Tintín Márquez

Bartolomé "Tintín" Márquez López (born 7 January 1962) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is currently manager of Qatar Stars League club Qatar SC.

His career was closely associated to Espanyol, as both a player and coach.

Playing career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Márquez was nicknamed after the comic book character Tintin for his similar hairstyle. He signed for Español in early 1980, and played exclusively in his native region during his 15-year professional career. After two loans, at Sant Andreu and Sabadell, he was definitely promoted to the first team in the 1982–83 season, making his La Liga debut on 4 September 1982 by coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 home win against Racing de Santander.

Márquez played six full campaigns with the Pericos, always in the top flight. His best year was 1985–86, when he scored ten goals in 32 matches to help his team to the 11th position, including a hat-trick on 20 April 1986 in a 5–3 home victory over Barcelona; he was also part of the squad that reached the final of the 1987–88 UEFA Cup, but took no part in the competition after falling out of favour with manager Javier Clemente.

Márquez signed with Figueres in the 1988 off-season, going on to spend five of his six years in the Segunda División and appear in the promotion playoffs in 1992. He retired at the age of 33, after a spell in the Segunda División B with Europa.

Coaching career Márquez began working as a manager in 1997, his first stop being with his last club in the Tercera División. He won the Copa Catalunya that year, defeating Barcelona in the final. – going on to be in charge of its youth and reserve teams the following six years. He subsequently served as an assistant to the main squad, first under Miguel Ángel Lotina then Ernesto Valverde. However, on 30 November, after four consecutive losses, he was relieved of his duties.

In 2012, after roughly six months with Spanish second-tier side Castellón, and a spell at the Aspire Academy in Qatar, Márquez signed for Eupen in the Belgian Second Division. On 31 March 2015, he was fired for undisclosed reasons, when the team were in third place.

Márquez was appointed coach of Sint-Truidense in June 2017 following Ivan Leko's departure for Club Brugge, but was dismissed after 53 days – just two games into the new season – over irreconcilable differences.

In early 2018, Márquez returned to Qatar to manage Second Division side Al-Wakrah, being beaten to promotion by compatriot José Murcia's Al Shahaniya in his first season. A year later, his team won the division, achieving promotion to the Qatar Stars League.

On 6 December 2023, Márquez was appointed at the Qatar national team on a temporary basis, replacing Carlos Queiroz. He led them to victory at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup held on home soil, resulted in the extension of the contract to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

However, on 11 December 2024, after a series of poor performances during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, mainly a 5–0 loss away to the United Arab Emirates, Márquez was sacked and replaced by his assistant Luis García.

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenure Team Nat From To Record Espanyol B 19 October 2002 30 June 2004 Espanyol 3 June 2008 30 November 2008 Castellón 14 October 2009 6 April 2010 Eupen 6 July 2012 31 March 2015 Sint-Truiden 1 July 2017 7 August 2017 Al-Wakrah 31 January 2018 6 December 2023 Qatar 6 December 2023 11 December 2024 Career total

Honours Qatar AFC Asian Cup: 2023