Iñaki Goitia Peña (born 2 March 1982) is a Spanish former

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 ...

. He spent most of his professional career in

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 ...

, totalling 265 appearances for Málaga B,

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, Betis, Mirandés and Alavés. He added 29

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 ...

matches over three seasons, in representation of the second and third clubs.

Club career

Goitia was born 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 ...

. After starting with modest clubs in the Basque region, he moved in 2003–04 to

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 ...

, spending his first two years with the

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

in the

. In February 2006 he made two

appearances, in two defeats in which he conceded seven goals; the season ended in relegation, while the reserves also dropped down a tier. In 2007–08, Goitia finally won the battle for first-choice status over longtime incumbent

Francesc Arnau Francesc Xavier Arnau Grabalosa (23 March 1975 – 22 May 2021) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a 16-year professional career he played for Barcelona and Málaga, appearing in 126 La Liga games over the course of 12 seas ...

, appearing in 41 out of 42 games 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 two years. The following campaign, however, the latter began as the starter but, after some costly mistakes, the former was reinstated. Late during the season, despite having a contract running until 30 June 2009, Goitia refused to play against his future club

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 ...

fearing that he would be criticised if he allowed goals (as his future team was fighting to avoid relegation). The four-year deal was officialized in early June 2009, and he featured in 25 matches in his

second year The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

as they returned to the top division as champions.Un ascenso de portería a portería (A promotion from goal to goal)

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, 12 May 2011 (in Spanish) After three more seasons in division two, with

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

and

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

, Goitia retired at the age of 33 to dedicate himself to his family.La nueva vida de Goitia (Goitia's new life)

Diario Sur ''Diario Sur'' (also called ''SUR''; ) is a regional newspaper of Málaga, Spain. It is owned by the Prensa Malagueña, S.A., owned by Grupo Vocento. History and profile The newspaper was founded in February 1937. Initially it was called ''Arriba ...

, 29 November 2015 (in Spanish)

Honours

Betis *

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goitia, Inaki 1982 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Danok Bat CF players SD Amorebieta footballers Amurrio Club footballers Burgos CF footballers Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Real Betis players CD Mirandés footballers Deportivo Alavés players Asti Leku Ikastola alumni 21st-century Spanish sportsmen