Eñaut Zubikarai Goñi (born 26 February 1984) is a Spanish 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, currently goalkeeping coach of New Zealand club

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is a New Zealand professional football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League. Auckland City have established themselves as a major force in bo ...

Club career

Real Sociedad

Born in

Ondarroa Ondarroa is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. Main sights *Church of St. Mary, in late Gothic style (late 15th century) *Likona Tower, a typ ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, Zubikarai joined Real Sociedad in 2003 at age 19, being assigned to the B team in Segunda División B. For the 2005–06 season he was loaned to

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 ...

neighbours

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 ...

, but appeared in only one game after suffering a

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...

injury (he suffered another after having returned to his parent club) and also suffered relegation from Segunda División, which triggered thoughts of an early retirement. After

Asier Riesgo Asier Riesgo Unamuno (born 6 October 1983) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for CD Leganés as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Deba, Gipuzkoa, and a product of Real Sociedad's youth academy, Riesgo made his professional debut ...

moved to

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, Zubikarai was definitely promoted to the main squad but, after the former returned from his loan, both battled for second-choice status during the 2009–10 campaign. The latter contributed 12 matches as the ''Txuriurdin'' returned to

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' ...

after a three-year absence. Zubikarai made his debut in the top flight on 10 April 2012 at the age of 28, in a 1–1 home draw against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. He continued to act as understudy to

Claudio Bravo Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (; born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Chile national team. He started playing with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Sociedad ...

for the duration of his spell, but was Real Sociedad's goalkeeper in the

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 footb ...

, notably helping to a semi-final run in 2013–14. After the Chilean's departure to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

in summer 2014, Zubikarai became the starter. However, shortly after conceding four goals in an away fixture against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

in December, he lost his position to

Gerónimo Rulli Gerónimo Rulli (; born 20 May 1992) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Spanish club Villarreal and the Argentina national team. Club career Estudiantes Born in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Rulli graduated from local ...

. Zubikarai was released by Real Sociedad on 30 June 2015, after the expiration of his contract. On 20 January of the following year, after several months without a club, he signed a five-month deal with C.D. Tondela from Portugal.

Auckland City

In September 2016,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Zubikarai joined

. As part of a stellar defence which saw the team only allow 12 goals during the 2017–18 season as they won the New Zealand Football Championship title, he went 1,404 minutes or 15 games without conceding a goal in all competitions, beginning in the 70th minute of a 1–1 home draw against

Southern United FC Southern United, previously known as Otago United, is a semi-professional football club based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Founded in 2004, they play their home games at the Logan Park and Forsyth Barr Stadium. It is the southernmost football club ...

on 13 January 2018 and ending in the 37th minute of a 2–2 draw to

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was a New Zealand semi-professional football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most succe ...

on 29 April in the semi-finals of the

OFC Champions League The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...

. This exploit constituted the third-longest streak of its kind of all time – behind Mazarópi and

Thabet El-Batal Thabet El-Batal (16 September 1953 – 14 February 2005) was an Egyptian international goalkeeper. He played club football in his homeland (El Hawamdia). Then he went to Al Ahly between 1972 and 1991. He is considered to be one the greatest g ...

– as well as the longest of the 21st century, and of any European goalkeeper. Zubikarai became head goalkeeper coach on 5 October 2020, following the retirement of incumbent Simone Naddi.

Personal life

In the summer of 2011, Hércules CF was on the verge of signing Zubikarai on loan, but pulled out, officially on financial grounds. However, the club reportedly feared public reaction to the signing of a player whose father, Cándido, was affiliated with terrorist organisation

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

, and was sentenced to thirty years in 1989 for the murder of two civil guards.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zubikarai, Enaut 1984 births Living people People from Ondarroa Sportspeople from Biscay Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Sociedad B footballers SD Eibar footballers Real Sociedad footballers Primeira Liga players C.D. Tondela players New Zealand Football Championship players Auckland City FC players Basque Country international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand