Ismael Urzaiz Aranda (; born 7 October 1971) is a Spanish former

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

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Best known for his physical strength and aerial ability, the unsuccessful youth graduate at Real Madrid went on to represent seven other teams during his extensive professional career, mainly Athletic Bilbao where he spent 11 years. Over 16 seasons, he amassed

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' ...

totals of 445 matches and 131 goals (61 headers, record of the competition). Urzaiz appeared 25 times 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 ...

, representing the national team at

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Tudela, Navarre Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Navarre and twice a former Latin bishopric. Its population is around 35,000. The city is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electrif ...

, Urzaiz began his professional career at Real Madrid's reserves, joining the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

from local

CD Tudelano Club Deportivo Tudelano is a Spanish football team based in Tudela, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1935 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at '' Estadio Ciudad de Tudela'', with a capacity o ...

in 1985 and making his debut in Segunda División four years later. Despite being a successful youth international, he did not make any

appearances for the first team (however, he did play one game against Danish club

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

, in the

1990–91 European Cup The 1990–91 European Cup was the 36th season of the European Cup, a tournament for men's football clubs in nations affiliated to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). It was won for the first time by Red Star Belgrade on penalties ...

). Urzaiz spent the 1991–92 season on loan 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 ...

, making his top-flight debut when he came on as a substitute in a 4–0 home win against Athletic Bilbao on 20 October 1991. In early 1993, he was loaned to

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

in the same league.

Professional journeyman

Urzaiz left Real Madrid permanently in 1993, and in the following three seasons he played for

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...

and

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 ...

– with a very modest scoring rate in the first two sides. He helped Salamanca win promotion to the top tier in 1995, scoring twice as they beat Albacete 5–0 in the play-offs. The following campaign, Urzaiz joined Espanyol for 35 million pesetas and exploded as a first-rate attacking player, netting 13 league goals for a side that eventually finished fourth, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against former club Rayo Vallecano for a 4–2 home victory on 14 April 1996.

Athletic Bilbao

The form of a revived Urzaiz attracted interest and in the summer of 1996 he joined Athletic Bilbao for a 500 million pesetas fee, being eligible for the all-Basque team having been born in Navarre. In 11 seasons, he scored 115 goals in 367 league appearances. In 1997–98, his eight successful strikes in 32 matches helped to a runner-up finish, which led to direct qualification for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, where he scored once in seven games. Urzaiz scored in double figures in six of his campaigns at the San Mamés Stadium, but the emergence of youth graduate

Fernando Llorente Fernando Javier Llorente Torres (; born 26 February 1985), nicknamed ''El Rey León'' ("The Lion King" in Spanish), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker. He started his career with Athletic Bilbao, working his way throu ...

(even taller at ) prompted his exit from the club in July 2007; he still featured in 35 competitive matches in his final year, coincidentally also his age by its end, but only completed the 90 minutes in six of them. As well as being only the 14th player (at that point) to pass 400 appearances for Athletic, Urzaiz's total of 419 games set a club record for a player from Navarre which stood until 2020 when overtaken by

Iker Muniain Iker Muniain Goñi (, ; born 19 December 1992) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Athletic Bilbao, where he is captain, mainly as a left winger. Due to his style of play and stature, he was dubbed "the Spanish Messi" by the media. He has spe ...

Ajax

On 19 July 2007, Urzaiz signed a one-year contract with

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

, joining fellow Spaniards Gabri and Albert Luque. He made his official debut on 15 August, in the Champions League qualifier against

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in ...

(1–0 home loss, 18 minutes played). Urzaiz was released by the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

club after just three

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

appearances, announcing his retirement at nearly 37 shortly afterwards.

International career

Urzaiz represented

at the 1988 UEFA European Under-16 Championship in Denmark, helping his country to win the tournament. He also scored four goals for the under-20 team at the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIFA ...

, held in Portugal. On 10 October 1996, Urzaiz made his debut for the senior side, a 0–0 away draw with the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Over the next three years he made only three more appearances and failed to score, but emerged as the hero as Spain qualified for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

, netting six times in three games – this included two against

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 ...

and a hat-trick against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. After a further two in a friendly with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, he was subsequently picked for the final stages in Belgium and the Netherlands. After 25

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 ...

and eight goals, Urzaiz made his last international appearance in a 3–0 friendly loss to

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

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

in 2001. Between 1997 and 2005 he also played seven times for the Basque Country representative team, scoring twice in a 3–2 win over

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 t ...

in 2000.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Urzaiz goal.''

Honours

Spain U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Individual *

FIFA U-20 World Cup 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 whe ...

: silver shoe:

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Urzaiz, Ismael 1971 births Living people People from Tudela, Navarre Spanish footballers Footballers from Navarre Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Albacete Balompié players RC Celta de Vigo players Rayo Vallecano players UD Salamanca players RCD Espanyol footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Eredivisie players AFC Ajax players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Spain international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players Basque Country international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands