Borja Ekiza Imaz (born 6 March 1988) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for UDC Txantrea.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

, Ekiza arrived at

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

's youth system at the age of 14, being eligible to represent the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

through his

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

se roots. He spent his first two senior seasons with CD Basconia, the club's third team. Subsequently, Ekiza played with the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

, being sparingly used over two years. On 8 January 2011, after a string of injuries to the defensive sector in the first team awarded him with promotion to the main squad, he made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

debut in a 1–1 away draw against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

, playing the full 90 minutes; he finished his first top-flight campaign established in the starting XI, beating competition from seasoned veterans

Fernando Amorebieta Fernando Gabriel Amorebieta Mardaras (born 29 March 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender. He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 253 competitive matches over eight La Liga seasons and scorin ...

, Aitor Ocio and

Ustaritz Ustaritz (; eu, Uztaritze) is a town in the traditional French Basque Country, Basque province of Labourd, now a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department, southwestern France. It is located on ...

and being booked only once. Ekiza lost his starting spot to

Aymeric Laporte Aymeric Jean Louis Gérard Alphonse Laporte (born 27 May 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester City and the Spain national team. He previously played for Basconia and Athletic Bilbao. When he joined ...

and Carlos Gurpegui in 2013–14 due to repeated injuries, and only appeared once in the league during the season, 37 minutes in a 2–1 win at

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

. On 31 July 2014, he terminated his contract with the Lions and signed a two-year deal with fellow top-tier side

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

hours later.

Later years

On 21 July 2017,

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia ("Harmony"; also trans ...

announced the signing of Ekiza from Ukraine's

FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, ФК "Зірка Кропивницький") is a Ukrainian amateur football club from Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblast, with its team currently playing in the Ukrainian Amateur League. The club traces its history of ...

. Two years later, following a spell in the same country and league with

Enosis Neon Paralimni FC Enosis Neon Paralimni Football Club ( el, Ένωση Νέων Παραλιμνίου, ''Enosi Neon Paralimniou'', "Youth Union of Paralimni"), commonly referred to as ENP, is a Cypriot football team from Paralimni. Currently playing in the firs ...

, the 31-year-old announced his retirement from football. In the summer of 2021, after two years of inactivity, Ekiza joined local amateurs UDC Txantrea alongside his former Athletic teammate (youth and senior) Adrien Goñi.

Club statistics

Honours

Athletic Bilbao *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

runner-up: 2011–12 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

runner-up: 2011–12

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekiza, Borja 1988 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Pamplona Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players CD Basconia footballers Bilbao Athletic footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers SD Eibar footballers Ukrainian Premier League players FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi players Cypriot First Division players AC Omonia players Enosis Neon Paralimni FC players Basque Country international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus