Luis Prieto Zalbidegoitia (born 19 February 1979) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played mainly as a central defender. He amassed La Liga totals of 182 games and nine goals over the course of eight seasons, representing in the competition

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 Valladolid.

Club career

Prieto was born in Dima, Biscay. Coming through the ranks of

, he spent three seasons on loan at two Basque neighbours before establishing himself in the main squad. His first-team debut came in 2002–03's opening round, a 4–2 away defeat against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

. In the 2005–06 campaign, as Athletic finished 12th in La Liga, Prieto scored four goals in 36 games, notably the deciders (1–0 wins) at

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

and with CA Osasuna. After having appeared just three times during 2007–08 under Joaquín Caparrós, he left the ''Lions'' and joined fellow top-flight club Real Valladolid, on 10 July 2008; a regular starter in his first year, he saw time at stopper and right-back. On 31 July 2009, Prieto was involved in a pre-season game against Ipswich Town, played in honour of the late Bobby Robson who died that morning, and scored an own goal in an eventual 3–1 loss to the Championship side. He appeared slightly less in the 2009–10 league campaign, mainly due to the signing in January 2010 of Portuguese Henrique Sereno. On 16 May, he opened the score as Valladolid certified their relegation after three years after losing 4–0 at eventual champions FC Barcelona. After retiring as a player, following one-season spells at SD Ponferradina (

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 ...

) and Deportivo Alavés (

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 ...

), Prieto became a coach focusing on fitness aspects; he spent time with the youth categories of Athletic Bilbao at the club's Lezama training centre. Subsequently, he worked as assistant manager with

SD Leioa Sociedad Deportiva Leioa is a Spanish football team based in Leioa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1925 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at '' Estadio Sarriena'', which has a capacity ...

and fitness coach with CD Mirandés.

International career

Prieto earned caps for the Basque Country autonomous team.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prieto, Luis 1979 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Biscay Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Barakaldo CF footballers SD Eibar footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Real Valladolid players SD Ponferradina players Deportivo Alavés players Basque Country men's international footballers Athletic Bilbao non-playing staff