Andoni Murúa Zentarruzabeitia (born 20 March 1953) is a Spanish retired

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 lea ...

who played mainly as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He appeared in 121

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

games over the course of five seasons, scoring 29 goals.

Club career

Born in the village of Burceña, in

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Murúa emerged through Basque Country giants

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

's youth system. He spent four seasons with the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the third division, but could not break into the first team as he was barred by Txetxu Rojo, moving to another club in that tier and his native region,

Sestao Sport Club Sestao Sport Club was a Spanish football club based in Sestao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded it 1916 it held home matches at ''Campo Municipal de las Llanas'', with a capacity of 8,900 seats. History Sestao managed to ...

. In the summer of 1977, Murúa signed with

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

also in the third level – renamed

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

shortly before – helping to promotion to division two in his second year with a career-best 38 goals. He played six games in the following season scoring twice, before moving in late 1979 to

with AD Almería, coached by former Athletic great

José María Maguregui José María Maguregui Ibarguchi (16 March 1934 – 30 December 2013) was a Spanish football midfielder and coach. Playing career Born in Ugao-Miraballes, Biscay, Maguregui made his professional debuts in 1952 at the age of 18, with Basque Co ...

: on 21 October of that year he made his debut in the competition, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, and finished the campaign with 11 goals; this included a brace in a 4–2 success over former team Athletic Bilbao, on 30 December. After a further two seasons in the top flight with

RCD Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, Murúa returned to division two and joined

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

, promoting to the former competition in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

(25 matches, four goals); on both occasions, he was managed by Maguregui. Murúa retired from professional football in 1986 at the age of 33, playing with his first team Sestao in the second division.

International career

Murua did not earn any

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 Java ...

for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He was pre-selected by

László Kubala László Kubala (10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian professional association football, footballer. He played as a forward (association football), forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, ŠK Slovan Bratislava, Slovan Bratislava, F ...

for the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

which was played on home soil, while playing with Almería, but did not make the final list.

Personal life

Murúa's younger brother (ten years his junior) was also a footballer. A defender, he too played with Bilbao Athletic and Sestao (coinciding with his sibling in the latter as Andoni was playing his final year), and appeared in two top level seasons with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

(1988 to 1990). Murúa's daughter, Irune, also represented

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murua, Andoni 1953 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Athletic Bilbao B footballers Sestao Sport Club footballers Levante UD footballers AD Almería footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Racing de Santander players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen