Unai Simón Mendibil (born 11 June 1997) 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

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 ...

for

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 ...

club

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 the Spain national team.

Club career

Simón was born in

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

, Basque Country, and raised in the nearby village of Murgia; he joined

's youth system in 2011, from CD Aurrerá de Vitoria. He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in the 2014–15 season, in the

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 ...

. On 8 June 2016, Simón was promoted to the reserves, recently relegated 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 ...

. He immediately became a starter for the side, contributing with 29 appearances during the campaign. On 2 June 2017, Simón was called up to the main squad for the pre-season by new first team manager

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 ...

, but continued to appear exclusively for the Bs. On 13 July 2018, he signed a contract extension until 2023, and 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 ...

side

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 ''Estadi ...

two weeks later. On 15 August 2018, after

Kepa Arrizabalaga Kepa Arrizabalaga Revuelta (born 3 October 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Chelsea. He is sometimes referred to simply as Kepa. A Basque native, Arrizabalaga began his senior club career with Ath ...

's departure from the club and

Iago Herrerín Iago Herrerín Buisán (; born 25 January 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Valencia CF. He spent most of his career affiliated to Athletic Bilbao, making 119 first-team appearances. He also played on loan ...

's injury, Simón was recalled by Athletic. He initially appeared to be behind the older

Álex Remiro Alejandro "Álex" Remiro Gargallo (born 24 March 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Real Sociedad. Formed at Athletic Bilbao, he played as a senior with Basconia, Bilbao Athletic, Levante, Huesca and Real ...

in the queue for selection, but made his professional – and

– debut five days later, starting in a 2–1 home win against

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

. In just his third league appearance for Athletic Bilbao, Simón played in a 1–1 draw with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

where he made several key saves and was named player of the match. However, when Herrerín regained full fitness in October 2018 he was made the starting goalkeeper, with Simón's only appearances over the subsequent four months coming 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 footbal ...

. For the 2019–20 season, Simón was given the #1 squad number and began the campaign as first choice, keeping a clean sheet in an opening day win over

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. Founded ...

. He continued his strong form throughout the season, missing two fixtures with illness and completing 33 matches in the league, conceding 29 goals to finish third in the

Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a association football, football award, established by Spanish newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who h ...

rankings. On the 37th, penultimate, matchday, he was sent off during the first half against Leganés for a 'last man' challenge outside the penalty area, with the resultant suspension ending his season a game early; with ten men, Athletic Bilbao lost 2–0 to end their slim hopes of qualifying for 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 ...

. In August 2020, he signed a new contract with the club running to the summer of 2025, with no buyout clause.

International career

Simón was selected 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 under-19 and under-21 levels. He was a member of the squad that won the

2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 14th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (64th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual European youth football competition contested by the men's under-19 ...

, albeit as the backup goalkeeper to Antonio Sivera during the tournament. In the same year he was in the Basque Country under-18 team that won the . On 1 September 2017, Simón debuted with the under-21 team against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He was selected for the

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019) was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (25th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ch ...

, playing the first game of the group stage as Spain once more finished as champions (Sivera was again first-choice). Simón received his first call up to the senior side on 20 August 2020, for the initial two matches of the

2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...

. Despite having made an error which led to a goal at club level a few days earlier, he was selected for his full debut on 11 November 2020, playing the entirety of a friendly against

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On 24 May 2021, Simón was included in

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as ...

's 24-man squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. He started all of the team's matches, and caused an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

in the 5–3 last-16 win over

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

when he was unable to control a long backwards pass by

Pedri Pedro González López (born 25 November 2002), known as Pedri, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Early life Born in Bajamar, Tenerife, Canary Islan ...

. Luis Enrique praised his mentality for having recovered from that mistake. He then managed to save two penalties as Spain won the shootout against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in the quarter-finals after a 1–1 draw, for which he was also awarded the Star of the Match. The semi-final against

ended with the same score, and Simón saved the first attempt in the shootout by

Manuel Locatelli Manuel Locatelli (born 8 January 1998) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Juventus, on loan from Sassuolo, and the Italy national team. After coming through the club's youth system, Locatelli made his pro ...

, but the Italians prevailed. Simón was also called up for the Spanish Olympic team for the delayed 2020 tournament in Japan. With Simón as the starting goalkeeper they reached the final, but lost to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He was the starter at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in which Spain progressed from their group with a win, a draw and a defeat, then lost 3–0 on penalties to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in the Round of 16 after a goalless draw – Simón saved from Badr Benoun, but three team-mates all failed with their efforts. They had better fortune in the 2023 UEFA Nations League final six months later, where another 0–0, against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, was followed by a 5–4 win in the shootout to claim the title, Simón blocking attempts from

Lovro Majer Lovro Majer (; born 17 January 1998) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Ligue 1 club Rennes and the Croatia national team. Club career Early career Majer was born in Zagreb in 1998. His father Egon ...

and

Bruno Petković Bruno Petković (; born 16 September 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Dinamo Zagreb and the Croatia national team. Early career Petković was born in Metković, Croatia. His father Jakov Petković hails fr ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Athletic Bilbao *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

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 ...

runner-up: 2019–20,

Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Spain U23 * Summer Olympic silver medal:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Spain *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

2022–23 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 ...

; runner-up:

Individual *

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

La Liga Revelation Team of the Year: 2019–20

References

External links

*
archive
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Unai 1997 births Living people Footballers from Vitoria-Gasteiz Spanish men's footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Spain Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Elche CF players UEFA Euro 2020 players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Nations League-winning players CD Aurrerá de Vitoria footballers Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Spain Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics