Xabier Etxeita Gorritxategi (; ; born 31 October 1987) 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 ...

who plays for

SD Amorebieta Sociedad Deportiva Amorebieta is a Spanish football team based in Amorebieta-Etxano, in the Basque Country. Founded in 1925, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at '' Campo Municipal de Urritxe'', which s ...

mainly as a centre-back.

Club career

Born in

Amorebieta-Etxano Amorebieta-Etxano, also known as Zornotza (Spanish, ''Amorebieta-Echano''), is a town and municipality located in Biscay in the Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. At the time of the 2019 census, the population of the muni ...

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 ...

, Etxeita finished his development within Athletic Bilbao's prolific youth academy at

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 ...

, after playing with hometown club

. His first three games with the first team of the former, all in 2008–09's

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' ...

, were not without incidents: in his first, a 2–0 home win against neighbours

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...

on 16 November 2008, he subbed in for injured

Ustaritz Ustaritz (; eu, Uztaritze) is a town in the traditional French Basque Country, Basque province of Labourd, now a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department, southwestern France. It is located on ...

, being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the following against

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 ...

(same venue and result). On 21 December, he replaced

Ander Murillo Ander Murillo García (born 22 July 1983) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao and AEK Larnaca, appearing in 157 competitive matches with the former over nine sea ...

who also retired before

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

due to injury, in a 1–0 away victory over

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. During the season, however, he was mainly registered with the B side. In the last days of the 2010 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

, Etxeita moved on a five-month loan to

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

of the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. On 16 July 2010 he left Athletic and signed with another club at that level,

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 ...

, quickly going on to establish himself in the starting XI. On 4 June 2013, after contributing 40 games and four goals as the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

team returned to the top flight after more than 20 years, Etxeita returned to Athletic Bilbao on a free transfer. He only made his official debut on 7 April of the following year, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win over Levante UD. Etxeita scored his first competitive goal for Athletic on 25 October 2014, the only in a league fixture at

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

. His second came on 4 March of the following year, as he helped to a 2–0 defeat of

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 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

to make his team reach the final of 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 footb ...

for the first time in three years; he played the entire decisive match, a 3–1 loss to

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. Found ...

, and also started both legs of the subsequent edition of the Supercopa de España against the same opponent, which was won 5–1 on aggregate and brought a first trophy for the player. On 24 July 2018, Exteita was loaned to fellow top-division side

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded on 29 March 1960, SD Huesca plays in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in ...

for one year. In August 2019, the

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

left the San Mamés Stadium and joined Getafe CF of the same tier on a two-year contract. On 15 July 2021, Exteita signed a one-year deal with

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 ...

, recently relegated to the second division. Having been released at the end of the season, he returned to his first club Amorebieta in September 2022.

International career

Etxeita received his first call up to the senior Spain national team in October 2015. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on the 12th, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

– the last round, the nation had already secured the first position in its group – for the

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

qualifiers. He also featured for the unofficial Basque Country regional side.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Athletic Bilbao * Supercopa de España: 2015

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Etxeita, Xabier 1987 births Living people People from Amorebieta-Etxano Sportspeople from Biscay Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players SD Amorebieta footballers Bilbao Athletic footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers FC Cartagena footballers Elche CF players SD Huesca footballers Getafe CF footballers SD Eibar footballers Spain international footballers Basque Country international footballers