Iñigo Idiakez

Iñigo Idiakez

Idiakez in 2005
Personal information
Full name	Iñigo Idiakez Barkaiztegi
Date of birth	(1973-11-08) 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)
2013–	Leicester City (youth)
* 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 a forward.

His main club was Real Sociedad, where he stayed fror 13 years including ten as a regular first-teamer. In 2003, at the age of 30, he moved to England where he finished his career playing for three clubs, mainly with Derby County, but without managing to play 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 this 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 goals in 96 matches.

On 31 August 2006, Idiákez was again signed by George 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 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. When the tie finished 4–4 on aggregate after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shootout when Idiákez missed the crucial penalty, helping to 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 in management, assisting former Derby and Southampton boss Burley at Apollon Limassol.^[8] He later joined Leicester City, becoming lead youth development coach with the club in the Premier League

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

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Iñigo Idiakez career statistics at Soccerbase
• Official website

Spain men's football squad – 1996 Summer Olympics 1 Mora 2 Mendieta 3 Aranzábal 4 Navarro 5 Santi 6 Óscar 7 Raúl 8 Roberto 9 Corino 10 José Ignacio 11 Idiakez 12 Karanka 13 Aizkorreta 14 Morientes 15 De la Peña 16 Lardín 17 Sietes 18 Dani Coach: Clemente