Igor Angulo Alboniga (born 26 January 1984) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Formed 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 ...

, he appeared in only five competitive matches during his spell at the club. He went on to make a name for himself in the Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

, surpassing the 80-goal mark for

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

. He also played professionally in France, Cyprus, Greece and India. Angulo represented Spain at various youth international levels.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

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 ...

, Angulo joined

's youth setup in 1996, aged 12, after starting out at

Danok Bat CF Danok Bat Club de Fica is a Spanish football team based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1972, the club is mainly known for their successful youth setup, which helps players to develop and join other senior clu ...

. He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in 2002, in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. Angulo made his first-team — and

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 on 23 March 2003, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–1 away loss against

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

. In June, he was promoted to 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 ...

. On 30 December 2004, after appearing in only three league matches with the main squad, Angulo was loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

until the end of the season. After featuring regularly he returned to the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

, and renewed his contract on 19 October 2005. On 25 July 2006, Angulo moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining French

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

club

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 3, ...

in a season-long loan deal. Upon returning, he was again assigned to the B team. Angulo cut ties with the Lions on 21 July 2008.

Spain

On 21 July 2008, Angulo moved to

Écija Balompié Écija Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Écija, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1939, it plays in División de Honor Andaluza, the fifth tier of Spanish football. History In 2007–08 season, the club b ...

in the third tier along with Athletic teammate

Aitor Ramos Aitor Ramos Leniz (born 11 June 1985) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a forward for Bermeo FT. Club career Ramos was born in Bilbao, Biscay. After playing with modest Basque clubs in his early career (although he was part of Athletic Bilba ...

. In his second season at the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns he contributed nine goals in only 19 league matches, being the team's top scorer; highlights included a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 6–2 home rout of

Jerez Industrial CF Jerez Industrial Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951, it currently plays in '' División de Honor – Group 1'', holding home matches at Estad ...

on 10 January 2010. On 1 February 2010, Angulo signed a -year deal with division two side

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

after his contract was terminated at Écija. He made his debut three days later, playing the last 29 minutes in a 3–1 home win over

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

. Angulo rescinded his contract with the ''Rojillos'' on 22 July 2011, after starting sparingly during the campaign. He joined

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...

hours later, scoring a career-best 13 goals in

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 ...

, being team top scorer and being linked to a number of clubs also in the third division.

Abroad

On 5 August 2013, Angulo moved to the

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 ...

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 ...

. On 21 November, aged already 29, he scored his first professional goal, netting in a 3–1 home loss against

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintain ...

. Angulo switched clubs and countries again on 14 September 2014, joining

Football League (Greece) The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

's Apollon Smyrnis FC. He continued competing abroad in subsequent seasons, in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

with

Platanias F.C. Platanias Football Club ( el, Π.Α.Ε. Πλατανιάς Χανίων) was a Greek professional football club based in Platanias, Chania, Greece. The club hosted its home games at the Perivolia Municipal Stadium. Platanias was the first, and t ...

and in the Polish

I liga I liga ( pl, Pierwsza liga, ), currently named Fortuna I liga due to its sponsorship by Fortuna, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga vi ...

with

, being crowned top scorer for the latter team in 2016–17 as they returned to the

as runners-up. His strong form continued in the top tier, as his 23 league strikes saw him end the campaign as the second highest goalscorer at the age of 34, while Górnik finished fourth and qualified for the first qualifying round of the

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 ...

(their first continental participation since 1994). In 2018–19, Angulo finished as the league's top scorer with 24 goals from 37 appearances. On 22 July 2020, the 36-year-old agreed to a one-year contract at

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nicknamed as '' Gaurs'', the club plays their ho ...

. Angulo signed with ISL defending champions

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

on 30 July 2021. In March 2022, he was included in the club's

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

squad.

International career

Angulo won seven

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for Spain at youth level, including two for the under-21s. He made his debut on 2 September 2004, starting and playing 68 minutes in a 3–1 win against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Alcoy Alcoy ( ca-valencia, Alcoi) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 res ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Individual *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

top scorer: 2014–15 * Ekstraklasa top scorer: 2018–19 *Ekstraklasa Forward of the Season: 2018–19 *

Indian Super League Golden Boot The Indian Super League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Indian Super League. For sponsorship purposes, it was known as the Alto K10 Golden Boot from 2014 to 2015, the Swift Golden ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Angulo, Igor 1984 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Bilbao Association football wingers Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Danok Bat CF players CD Basconia footballers Bilbao Athletic footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Écija Balompié players CD Numancia players Real Unión footballers Championnat National players AS Cannes players Cypriot First Division players Enosis Neon Paralimni FC players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Platanias F.C. players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Górnik Zabrze players Indian Super League players FC Goa players Mumbai City FC players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India