Aritz Aduriz

Aritz Aduriz

Personal information
Full name	Aritz Aduriz Zubeldia
Date of birth	(1981-02-11) 11 February 1981 (age 31)
Place of birth	San Sebastián, Spain
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Valencia
Number	11
Youth career
1998–1999	Antiguoko
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2000	Aurrerá	25	(0)
2000–2003	Bilbao Athletic	90	(19)
2002–2003	Athletic Bilbao	3	(0)
2003–2004	Burgos	36	(16)
2004–2005	Valladolid	46	(20)
2006–2008	Athletic Bilbao	84	(22)
2008–2010	Mallorca	69	(23)
2010–	Valencia	58	(21)
National team‡
2010–	Spain	1	(0)
2009–	Basque Country	3	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 May 2011

Aritz Aduriz Zubeldia (born 11 February 1981 in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Valencia CF in La Liga, as a striker.

Club career

Athletic

Brought up through the ranks of the famed Lezama youth system at Athletic de Bilbao, although he arrived there at already 19, from amateurs CD Aurrerá de Vitoria, Aduriz made his first-team debut on 14 September 2002 against FC Barcelona, in a 0–2 home loss. He went on to spend almost three seasons (one in Burgos CF, one and-a-half in Real Valladolid) in the second division, before returning to Athletic in January 2006.^[1]

Aduriz showed continuous progress ever since, attested by his nine La Liga goals in 34 games in the 2006–07 season, including a hat-trick against Real Zaragoza on 19 May 2007 (albeit in a 3–4 defeat).^[2] In the following campaign, he was overshadowed by teammate Fernando Llorente, but still managed seven goals in 33 league appearances.

Mallorca

On 4 August 2008, Aduriz became the first player to score at the Colchester Community Stadium, in a friendly match with Colchester United. On the 25th, Athletic Bilbao announced he had been sold to RCD Mallorca, signing a four-year contract.^[3]

On 26 October, Aduriz scored a brace for his new club, in a 3–0 home success over RCD Espanyol,^[4] and finished his first year as the side's top scorer, for a final 9th position. He repeated the individual feat in the 2009–10 season – improving to 12 – as the Balearic Islands side ranked higher (fifth, with UEFA Europa League qualification).

Valencia

29-year old Aduriz moved to Valencia CF on 14 July 2010, for about €4 million.^[5] He scored on his official debut on 28 August, opening the scoresheet at Málaga CF, in an eventual 3–1 win.^[6]

From January 2011, after the arrival of Brazilian Jonas in the winter transfer window, and due to the fact manager Unai Emery often only played with one pure striker – Roberto Soldado – Aduriz found himself on the bench more often than not. He still managed to finish his first season as a Che with 14 official goals, including two in the side's UEFA Champions League campaign, one in each of the games against Bursaspor.^[7][8]

International career

After an impressive start to his Valencia career, 29-year old Aduriz earned a first call-up to the Spanish national team, being picked for two UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers in October 2010. On the 8th, he made his debut, replacing Fernando Llorente for the last 15 minutes of a 3–1 home win against Lithuania.

Club statistics

As of 5 May 2012

References

External links

• Valencia official profile
• BDFutbol profile
• Athletic Bilbao profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Real Mallorca bio (Spanish)
• Transfermarkt profile
• CiberChe stats and bio (Spanish)