Victoriano Rivas Álvaro (Spanish pronunciation: [biɣtoˈɾjano ˈriβas ˈalβaɾo]; born 7 July 1980), known as Nano [ˈnano], is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played mainly as a central defender, currently a manager.

Nano
Nano as a Betis player in 2008
Personal information
Full name Victoriano Rivas Álvaro
Date of birth (1980-07-07) 7 July 1980 (age 43)
Place of birth Ciudad Real, Spain
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Manchego
Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Amorós
2000–2003 Atlético Madrid B 52 (1)
2002–2003Getafe (loan) 26 (2)
2003–2005 Getafe 71 (5)
2005–2010 Betis 41 (2)
2008–2009Valladolid (loan) 12 (0)
2010–2012 Levante 49 (4)
2012–2013 Guizhou Renhe 54 (2)
Total 305 (16)
Managerial career
2015–2016 Gimnàstic (assistant)
2016–2017 Getafe B
2017 Gimnàstic
2018 Gimnàstic
2018–2019 Roeselare
2019 Shanghai Shenhua (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He appeared in 138 La Liga matches over seven seasons while scoring ten goals, mainly in representation of Betis (three years) and Levante (two). He also represented in the competition Getafe and Valladolid.

Playing career edit

Born in Ciudad Real, Castilla–La Mancha, Nano made his professional debut with Atlético Madrid's reserves, spending two full seasons with the Segunda División B side. In 2002–03 he was loaned to Getafe CF in the Segunda División, before moving to the club on a permanent deal in summer 2003; an undisputed starter with the Madrid outskirts team, he scored four goals in 37 games in the 2004–05 campaign, their first ever in La Liga.

Nano joined Real Betis in July 2005.[1] He was set to have a promising season before being injured in the UEFA Champions League group-stage fixture against Chelsea at the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera on 1 November, in his first and only appearance in the competition, as he was sidelined for five months;[2] he also featured once in the UEFA Cup and made 14 league appearances in his first year, playing a further 21 matches for a side that finished 16th in 2006–07.

Established as first-choice alongside veteran Juanito in the 2007–08 campaign, Nano scored in the first matchday against Recreativo de Huelva (1–1 away draw),[3] but suffered a severe knee injury against Deportivo de La Coruña on 16 September 2007, which made him miss six months.[4] Upon return from injury, he netted another important goal for the Andalusians, in a 1–1 draw at former club Getafe on 18 May 2008.[5]

On 1 September 2008, a one-year loan deal was agreed as Nano joined Real Valladolid in a season-long move.[6] He appeared scarcely throughout his spell, as both stopper and left-back, and his return to Betis would be even more unassuming as it consisted of one league match (18 minutes), with the team failing to return to the top division.[7]

In August 2010, aged 30, Nano signed for Levante UD.[8] First-choice during his first season, he scored in a 2–0 home win over Atlético Madrid on 4 December.[9]

Nano started in all the games for the Valencian Community side in the first half of 2011–12, as they spent the vast majority of that period in Champions League qualification positions. In very late January 2012, however, he was sold to Guizhou Renhe F.C. of the Chinese Super League.[10]

Nano announced his retirement in February 2014.[11] On 6 July of the following year, he was appointed Vicente Moreno's assistant manager at Gimnàstic de Tarragona.[12]

Coaching career edit

On 25 May 2016, Nano was named Getafe CF B manager.[13] He returned to Gimnàstic roughly one year later, being appointed at the helm of the main squad for the remainder of the season.[14]

After managing to narrowly avoid relegation, Nano left Nàstic in June 2017. The following 29 January, however, he replaced the fired Rodri at the helm of the same club,[15] but was himself dismissed on 13 May.[16]

In November 2018, Nano was hired by K.S.V. Roeselare of the Belgian First Division B, replacing compatriot Jordi Condom.[17] Only two months later he left to assist Quique Sánchez Flores at Shanghai Shenhua F.C. and was replaced by a third Spaniard, his former Betis teammate Juanito.[18]

Managerial statistics edit

As of match played 13 May 2018
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Getafe B   25 May 2016 20 May 2017 38 17 9 12 54 35 +19 044.74 [19]
Gimnàstic   20 May 2017 22 June 2017 3 3 0 0 5 1 +4 100.00 [20]
Gimnàstic   29 January 2018 13 May 2018 15 4 3 8 8 13 −5 026.67 [21]
Roeselare   12 November 2018 8 January 2019 6 2 2 2 7 7 +0 033.33
Total 62 26 14 22 74 56 +18 041.94

Honours edit

Guizhou Renhe

References edit

  1. ^ Double signing for Betis; UEFA, 18 July 2005
  2. ^ Oliveira y Nano con lesiones importantes tras el choque ante el Chelsea (Oliveira and Nano with major injuries after clash against Chelsea); ABC, 2 November 2005 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Recreativo Huelva 1–1 Real Betis; ESPN Soccernet, 26 August 2007
  4. ^ Betis: Operan a Nano y baja de 6 a 8 meses (Betis: Nano undergoes knee surgery, will miss 6 to 8 months); ESPN Soccernet, 24 September 2007 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Getafe 1–1 Real Betis; ESPN Soccernet, 18 May 2008
  6. ^ "El Valladolid consigue la cesión del bético Nano" [Valladolid get Betis man Nano loan] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  7. ^ Resumen del año: La defensa, el talón de Aquiles del Betis (Year summary: The defence, Betis' Achilles heel); ABC, 26 December 2009 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ El Levante UD ficha al central Victoriano Rivas “Nano” (Levante UD sign stopper Victoriano Rivas “Nano”) Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine; Levante UD, 17 August 2010 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ More woe for Atletico; ESPN Soccernet, 4 December 2010
  10. ^ Nano se marcha a la liga china (Nano goes to Chinese league); Merca Fútbol, 30 January 2012 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ El ex atlético Nano anuncia su retirada tras concluir su etapa en China (Former atlético Nano announces retirement after concluding China spell); Mundo Deportivo, 26 February 2014 (in Spanish)
  12. ^ Nano Rivas será el ayudante de Vicente Moreno en el Nàstic (Nano Rivas will be the assistant of Vicente Moreno at Nàstic); Diari de Tarragona, 6 July 2015 (in Spanish)
  13. ^ Nano, el elegido en el banquillo del Getafe "B" (Nano, the chosen one for the bench of Getafe "B"); Marca, 25 May 2016 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Nano Rivas entrenarà l’equip fins a final de temporada (Nano Rivas will manage the team until the end of the season); Gimnàstic Tarragona, 20 May 2017 (in Catalan)
  15. ^ Nano Rivas, nuevo entrenador del Nàstic (Nano Rivas, new manager of Nàstic) Archived 1 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine; Gimnàstic Tarragona, 29 January 2018 (in Spanish)
  16. ^ Nano Rivas deixa de ser l'entrenador del Nàstic (Nano Rivas is no longer manager of Nàstic) Archived 17 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine; Gimnàstic Tarragona, 13 May 2018 (in Catalan)
  17. ^ "Victoriano Rivas Alvaro is nieuwe trainer van SV Roeselare" [Victoriano Rivas Álvaro is new manager of K.S.V. Roeselare] (in Dutch). WTV. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  18. ^ "Juanito deja categorías inferiores del Betis para entrenar al Roeselare belga" [Juanito leaves Betis youth categories to manage Belgium's Roeselare] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  19. ^ "Getafe B" (in Spanish). Resultados Fútbol. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Nano Rivas: Victoriano Rivas Álvaro". BDFutbol. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Nano Rivas: Victoriano Rivas Álvaro". BDFutbol. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  22. ^ "足协杯-人和总分3-2恒大队史首夺冠 恒大三冠梦碎" (in Chinese). Sina Sports. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2019.

External links edit