Juan Carlos Arteche Gómez (11 April 1957 – 13 October 2010) was a Spanish footballer who played as a central defender.
A player of imposing physical presence with great aerial ability,Arteche nació central (Arteche was born a stopper); El País, 13 October 2010 (in Spanish) he spent 11 years of his professional career with Atlético Madrid, appearing in 421 competitive games for the club.'Artechenbauer', casta cántabra ('Artechenbauer', Cantabrian spunk); Mundo Deportivo, 27 October 2004 (in Spanish)
Club career Born in Maliaño, Cantabria, Arteche began playing professionally with local Racing de Santander after starting in basketball and tennis.Arteche, la 'muralla' del Atlético de Madrid (Arteche, the 'wall' of Atlético de Madrid); El Diario Montañés, 13 October 2010 (in Spanish) He made his debut in the 1976–77 season and appeared in 16 La Liga games as the club finished 15th, barely avoiding relegation.Fallece a los 53 años el futbolista Juan Carlos Arteche (Death of footballer Juan Carlos Arteche at age 53); Público, 13 October 2010 (in Spanish)
After one more year with Racing, Arteche signed for Atlético Madrid, being an undisputed starter early on as well as captain. In 1984–85, he helped the Colchoneros to the second position in the league only behind champions FC Barcelona and that campaign's Copa del Rey; subsequently, they reached the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, a 3–0 loss against FC Dynamo Kyiv.European Competitions 1985–86; at RSSSF
After only two matches in 1988–89, mainly due to serious personal problems with elusive Atlético chairman Jesús Gil,Arteche, Landáburu, Quique y Setién ganan a Gil en los juzgados, pero no juegan (Arteche, Landáburu, Quique and Setién win court battle with Gil, but do not play); El País, 2 December 1988 (in Spanish) Arteche chose to retire at 32.
International career Arteche won four caps for Spain in three months, his debut coming against Romania on 12 November 1986 for the UEFA Euro 1988 qualifiers. In his last appearance, he could not stop England's Gary Lineker from scoring all of the opposition's goals in the 4–2 friendly loss in Madrid.2–4: Gary Lineker, al frente de la escuadra inglesa, hundió en el Bernabéu a la España de Miguel Muñoz (2–4: Gary Lineker, at the helm of the English side, sank Miguel Muñoz's Spain at the Bernabéu); ABC, 19 February 1987 (in Spanish)A Lineker se le da bien el Bernabéu (Lineker sure likes the Bernabéu); El País, 19 February 1987 (in Spanish)
Death After a long battle with blood cancer, Arteche died in Madrid on 13 October 2010. He was 53.Fallece el futbolista Juan Carlos Arteche a causa de un cáncer (Footballer Juan Carlos Arteche dies due to cancer); El País, 13 October 2010 (in Spanish)
Honours Atlético Madrid Copa del Rey: 1984–85; runner-up: 1986–87 Supercopa de España: 1985 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1985–86
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