Andoni Zubizarreta

Andoni Zubizarreta

Personal information
Full name	Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta
Date of birth	(1961-10-23) 23 October 1961 (age 50)
Place of birth	Vitoria, Spain
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1976–1978	Aretxabaleta
1978–1979	Alavés
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1979–1980	Alavés B	?	(?)
1980–1981	Alavés	0	(0)
1981	Bilbao Athletic	7	(0)
1981–1986	Athletic Bilbao	169	(0)
1986–1994	Barcelona	301	(0)
1994–1998	Valencia	152	(0)
1979–1998	Total	629	(0)
National team
1979–1980	Spain U18	12	(0)
1981	Spain U19	1	(0)
1979–1984	Spain U21	17	(0)
1984	Spain amateur	1	(0)
1985–1998	Spain	126	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta (born 23 October 1961) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

The all-time most capped player for the Spanish national team for several years, he played with individual and team success for Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona (eight years with the latter, he would later work with the club in directorial capacities), appearing in more than 950 official professional matches during his club career.

Zubizarreta represented Spain in seven major international tournaments, four World Cups and three European Championships, starting in six of those.

Club career

Born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Zubizarreta spent his childhood in Aretxabaleta in Gipuzkoa, where he began his football trade. After a brief passage at another Basque side, Deportivo Alavés, he joined Athletic Bilbao, where he would spend the following six seasons.

Zubizarreta's debut in La Liga occurred on 19 September 1981, in a 0–2 away loss against Atlético Madrid, courtesy of manager Javier Clemente, one month shy of his 20th birthday; he would be an undisputed starter for the remainder of his tenure, being an instrumental element in the club's conquests, most notably the back-to-back leagues.

In 1986, Zubizarreta signed with FC Barcelona for a then record for a player in the position, €1.7 million,^[1] quickly removing established Urruti from the starting post and rarely missing a match onwards – for example, only four in the Catalan's four consecutive league wins combined. He added the club's first ever European Cup in 1992, a 1–0 triumph against U.C. Sampdoria.

After the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, where Barça lost heavily to A.C. Milan in the final (0–4), Zubi was deemed surplus to requirements and finished his career at Valencia CF, again at a high level. He retired after 1997–98 at nearly 37, having played in more than 950 official games (622 in the league alone – all-time best – conceding 626 goals).

On 2 July 2010, Zubizarreta was named Barcelona's director of football by incumbent president Sandro Rosell, taking over from former club and national teammate Txiki Begiristain.^[2] In the previous decade, he had served in the same capacity at Athletic Bilbao, also working as a radio and television commentator.

International career

Zubizarreta made his debut for Spain on 23 January 1985, in a 3–1 friendly victory over Finland, going on to collect a further 125 caps in the following 13 years.

He represented the nation in four consecutive FIFA World Cups: 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998 – his last competition, where he scored an own goal in a 2–3 group stage loss against Nigeria^[3] – also appearing, always as a starter, at UEFA Euro 1988 and 1996. Zubizarreta and his deputy Paco Buyo once held the national team record for the longest unbeaten run in international games, until Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina broke that record in October 2008; he was also surpassed by the former in total of caps on 15 November 2011.

Honours

Club

Athletic Bilbao

• Spanish League: 1982–83, 1983–84
• Spanish Cup: 1983–84
• Spanish Supercup: 1984

Barcelona

• UEFA European Cup: 1991–92
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1988–89
• UEFA Super Cup: 1992
• Spanish League: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94
• Spanish Cup: 1987–88, 1989–90
• Spanish Supercup: 1991, 1992

Individual

• Don Balón Award – Spanish Player of the Year: 1987
• Zamora Trophy: 1986–87

Statistics

Club

International

References

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Athletic Bilbao profile
• Valencia CF profile (Spanish)
• National team data (Spanish)
• Andoni Zubizarreta at National-Football-Teams.com
• International appearances; at RSSSF
• Andoni Zubizarreta – FIFA competition record

Spain squads v t e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 1984 Runners-up 1 Arconada 2 Urquiaga 3 Camacho 4 Maceda 5 Goikoetxea 6 Gordillo 7 Señor 8 Muñoz 9 Santillana 10 Gallego 11 Carrasco 12 Salva 13 Buyo 14 J. Alberto 15 Roberto 16 Francisco 17 Marcos 18 Butragueño 19 Sarabia 20 Zubizarreta Coach: Muñoz v t e Spain squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta 2 Tomás 3 Camacho (c) 4 Maceda 5 Víctor 6 Gordillo 7 Señor 8 Goikoetxea 9 Butragueño 10 Carrasco 11 Julio Alberto 12 Setién 13 Urruti 14 Gallego 15 Chendo 16 Rincón 17 Francisco 18 Calderé 19 Salinas 20 Eloy 21 Míchel 22 Ablanedo Coach: Muñoz v t e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 1988 1 Zubizarreta 2 Tomás 3 Camacho (c) 4 Andrinúa 5 Víctor 6 Calderé 7 Salinas 8 M. Sanchís 9 Butragueño 10 Eloy 11 Gordillo 12 Diego 13 Buyo 14 Gallego 15 Eusebio 16 Bakero 17 Begiristain 18 Soler 19 M. Vázquez 20 Míchel Coach: Muñoz v t e Spain squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta 2 Chendo 3 Jiménez 4 Andrinúa 5 Sanchís 6 Vázquez 7 Pardeza 8 Quique 9 Butragueño (c) 10 Fernando 11 Villarroya 12 Alkorta 13 Ablanedo 14 Górriz 15 Roberto 16 Bakero 17 Hierro 18 Rafa Paz 19 Salinas 20 Manolo 21 Míchel 22 Ochotorena Coach: Suárez v t e Spain squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta (c) 2 Ferrer 3 Otero 4 Camarasa 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro 7 Goikoetxea 8 Guerrero 9 Guardiola 10 Bakero 11 Begiristain 12 Sergi 13 Cañizares 14 Juanele 15 Caminero 16 Miñambres 17 Voro 18 Alkorta 19 Salinas 20 Nadal 21 Luis Enrique 22 Lopetegui Coach: Clemente v t e Spain squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Zubizarreta 2 López 3 Belsué 4 Alkorta 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro 7 Amavisca 8 Guerrero 9 Pizzi 10 Donato 11 Alfonso 12 Sergi 13 Cañizares 14 Kiko 15 Caminero 16 Otero 17 Manjarín 18 Amor 19 Salinas 20 Nadal 21 Luis Enrique 22 Molina Coach: Clemente v t e Spain squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Zubizarreta (c) 2 Ferrer 3 Aranzábal 4 Alkorta 5 Abelardo 6 Hierro 7 Morientes 8 Guerrero 9 Pizzi 10 Raúl 11 Alfonso 12 Sergi 13 Cañizares 14 Campo 15 Aguilera 16 Celades 17 Etxeberria 18 Amor 19 Kiko 20 Nadal 21 Luis Enrique 22 Molina Coach: Clemente