vizcaya), also referred to as Alesanco or Alexanco, is a former Spanish footballer and manager. He is currently director of youth development at FC Barcelona. He played as a defender for Bilbao Athletic, Deportivo Alavés, Athletic Bilbao, FC Barcelona, Spain and the Euskadi XI. Alexanko was captain of the legendary "Dream Team" while at FC Barcelona and helped the club win sixteen trophies. After retiring as a player in 1993 he went onto coach both FC Universitatea Craiova and FC Naţional Bucureşti in Romania. He also worked as assistant manager to Carles Rexach when the latter as manager of FC Barcelona.

Career

Athletic Bilbao

Alexanko played as a junior with Llodio before joining Athletic Bilbao in 1974. After two seasons with the Bilbao Athletic, the Athletic reserve team, he went on loan to Deportivo Alavés before making his senior debut with Athletic Bilbao in 1976. He subsequently played 91 La Liga games for Athletic, scoring 8 goals. The highlight of his career at Athletic was winning two runners-up medals in 1977 - one in the Copa del Rey and one in the UEFA Cup. Among his team mates were the veterans José Ángel Iribar and Javier Irureta.

FC Barcelona

In 1980 Alexanko signed for FC Barcelona where he paved the way for a number of fellow Basque players including Andoni Zubizarreta, Txiki Beguiristain, Julio Salinas, Goikoetxea and José Mari Bakero . With Alexanko as captain they formed the backbone of the legendary "Dream Team". His personal highlights included scoring the winning goal as FC Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in the 1988 Copa del Rey final and coming on as a late substitute in the 1992 European Cup final, enabling him to lift the trophy.

International career

Between 1978 and 1982, Alexanko also made 34 international appearances and scored 4 goals for Spain, playing at both Euro 1980 and the 1982 World Cup. He also played one game for the Euskadi XI in 1979.

Honours

FC Barcelona

*Spanish Champions: 4
**1984-85, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93

*European Cup: 1
**1992

*European Cup Winners Cup: 2
**1982, 1989

*European Super Cup: 1
**1992

*Copa del Rey: 3
**1980-81, 1982 - 1983, 1987-88, 1989-90

*Supercopa de España: 3
** 1983, 1991, 1992

*Copa de la Liga: 2
**1983, 1986

External links

* [http://futbol.sportec.es/seleccion/ficha_jugador.asp?j=21&n=alexanko/jose/ramon/alexanko/ventosa Spain stats]
* [http://www.athletic-club.net/acc/home.asp?a=7&b=250&equipo=1&jug=114&idi=2 Player statistics at Athletic Bilbao's official website]