Igor Angulo Alboniga (born 26 January 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 forward. Formed at

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 ...

, he appeared in only five competitive matches during his spell at the club. He went on to make a name for himself in the Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

, surpassing the 80-goal mark for

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

. He also played professionally in France, Cyprus, Greece and India. Angulo represented Spain at various youth international levels.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

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 ...

, Angulo joined

's youth setup in 1996, aged 12, after starting out at

Danok Bat CF Danok Bat Club de Fica is a Spanish football team based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1972, the club is mainly known for their successful youth setup, which helps players to develop and join other senior clu ...

. He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in 2002, in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. Angulo made his first-team — and

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 ...

— debut on 23 March 2003, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–1 away loss 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 ...

. In June, he was promoted to the reserves 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 ...

. On 30 December 2004, after appearing in only three league matches with the main squad, Angulo was loaned to

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 ...

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

until the end of the season. After featuring regularly he returned to the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

, and renewed his contract on 19 October 2005. On 25 July 2006, Angulo moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining French

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

club

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed in 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 2 ...

in a season-long loan deal. Upon returning, he was again assigned to the B team. Angulo cut ties with the Lions on 21 July 2008.

Spain

On 21 July 2008, Angulo moved to

Écija Balompié Écija Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Écija, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1939, it plays in . History In 2007–08 season, the club became champion of the Segunda División B, Group 4. The next se ...

in the third tier along with Athletic teammate Aitor Ramos. In his second season at 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 he contributed nine goals in only 19 league matches, being the team's top scorer; highlights included 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 Wick ...

in a 6–2 home rout of Jerez Industrial CF on 10 January 2010. On 1 February 2010, Angulo signed a -year deal with division two side

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

after his contract was terminated at Écija. He made his debut three days later, playing the last 29 minutes in a 3–1 home win over

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

. Angulo rescinded his contract with the ''Rojillos'' on 22 July 2011, after starting sparingly during the campaign. He joined

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

hours later, scoring a career-best 13 goals in 2012–13, being team top scorer and being linked to a number of clubs also in the third division.

Abroad

On 5 August 2013, Angulo moved to the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

with

Enosis Neon Paralimni FC Enosis Neon Paralimni Football Club (, ''Enosi Neon Paralimniou''; ), commonly referred to as ENP, is a Cyprus, Cypriot association football, football team from Paralimni. Currently playing in the Cypriot First Division, first division, it holds ...

. On 21 November, aged already 29, he scored his first professional goal, netting in a 3–1 home loss against

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

. Angulo switched clubs and countries again on 14 September 2014, joining

Football League (Greece) The Football League () was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super League 2 as the new second tier ...

's Apollon Smyrnis FC. He continued competing abroad in subsequent seasons, in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

with Platanias F.C. and in the Polish

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

with

, being crowned top scorer for the latter team in 2016–17 as they returned to the

as runners-up. His strong form continued in the top tier, as his 23 league strikes saw him end the campaign as the second highest goalscorer at the age of 34, while Górnik finished fourth and qualified for the first qualifying round of 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 ...

(their first continental participation since 1994). In 2018–19, Angulo finished as the league's top scorer with 24 goals from 37 appearances. On 22 July 2020, the 36-year-old agreed to a one-year contract at

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

FC Goa Futebol Clube de Goa is an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Fatorda, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 2 ...

. Angulo signed with ISL defending champions

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is part of the City Football Group. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of the Ind ...

on 30 July 2021. In March 2022, he was included in the club's

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

squad.

International career

Angulo won seven

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 at youth level, including two for the under-21s. He made his debut on 2 September 2004, starting and playing 68 minutes in a 3–1 win against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in Alcoy.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

top scorer: 2014–15 * Ekstraklasa top scorer: 2018–19 *

top scorer: 2016–17 *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

top scorer: 2017–18 *

Indian Super League Golden Boot The Indian Super League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in a season of Indian Super League, the top tier Indian Football System. For sponsorship purposes, it was known as the Alto K10 Gol ...

: 2020–21 *Ekstraklasa Forward of the Season: 2018–19 *Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: July 2017, August 2017, November 2017, April 2019 *I liga Team of the Season: 2016–17 * ''Piłka Nożna'' Foreigner of the Year: 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Angulo, Igor 1984 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Bilbao Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Danok Bat CF players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Écija Balompié players CD Numancia players Real Unión footballers Championnat National players AS Cannes players Cypriot First Division players Enosis Neon Paralimni FC players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Platanias F.C. players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Górnik Zabrze players Indian Super League players FC Goa players Mumbai City FC players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India