Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Girón (; born 10 May 1986) is a Honduran former 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 played as a left-back. He became the new

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

Motagua The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the ...

in October 2022. Izaguirre started his career at

, where he played at for seven years. In 2010, Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

spent £650,000 to sign him. Izaguirre won three awards in his first season in Scotland, being awarded the SPFA Players' Player of the Year, SFWA Footballer of the Year and the Scottish Premier League Player of the Year. He played over 250 games across all competitions for Celtic, winning six consecutive league titles in his first spell at the club, and a further league title when he rejoined for a second spell. He made his debut for

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

in 2007, and made 111 appearances. Izaguirre also played in two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s and four CONCACAF Gold Cups.

Career

Motagua

Izaguirre began his career at

F.C. Motagua Club de Fútbol Motagua (), formerly Club Deportivo Motagua up to 2017, is an association football club, located in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras. F.C. Motagua was founded as ''Club Deportivo Motagua'' on 29 August 1928. The club competes ...

in the Honduran League. He made his league debut on 20 March 2004 in the 3–0 victory over Universidad in Danlí. On 22 July 2008, he had a 17-day trial with English Championship outfit

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, but was unable to play in any matches, having not received international clearance from Motagua. He therefore failed to win a contract and the move fell through.Celtic help Emilio Izaguirre live out his dream
BBC Sport, 28 August 2010 The following April, he was close to a move to Belgium's

RSC Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer ...

. In July 2010, it was reported that

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

were interested in signing Izaguirre to a designated player contract, after two stand out performances in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

against the Canadian side, but this move did not happen either.

Celtic

Izaguirre agreed a four-year contract with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

on 18 August 2010, subject to receiving a work permit. He signed for a £650,000 fee and was given the number 3 shirt.Izaguirre is ready to live the dream
STV Sport, 28 August 2010 He made his SPL debut in a 1–0 victory at

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

on 29 August, giving a solid performance that drew plaudits from Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Motherwell counterpart Craig Brown. On 19 September, Izaguirre set up

Anthony Stokes Anthony Christopher Stokes (born 25 July 1988) is an Irish professional footballer, who plays as a striker. He was also an Irish international, having played at the under-21, team B and Republic of Ireland national football team. He began hi ...

for the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

at Rugby Park. On 30 October, he scored his first Celtic goal against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

, where he intercepted a back pass then flicked the ball over St Johnstone centre back

Dave MacKay David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the Double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961, an ...

, before slotting a goal under the goalkeeper. The game ended 3–0 to Celtic, with Izaguirre awarded

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

for his performance. In Celtic's 3–0 victory over Rangers on 20 February 2011, he set up Gary Hooper's second goal. In the 2011 League Cup Final defeat to

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rivals

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, Izaguirre was sent off in extra time for a foul on Vladimír Weiss. On 6 April 2011, he had another man of the match performance against Hibernian in a 3–1 victory, setting up Stokes for the first goal of the game. In the 2010–11 SPL season, Izaguirre achieved a clean sweep of available senior player awards as chosen by players, organisations and the Celtic supporters. Izaguirre won both the SPFA Players' Player of the Year and Scottish Premier League Player of the Year awards for 2010–11. The judging panel for the latter award described Izaguirre as a "class act", while Celtic assistant manager Johan Mjallby commented that Izaguirre could become one of the best players in his position in world football. On 8 May, at Celtic's award ceremony, Izaguirre picked up the Players' Player of the Year Award. Finally, he was voted Scottish Football Writers player of the year. Izaguirre suffered a broken ankle in the second match of Celtic's season on 7 August against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, requiring surgery which ruled out for between four and six months. On 27 August, he signed a new contract with Celtic, due to run until 2015. Izaguirre returned to training, after recovering from his ankle injury, in December. He made his long-awaited return as a substitute on 2 January 2012 in Celtic's 3–0 win over Dunfermline Athletic at

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship sid ...

. Izaguirre played 32 league games as he won a second consecutive Scottish league title, and also featured in the 2013 Cup final, a 3–0 win over Hibernian on 26 May. On 30 May 2014, Izaguirre signed a new contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2017. In the 2015–16 season, he was displaced as first-choice left back by 18-year-old

Kieran Tierney Kieran Tierney (born 5 June 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back or centre-back for Premier League club Arsenal and the Scotland national team. Tierney came through the Celtic youth system and made his first t ...

. Despite what looked like an emotional farewell after the final game of the season against Motherwell on 15 May 2016, Izaguirre told Honduras website ''La Prensa'' that he still had a contract to see out and had not had any discussions with the Celtic board. He returned to Celtic for the 2016–17 season and played 12 games, covering for Tierney when the latter was injured.

Al-Fayha

Despite being offered a contract extension, Izaguirre left Celtic at the end of the 2016–17 season and joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Fayha on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. His stay in Al Majma'ah lasted just 11 months, however, as he opted to end his contract early. He stated: "My family has found the culture

f Saudi Arabia F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

to be very difficult. I have a meeting with

he club He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

to discuss my exit."

Return to Celtic

On 10 August 2018, Izaguirre rejoined

on a one-year deal. At the end of the season, he turned down a further one-year deal, and left Celtic for the second time.

Return to Motagua

Izaguirre signed a one-year contract with

in August 2019. Later that month he suffered an eye injury during a fan riot at a derby match with Olimpia.

International career

Izaguirre was part of the national team in the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He made his senior debut for

in a January 2007

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He has represented his country in 17

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and played at the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2009 UNCAF Nations Cup The UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 was the tenth edition of the UNCAF Nations Cup, the biennial association football, football (soccer) tournament for the CONCACAF-affiliated national teams of Central America. The first five places qualified for the 2009 ...

s as well as at the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States from ...

. He was also named in the Honduras squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, playing two games against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Personal life

Izaguirre is known to live a modest lifestyle and is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Emilio had a good 20-year relationship with the late renowned Honduran pastor Mario Tomas Barahona, whom he considered a mentor and who in life was pastor of the Mi Viña Church in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

. Church that Emilio has attended since he was a 15-year-old boy and has remained faithful to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

ever since.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Honduras's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Izaguirre goal.''

Honours

Celtic *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

(7): 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2018–19 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

(2): 2014–15, 2016–17 Individual * SPFA Players' Player of the Year: 2010–11 * SFWA Footballer of the Year: 2010–11 * Scottish Premier League Player of the Year: 2010–11

References

External links

* * *
Honduras - Emilio Izaguirre
Sky Sports, May 2010 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Izaguirre, Emilio 1986 births Living people Honduran Christians Honduran people of Basque descent Sportspeople from Tegucigalpa Honduran footballers Association football fullbacks Honduras international footballers FIFA Century Club 2007 UNCAF Nations Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Saudi Professional League players F.C. Motagua players Celtic F.C. players Al-Fayha FC players C.D. Marathón players Honduran expatriate footballers Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia