Arene Altonaga Etxebarria (born 25 February 1993) is a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for

Eibar Eibar (, ) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. It is the capital of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Debabarrena. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat, 2018). Its chief industry is ...

as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. She began her senior career at

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

and made her Primera División debut one week after her 16th birthday in 2009; however, her progress was stalled by injury and appearances at that level were infrequent – she played mainly for the B team before leaving the club in 2015. She then spent two seasons with

Oiartzun Oiartzun (, ) is a town and municipality located in the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa lying at the foot of the massif Aiako Harria (Peñas de Aya in Spanish). Etymology The name traces back to ''Oiasso'' or ''Oiarso'', a Roman to ...

and one with

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

(suffering relegation from the top tier with both clubs in successive years) prior to joining Eibar in 2018. Arene played a minor role in the Eibar squad which gained promotion to the Primera in the 2019–20 season, having suffered a serious injury (rupturing the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

of her right knee) at the end of the previous campaign in a Copa Euskal Herria match against her former club Athletic. She had experienced a similar injury as a teenager. At the end of that season an agreement was reached to extend her contract until 2022. Following the departure of

Sheila Elorza Sheila Elorza Hernández (born 8 June 1996) is a Spanish Women's association football, footballer who plays for Real Oviedo (women), Real Oviedo as a midfielder. She began her senior career at Athletic Club Femenino, Athletic Bilbao but played ...

in 2023, Arene was named as Eibar captain for the club's upcoming campaign back in the top division. Arene has been selected for the unofficial Basque Country women's national football team which plays only occasionally, making her first appearance in December 2022 against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

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Arene
at BDFutbol {{DEFAULTSORT:Altonaga, Arene 1993 births Living people People from Greater Bilbao Footballers from Biscay Spanish women's footballers Women's association football midfielders SD Eibar Femenino players Zaragoza CFF players Oiartzun KE players Athletic Club (women) players 21st-century Spanish sportswomen Athletic Club (women) B players Segunda Federación (women) players Liga F players Spain women's youth international footballers Primera Federación (women) players