Ignacio Eizaguirre Arregui (7 November 1920 – 1 September 2013) was a Spanish

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 played 381

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 during 19 seasons, representing Real Sociedad,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

and Osasuna. He was a Spanish international for seven years, and appeared for the country at the 1950 World Cup.

Club career

Born in San Sebastián,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

, Eizaguirre signed with Real Sociedad in 1936, but no football was played in the country from that year and 1939 due to the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. He made his debuts with the club in Segunda División and, after one season, reached

as he moved to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

. With the ''Che'', Eizaguirre – who did not lineup in his first year due to suspension – won his three national championships in his first six seasons, conquering two

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ic ...

awards in the process. After one full decade he returned to his native Basque Country and Real Sociedad, for a further six top flight campaigns. Eizaguirre retired at the age of nearly 40 after four seasons with

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 ...

, still in the main category – before the last one, 1959–60, ended, he was named the club's

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

, as the campaign ended in relegation for the Navarrese. He worked as a manager until the late 70s, with Córdoba CF,

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...

and

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

in the top division and a host of teams in the second level.

International career

Eizaguirre won the first of his 18

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 ...

on 11 March 1945, in a 2–2 friendly draw with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in Lisbon. He was chosen by manager Guillermo Eizaguirre (no relation) for his

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

squad, and in Brazil he featured against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(3–1 first group stage win) and Sweden (1–3 second group stage loss) for the eventual fourth-placed team.

Personal life and death

Eizaguirre's father, Agustín, was also a footballer and a goalkeeper. He played solely for Real Sociedad. Ignacio died on 1 September 2013 in his hometown of San Sebastián, aged 92.

Honours

Valencia *

: 1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47 *

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 ...

: 1949 *

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the nam ...

: 1949 Individual *

: 1943–44, 1944–45

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eizaguirre, Ignacio 1920 births 2013 deaths Spanish footballers Footballers from San Sebastián Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Real Sociedad footballers Valencia CF players CA Osasuna players Spain international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers CA Osasuna managers Real Murcia managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Granada CF managers Córdoba CF managers Sevilla FC managers Burgos CF (1936) managers Hércules CF managers CD Tenerife managers Deportivo Alavés managers