Imanol Etxeberria Egaña (born 27 March 1973) is a Spanish retired 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
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 ...
.
He appeared in 175
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 ...
matches during seven seasons, with
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 ...
and
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...
.
Playing career
Early years and Athletic
Born in
Bergara
es, vergarés, vergaresa
, population_note =
, population_density_km2 = auto
, blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s)
, blank_info_sec1 = BasqueSpanish
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1 ...
,
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
,
Basque Country
Basque Country may refer to:
* Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map)
* French Basque Country o ...
, Etxeberria began playing with local
Mondragón FC 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 ...
, based in
Arrasate. In 1994 he moved to
SCD Durango
Sociedad Cultural Deportiva Durango is a Spanish football team based in Durango, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1919 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at ''Estadio Tabira'', ...
at the same level, helping them promote to
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 ...
in
his sole season.
Exteberria's performances drew the attention of regional giants
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 ...
, and in summer 1995 he was signed on the recommendation of goalkeeping legend
José Ángel Iribar
José Ángel Iribar Kortajarena (born 1 March 1943), nicknamed ''El Chopo'' ("the Poplar"), is a Spanish retired football goalkeeper and manager.
Having played almost exclusively for Athletic Bilbao, he appeared in more than 600 official game ...
, joining a professional club for the first time at the relatively old age of 22.
[
] He was initially assigned to
the reserve team, who was
eventually relegated from
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 ...
.
Etxeberria was promoted to the main squad for
1996–97, and after spending the first half of the campaign as back-up to
Juanjo Valencia 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 on 9 February 1997 in a 1–1 away draw against
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...
, and subsequently became the starter. The former later stated that he enjoyed competition between them, and that he considered the latter a friend (both went on to work as youth coaches at
San Mamés).
In
1997–98, Etxeberria played all 38 league games as the Lions finished in second position, adding 37
the following season. In
that year's
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
group stage, even though his team ranked last, he conceded only six goals in as many matches.
[
Etxeberria eventually lost his starting position to ]Iñaki Lafuente
Iñaki Lafuente Sancha (born 24 January 1976) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He appeared in 146 La Liga games over ten seasons, mainly with Athletic Bilbao. He also represented Espanyol and Sporting de ...
, being further demoted to third-choice by fellow youth graduate Daniel Aranzubia
Daniel Aranzubia Aguado (born 18 September 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and the goalkeeper coach of Athletic Bilbao B.
He appeared in 303 La Liga matches during 13 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao ...
under manager Txetxu Rojo
José Francisco 'Txetxu' Rojo Arroitia (28 January 1947 – 23 December 2022), also known as Rojo I, was a Spanish football player and coach. During his career the forward played solely for Athletic Bilbao, in a professional spell which spanne ...
. He was willing to leave the club, but Athletic asked for a transfer fee which no other clubs were willing to meet, so he remained on the payroll without making a single appearance during the 2000–01 campaign;[ he left on 30 June 2001, having made 140 appearances all competitions comprised.
]
Rayo and later career
Etxeberria then moved to fellow league side Rayo Vallecano, replacing the departed Kasey Keller
Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...
. In his first season he beat competition from veteran Julen Lopetegui
Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real Madrid ...
, helping to an 11th-place finish.
From 2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
to 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, Etxeberria played 35 league games but was also consecutively relegated. In the latter campaign, which saw Lopetegui kickstart his managerial career, the player was largely overlooked in favour of Sergio Segura by Lopetegui's successor Jorge D'Alessandro
Roberto Jorge D'Alessandro di Ninno (born 28 July 1949) is an Argentine retired football goalkeeper and manager. He is also one of the hosts of the Spanish TV program '' El Chiringuito de Jugones'', which specializes in football-related debates. ...
, who then brought in another goalkeeper, his compatriot Sebastián Saja
Diego Sebastián Saja (born 5 June 1979) is an Argentine football coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF.
He spent most of his professional career with San Lorenzo, Racing Club a ...
, on loan; Rojo became the third coach in February 2004, and he also had no place in his plans for Etxeberria, who was released and trained with Bilbao Athletic to stay fit.[
Etxeberria then dropped down to the third level to play for ]Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa
Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in Primera División RFE ...
, leaving at the end of the season. He returned to division two and his native region in the summer of 2005, being first-choice for 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 being relegated as last; he then chose to retire from the game, aged 33.
International
Etxeberria never earned any 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
, 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 ...
at any level. He did feature for the unofficial Basque Country regional team.
Coaching career
Afterwards, Etxeberria spent some years as goalkeeping coach
A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete.
History
The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...
for Athletic's youth teams, interrupted by a spell performing the same role at SD Lemona
Sociedad Deportiva Lemona was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lemoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1923, it last played in Segunda División B, Se ...
working under his former teammate Aitor Larrazábal
Aitor Larrazábal Bilbao (born 21 June 1971) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played solely for Athletic Bilbao, currently manager of Gernika Club.
A left-back of attacking penchant, he appeared in 445 competitive matches for hi ...
.[ In 2012, he became Bilbao Athletic's goalkeeping coach as part of the backroom team led by another former teammate, ]José Ángel Ziganda
José Ángel 'Cuco' Ziganda Lakunza (born 1 October 1966) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-forward. He is the current manager of SD Huesca.
He played 381 La Liga matches over the course of 12 seasons (111 ...
.
When Ziganda was promoted to senior team boss in summer 2017, Etxeberria moved up with him to continue in his specialist role.
In the 2021–22 season he was working at Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, coaching the goalkeepers of the club's under-23 side which won the Premier League 2
The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...
.
Personal life
Etxeberria operated a training scheme for young goalkeepers, based in Deusto
Deusto, also known as Deustu in Basque and formerly known as ''San Pedro de Deusto'', is one of the eight districts of Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption ...
.
He was not related to Joseba Etxeberria
Joseba Andoni Etxeberria Lizardi (born 5 September 1977) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mostly as a winger, currently manager of CD Mirandés.
After starting his professional career at the age of 17 with Real Sociedad, he quickly s ...
, his teammate for several years at Athletic and later a colleague on the coaching staff at the club. Coincidentally, they were raised just a few miles from one another (Joseba hailed from Elgoibar
Elgoibar ( es, Elgóibar) is an industrial town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain.
Located in a valley, it is traversed by the Deba river.
Elgoibar is nicknamed the "capital cit ...
).
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etxeberria, Imanol
1973 births
Living people
People from Bergara
Spanish footballers
Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community)
Association football goalkeepers
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
Bilbao Athletic footballers
Athletic Bilbao footballers
Rayo Vallecano players
Cultural Leonesa footballers
SD Eibar footballers
Athletic Bilbao non-playing staff
Basque Country international footballers
Association football goalkeeping coaches
Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff
Spanish expatriates in England