Aitor Karanka

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Personal information
Aitor Karanka
Full name	Aitor Karanka de la Hoz
Date of birth	September 18, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Vitoria, Álava, Spain
Height	6'1
Playing position	defender
Youth clubs
	Corazonistas Deportivo Alavés
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991-92 1992-97 1997-02 2002-06 2006	Bilbao Athletic Athletic Bilbao Real Madrid Athletic Bilbao Colorado Rapids	68(0) 118 (2) 123 (0) 64 (2) 27 (0)
National team²
1995 2000-04	Spain Euskadi XI	1 (0) 5 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 December 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 2 December 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (born September 18, 1973 in Vitoria, Álava) is a Spanish/Basque footballer, who last played for the Colorado Rapids of the MLS. He has previously played for Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid, Spain and the Euskadi XI. His brother, David Karanka, is also a footballer and has played for Athletic Bilbao, Real Murcia and Sporting de Gijón.

Karanka, a defender, began his career with the junior side Corazonistas and also played at a junior level for Deportivo Alavés. He made his professional debut with Bilbao Athletic in 1991 and went onto make 68 appearances for the reserve side. Along with Julen Guerrero, he was a member of the Athletic U-19 team that won a national cup and league double in 1992. Karanka was promoted to the senior Athletic Bilbao team by Jupp Heynckes in 1993 and went onto make 118 La Liga appearances before joining Heynckes at Real Madrid in 1997. He made 93 La Liga appearances and played 33 UEFA Champions League games for Real, including the final in 2000. In 2002 he returned to Athletic Bilbao.

Karanka never really established himself as an international and has only played once at senior level for Spain. He did however play 14 games for Spain U-21s and was a member of the team that were runners-up at the European Championship in 1996. He also played for Spain at the 1996 Olympic Games. Between 2000 and 2004 he also played 5 times for the Euskadi XI.