Beñat Etxebarria Urkiaga (, ; born 19 February 1987), known

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

ously as Beñat, is a Spanish former 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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent the better part of his professional career with

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 ...

, appearing in 242 competitive matches and scoring 11 goals while winning the

2015 Supercopa de España The 2015 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Association football, football match-up that was played in August 2015 between Athletic Bilbao, runners-up of the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, and FC Barcelona, Barcelona, the champions of 2014–15 La Lig ...

. In

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 ...

, he also represented Betis. Beñat earned four

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 the Spain national team.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Beñat was born in

Igorre Igorre is a municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in Nor ...

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 ...

. Coming through

's prolific youth ranks 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 - Bizka ...

, he played his first three years with both the third team,

CD Basconia Club Deportivo Basconia is a Spanish football club based in Basauri, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded on 14 March 1913, it currently plays in , holding home games at the ''Artunduaga Sports Centre'', in the town o ...

, and the reserve side. On 29 October 2006, he appeared in his first – and only –

game, which consisted of six minutes against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

in a 1–1 away draw after replacing another youth product, Francisco Yeste.

Betis

In 2008–09, Beñat played with

UB Conquense Unión Balompédica Conquense is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Cuenca, Spain, Cuenca, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1946, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio La Fuensanta ...

in the

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 ...

, after which he was released by Athletic. In the summer he signed with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, but spent his first season with the reserves also in the third tier. Beñat made his debut for Betis' main squad on 29 August 2010, playing 20 minutes in the 4–1 home win against

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

and being involved in the play that led to Salva Sevilla's goal. Three days later he scored in his first start, a 2–1 home victory over

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 black ...

in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. In the league campaign he contributed 36 matches (30 starts, 2.521 minutes of action) as the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns returned to the top flight after three years, netting four times. On 2 May 2012, Beñat scored twice for his fifth and sixth goals of the season, in a 2–1 defeat of

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

in the

local derby A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...

. The winner came in the 90th minute. Beñat scored the game's only goal in a 1–0 home win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

on 24 November 2012, with a shot from outside the 18-yard box in the 17th minute. He finished the campaign with 34 games, four goals and seven assists, helping the club finish seventh and

qualify Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Athletic return

Beñat returned to Athletic Bilbao in June 2013, signing a five-year contract for a reported fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

8 million. On 16 September, he took the first touch at the new San Mamés Stadium against

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

and scored the 3–2 winner; he was substituted to a standing ovation, and dedicated his performance to his grandparents. On 14 April 2016, Beñat was the only player to miss in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

against compatriots Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Following the appointment of manager

José Ángel Ziganda José Ángel "Cuco" Ziganda Lakunza (born 1 October 1966) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a centre-forward. He played 381 La Liga matches over the course of 12 ...

for the 2017–18 season, he began featuring less regularly. In July 2020, Athletic confirmed that Beñat's contract would not be extended beyond that summer, although the departure was delayed beyond its usual June expiry after the season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Spain The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Spain on 31 January 2020, when a German tourist tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in La Gomera, Canary Island ...

. His contribution (along with long-serving colleague Mikel San José, also leaving in similar circumstances) was acknowledged at the last home fixture on 16 July 2020 in an empty San Mamés– he was in the matchday squad but did not leave the bench, with his last appearance five months earlier; he had been involved in the side's run to the Spanish Cup final, but the circumstances of the delay and the end of his spell at the club meant he would have no opportunity to take part in the decisive match.

Macarthur

Beñat moved abroad for the first time at the age of 33, joining Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

newcomers

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under Professional sports league organi ...

on 13 November 2020. On 30 December, he scored their first-ever goal in the competition, through a deflected

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

in the 1–0 away defeat of

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football, association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South W ...

. Both Beñat and his compatriot and former Athletic teammate Markel Susaeta retired at the end of the campaign, aged 34.

International career

Beñat played with the Spanish youth teams at under-17 level; due to poor grades, his parents did not allow him to be selected for the 2013 UEFA European Championship. He made his debut for the full side on 26 May 2012, playing 45 minutes in a 2–0 friendly win with

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in St. Gallen and thus becoming the first Betis player since

Juanito Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include: Professional footballers * Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward * Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forw ...

to don the national team shirt, nearly four years later.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Betis *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Athletic Bilbao *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benat Etxebarria 1987 births Living people People from Arratia-Nerbioi 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Biscay Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers UB Conquense footballers Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers Real Betis players A-League Men players Macarthur FC players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia