Iker Begoña Zubiaur (born 15 November 1976) 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 as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

or a

defensive midfielder 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. ...

Club career

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 ...

, Basque Country, Begoña reached the

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 ...

in late 2001 at already 25, signing with

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 ...

from lowly

Alicante CF Alicante Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1918, it played its home matches at ''Estadio Alicante CF'', with a 4,000-seat capacity. History ''Alicante Club de Fútbol'', under t ...

. He appeared in 21 games and scored one goal in his first season to help his team return 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 an absence of 23 years, then remained a further four campaigns with 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, three of them in the second division; he made his debut in his country's top flight on 1 September 2002, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–3 home loss against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

. Subsequently, Begoña continued competing in the second tier, with

Lorca Deportiva CF Lorca Deportiva Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. was a Spanish football club in Lorca, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 2002 it was dissolved ten years later, they held their home matches at ''Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco'', which ...

and

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

. In November 2009, the 33-year-old moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing with

Levadiakos F.C. Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional Association football, football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Super League Greece, Alp ...

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 ...

. He split the 2011–12 campaign in the same country with that club and Thrasyvoulos F.C. of division two, retiring at its closure.

Personal life

Begoña's older brother, Ibon, was also a footballer and a defender.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Begona, Iker 1976 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Bilbao Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Gernika Club footballers Bermeo FT footballers Amurrio Club footballers Alicante CF footballers Recreativo de Huelva players Lorca Deportiva CF footballers Albacete Balompié players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Levadiakos F.C. players Thrasyvoulos F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece