José Ignacio "Iñaki" Sáez Ruiz (born 23 April 1943) is a Spanish former football player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. A defender, he spent the vast majority of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao, which he later also coached in various levels, appearing in more than 300 official games with his main club. In addition to two other clubs (other than Athletic), Sáez managed the Spain national team during two years, being in charge at

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

Playing career

Born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, Basque Country, Sáez joined local giants Athletic Bilbao in 1962, from neighbouring

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Lasesarre'', with a capacity ...

. He totalled 46

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 – with five goals – in his first two seasons combined, but appeared in only 20 in the following three combined, due to injuries. Again healthy, Sáez appeared regularly for Athletic from 1967 to 1974, helping the Lions to two

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 ...

trophies, and retired at the age of 31, having appeared in nearly 350 official games for the club. He was part of a legendary defense that also featured

José Ángel Iribar José Ángel Iribar Kortajarena (born 1 March 1943), nicknamed ''El Chopo'' ("the Populus, Poplar"), is a Spanish retired Association football, football Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and Manager (association football), manager. ...

in goal,

Luis María Echeberría Luis María Echeberría Igartua (24 March 1940 – 19 October 2016) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender. Club career Born in Asua, Biscay, Echeberría signed for Athletic Bilbao in 1961 at the age of 21 from Basque Country neig ...

and

Jesús Aranguren Jesús 'Txutxi' Aranguren Merino (26 December 1944 – 21 March 2011) was a Spanish football defender and coach. His 13-year professional career was solely associated with Athletic Bilbao, with which he played in nearly 400 official games, wi ...

. Sáez earned three

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 Ja ...

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 ...

in one month in 1968, his first and his last appearance being against the same opponent,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in two losses for the

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

qualifying stage (0–1 in London, 1–2 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Coaching career

Club

Aged only 32, Sáez began a managerial career, taking charge of Athletic Bilbao's youth sides for five years. Only two games into the 1980–81 season,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n Helmut Senekowitsch was fired, and he led the team to a final ninth position, and returned again to the B-team, helping it to a Segunda División return in 1983. Sáez again took the reins of the first team in 1985–86, replacing

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

for the final 13 games of the season, and leading Athletic to the third place, behind Real Madrid and

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 ...

. In the following four seasons, he coached the reserves in the second level, being again promoted to the first team midway through

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, again replacing Clemente, and being himself fired after round 23 of the following campaign, as the team only finished two points above the relegation zone. After two spells with

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at t ...

, both in division three, Sáez was appointed at

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

in the top flight, replacing fired

Benito Floro Benito Floro Sanz (born 2 June 1952) is a Spanish football manager. Football career Floro was born in Gijón, Asturias. During his professional career he managed Albacete Balompié (two spells, starting off in 1989 in Segunda División B and ...

in mid-March 1996, his first game in charge being a 0–2 away loss against Real Madrid as the season finished in relegation through the playoffs.

Spain

In the summer of 1996, Sáez was appointed the Spain under-21 team manager, winning the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

two years later after defeating

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. Also being in charge of the under-20s, he led them to the FIFA World Cup of the category in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. In 2002, Sáez was named

José Antonio Camacho José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former football left-back and manager. He spent 15 professional years at Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major titles, inc ...

's successor at the helm of the senior team, being in charge until the end of

– which ended in group stage exit – and collecting 15 wins, six draws and two losses in his 23 games in charge. Subsequently, Sáez returned to the under-21 team, retiring from the football world in 2008 at the age of 65.

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao *

Copa del Generalísimo 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 ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, 1972–73

Manager

Bilbao Athletic * Segunda División B: 1982–83, 1988–89 Spain U18 *

third place:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Spain U19 *

: 2002 ;Spain U20 *

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

Spain U21 *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

;Spain U23 * Summer Olympic silver medal:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saez, Inaki 1943 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Bilbao Association football defenders La Liga players Barakaldo CF footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Spain international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Athletic Bilbao B managers Athletic Bilbao managers UD Las Palmas managers Albacete Balompié managers Spain national under-21 football team managers Spain national football team managers UEFA Euro 2004 managers Spanish Olympic coaches