Ríos training with Betis in 2010 | |||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Roberto Ríos Patus | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1971-10-08) 8 October 1971 (age 53) | ||||||||||||||||
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
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*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. 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. 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) 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.
Ríos retired aged 30, due to persistent injury problems. He returned to Betis in 2010, as part of newly appointed manager Pepe Mel's coaching staff.
International career
Ríos was capped 11 times by Spain, 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. 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.
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.
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
- 1971 births
- Living people
- Spanish men's footballers
- Footballers from Bilbao
- Men's association football central defenders
- La Liga players
- Segunda División players
- Segunda División B players
- Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers
- Real Betis players
- Athletic Bilbao footballers
- Spain men's youth international footballers
- Spain men's under-21 international footballers
- Spain men's international footballers
- Basque Country men's international footballers
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England
- Real Betis non-playing staff
- West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff