Iñigo Idiakez
 Idiakez in 2005 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Iñigo Idiakez Barkaiztegi | ||
| Date of birth | 8 November 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | San Sebastián, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1989–1992 | Real Sociedad | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1992–1994 | Real Sociedad B | 25 | (14) |
| 1992–2002 | Real Sociedad | 233 | (33) |
| 2002–2003 | Oviedo | 33 | (4) |
| 2003–2004 | Rayo Vallecano | 30 | (5) |
| 2004–2006 | Derby County | 88 | (20) |
| 2006–2008 | Southampton | 35 | (2) |
| 2007 | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| Total | 448 | (79) | |
| National team | |||
| 1995–1996 | Spain U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 1996 | Spain U23 | 3 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2009–2010 | Añorga (youth) | ||
| 2010–2011 | Euskalduna | ||
| 2011–2012 | Berio | ||
| 2012 | Apollon Limassol (assistant) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Iñigo Idiakez Barkaiztegi (born 8 November 1973) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder and occasionally forward.
During 13 years he played for Real Sociedad, with relative impact with the first team. In 2003, at the age of 30, he moved to England where he finished his career after having represented three teams, without however having played in the Premier League.
Club career
Spain
Idiakez was born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa. In 1989 he joined local Real Sociedad's youth system, making his senior debuts with the B-team where he shared teams with his older brother Imanol.[1] He first appeared with the main squad on 8 November 1992, on his 19th birthday, against Cádiz CF in La Liga; despite that early debut he did not become a regular member of the first team squad until the 1994–95 season, playing nearly two full campaigns with the reserves in Segunda División B.
Subsequently Idiakez appeared in a further eight top flight seasons with the Txuriurdin, going on to appear in nearly 300 official games. During most of his spell he was a regular substitute and, in 1998–99 and 2000–01, scored a career-best seven league goals.
At the end of the 2001–02 season, having finished his link with Real Sociedad, Idiakez signed with Real Oviedo, who had just been relegated to Segunda División and were in a deep financial crisis. He only spent one year with the Asturias side, who finished the season penultimate, being relegated to division three then demoted a further category because of financial ireegularities.
Idiakez then moved to another second division side, Madrid's Rayo Vallecano. Again, his new club finished second from the bottom and were relegated at the end of the season.
England
In the summer of 2004, Derby County manager George Burley signed Idiakez up on a free transfer. He immediately adapted to the Football League Championship, being named Player of the Season in his debut year as Derby finished in fourth place, but failed to win promotion through the play-offs.
At Derby, Idiakez played in an advanced position and took most free kicks and corners.[2][3] In 2005–06, under managers Phil Brown first and Terry Westley after, the team only finished in 20th position, narrowly avoiding relegation; he ended his stint at the club with 22 official goals in 96 matches.
On 31 August 2006 Idiákez was once again signed by Burley, moving to Southampton for £275,000. In March of the following year, after only a handful of appearances for the Saints, he joined Queens Park Rangers on loan for a month, scoring once against Leicester City in a 3–1 away win,[4] and returned to Southampton one month later.[5]
In the 2006–07 season play-off semi-final, on 15 May, Southampton played Derby County: after the tie finished 4–4 on aggregate after extra time the match went to a penalty shootout, and Idiákez missed the crucial penalty, helping send his former club through to the final.[6]
Southampton released Idiákez at the end of the 2007–08 campaign, and the player then underwent trials with Major League Soccer side San Jose Earthquakes and Bournemouth, but was not offered a contract.
After his retirement as a player, Idiakez completed his coaching qualifications when he earned the UEFA Pro Licence.[7] In 2012 he had his first spell as a manager, assisting former Derby and Southampton boss Burley at Apollon Limassol.[8]
International career
Idiakez played for Spain at under-21 level,[9] and participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, appearing three times for the quarter-finalists.[10]
He also played in four friendly games for the Basque unofficial team, scoring twice.
Honours
- Spain U21
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Runner-up 1996
References
- ↑ "Imanol Idiakez queda libre para enero" [Imanol Idiakez is free in January] (in Spanish). Fichajes. 6 December 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ↑ Southampton 0–0 Derby; BBC Sport, 4 February 2006
- ↑ Southampton 3–2 West Brom; BBC Sport, 6 October 2007
- ↑ "Leicester 1–3 QPR". BBC Sport. 17 March 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
- ↑ Saints recall Idiakez from loan; BBC Sport, 16 April 2007
- ↑ Derby secure play-off final berth; BBC Sport, 15 May 2007
- ↑ "Licencia UEFA PRO" [UEFA PRO Licence] (in Spanish). Official website. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ↑ "El Apollon destituye a Burley e Idiakez tras sólo dos partidos" [Apollon fires Burley and Idiakez after only two games] (in Spanish). Diario Vasco. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ↑ Italia ya ganó un Europeo a España en el 1996 (Italy has already won European Championships against Spain in 1996); Orgullo Bianconero, 18 June 2013 (Spanish)
- ↑ Iñigo Idiakez – FIFA competition record
External links
| |||||||
| |||||
| |||||