Iñaki Lafuente Sancha (born 24 January 1976) 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 ...

. He appeared in 146

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' ...

games over ten seasons, mainly with Athletic Bilbao. He also represented Espanyol and

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

in the competition.

Club career

Born in

Barakaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo h ...

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 ...

, Lafuente was a graduate of

Lezama Lezama is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is home to the training headquarters of the football team Athletic Bilbao, and is accessible by bus - Bizkai ...

, the famed Athletic Bilbao youth academy. He made his debut with the first team in 1999–2000 after serving two loans at modest

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, adding another with

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

three years later. After replacing

Imanol Etxeberria Imanol Etxeberria Egaña (born 27 March 1973) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He appeared in 175 La Liga matches during seven seasons, with Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano. Playing career Early yea ...

he competed with Dani Aranzubia for first-choice status in several

seasons, appearing in 36 games in 2000–01 and adding 30 the following campaign. For 2007–08, Lafuente was loaned to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

Gorka Iraizoz Gorka Iraizoz Moreno (born 6 March 1981) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent most of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 392 official games. In La Liga he also represented Espanyol and Gir ...

was sold in the opposite direction. At his new club he backed up Carlos Kameni, and when the

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

ian left for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations he became the starter, but retired injured in just his second appearance. In July 2008, Lafuente returned to Athletic Bilbao, being only third-choice. On 13 January 2009, due to

starter

Iván Cuéllar Iván Cuéllar Sacristán (born 27 May 1984), nicknamed Pichu, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Sporting de Gijón. Formed at Atlético Madrid, he spent most of his career with Sporting de Gijón, where he made ...

's serious

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joi ...

injury, coincidentally in a match against the former, he was loaned to the

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

side until the end of the campaign. In his first start, on the 25th, they were crushed 5–1 at Getafe CF. Lafuente was released by Athletic in the summer of 2009, ending a 16-year relationship. In late July, the 33-year-old moved to

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 ...

(recently relegated to the Segunda División), being used mostly as a backup during his two-year spell and retiring subsequently.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lafuente, Inaki 1976 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Bilbao Athletic footballers CD Getxo players Sestao Sport Club footballers Elche CF players Athletic Bilbao footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Sporting de Gijón players CD Numancia players Basque Country international footballers