Eñaut Zubikarai Goñi (born 26 February 1984) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

, currently goalkeeping coach of New Zealand club

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is an association football club based in the suburb of Sandringham, New Zealand, Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League (New Zealand), Northern League. Auckland City have ...

Club career

Real Sociedad

Born in

Ondarroa Ondarroa is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. Main sights *Church of St. Mary, in late Gothic style (late 15th century) *Likona Tower, a ty ...

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 ...

, Zubikarai joined

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, ...

in 2003 at age 19, being assigned to

the B team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together followin ...

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 ...

. For the 2005–06 season he was loaned to

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

neighbours

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

, but appeared in only one game after suffering a

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

injury (he suffered another after having returned to his parent club) and also suffered relegation from

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 ...

, which triggered thoughts of an early retirement. After

Asier Riesgo Asier Riesgo Unamuno (born 6 October 1983) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a 22-year senior career, he appeared in 185 La Liga games over 11 seasons, for Real Sociedad, Recreativo, Osasuna and Eibar. ...

moved to

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

, Zubikarai was definitely promoted to the main squad but, after the former returned from his loan, both battled for second-choice status during the 2009–10 campaign. The latter contributed 12 matches as the ''Txuriurdin'' returned to

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 ...

after a three-year absence. Zubikarai made his debut in the top flight on 10 April 2012 at the age of 28, in a 1–1 home draw against

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 ...

. He continued to act as understudy to

Claudio Bravo Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (; born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Bravo began his career with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Socied ...

for the duration of his spell, but was Real Sociedad's goalkeeper 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 ...

, notably helping to a semi-final run in 2013–14. After the Chilean's departure to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

in summer 2014, Zubikarai became the starter. However, shortly after conceding four goals in an away fixture against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

in December, he lost his position to Gerónimo Rulli. Zubikarai was released by Real Sociedad on 30 June 2015, after the expiration of his contract. On 20 January of the following year, after several months without a club, he signed a five-month deal with C.D. Tondela from Portugal.

Auckland City

In September 2016,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Zubikarai joined

. As part of a stellar defence which saw the team only allow 12 goals during the 2017–18 season as they won the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

title, he went 1,404 minutes or 15 games without conceding a goal in all competitions, beginning in the 70th minute of a 1–1 home draw against

Southern United FC Southern United, previously known as Otago United, is an amateur football club based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Founded in 2004, they play their home games at the Logan Park and Forsyth Barr Stadium. It is the southernmost football club playing ...

on 13 January 2018 and ending in the 37th minute of a 2–2 draw to

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was an association football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most successful football c ...

on 29 April in the semi-finals of the

OFC Champions League The OFC Men's Champions League is the premier men's club football competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been organised since 2007 ...

. This exploit constituted the third-longest streak of its kind of all time – behind Mazarópi and

Thabet El-Batal Thabet El-Batal (16 September 1953 – 14 February 2005) was an Egyptian international goalkeeper. He played club football in his homeland (El Hawamdia). Then he went to Al Ahly between 1972 and 1991. He is considered to be one the greatest go ...

– as well as the longest of the 21st century, and of any European goalkeeper. Zubikarai became head goalkeeper coach on 5 October 2020, following the retirement of incumbent Simone Naddi.

Personal life

In the summer of 2011,

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

was on the verge of signing Zubikarai on loan, but pulled out, officially on financial grounds. However, the club reportedly feared public reaction to the signing of a player whose father, Cándido, was affiliated with terrorist organisation

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

, and was sentenced to thirty years in 1989 for the murder of two civil guards.

Honours

Real Sociedad *

: 2009–10 Auckland City *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zubikarai, Enaut 1984 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Ondarroa Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Sociedad B footballers SD Eibar footballers Real Sociedad footballers Primeira Liga players C.D. Tondela players New Zealand Football Championship players Auckland City FC players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Association football goalkeeping coaches