Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Girón (; born 10 May 1986) is a Honduran former professional

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 played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is currently the

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

of Motagua. Izaguirre started his career at Motagua, where he played for seven years. In 2010, Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

spent £650,000 to sign him. Izaguirre won three awards in his first season in Scotland, being awarded the

SPFA Players' Player of the Year The PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year (often called the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish footb ...

SFWA Footballer of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...

and the Scottish Premier League Player of the Year. He played over 250 games across all competitions for Celtic, winning six consecutive league titles in his first spell at the club, and a further league title when he rejoined for a second spell. He made his debut for

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

in 2007, and made 111 appearances. Izaguirre also played in two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s and four

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

Club career

Motagua

Izaguirre began his career at F.C. Motagua in the Honduran League. He made his league debut on 20 March 2004 in the 3–0 victory over Universidad in Danlí. On 22 July 2008, he had a 17-day trial with English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

outfit Ipswich Town, but was unable to play in any matches, having not received international clearance from Motagua. He therefore failed to win a contract and the move fell through.Celtic help Emilio Izaguirre live out his dream
BBC Sport, 28 August 2010 The following April, he was close to a move to Belgium's

RSC Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, commonly abbreviated to RSC Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Div ...

. In July 2010, it was reported that

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

were interested in signing Izaguirre to a designated player contract, after two stand out performances in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

against the Canadian side, but this move did not happen either.

Celtic

Izaguirre agreed a four-year contract with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

on 18 August 2010, subject to receiving a

work permit A work permit or work visa is the permission to take a job within a foreign country. The foreign country where someone seeks to obtain a work permit for is also known as the "country of work", as opposed to the "country of origin" where someone ho ...

. He signed for a £650,000 fee and was given the number 3 shirt.Izaguirre is ready to live the dream
STV Sport, 28 August 2010 He made his SPL debut in a 1–0 victory at

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

on 29 August, giving a solid performance that drew plaudits from Celtic manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic. During his playing career he represe ...

and Motherwell counterpart Craig Brown. On 19 September, Izaguirre set up Anthony Stokes for the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

. On 30 October, he scored his first Celtic goal against St Johnstone, where he intercepted a back pass then flicked the ball over St Johnstone centre back

Dave MacKay David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961 an ...

, before slotting a goal under the goalkeeper. The game ended 3–0 to Celtic, with Izaguirre awarded

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

for his performance. In Celtic's 3–0 victory over Rangers on 20 February 2011, he set up Gary Hooper's second goal. In the 2011 League Cup Final defeat to

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

rivals

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, Izaguirre was sent off in extra time for a foul on Vladimír Weiss. On 6 April 2011, he had another man of the match performance against Hibernian in a 3–1 victory, setting up Stokes for the first goal of the game. In the 2010–11 SPL season, Izaguirre achieved a clean sweep of available senior player awards as chosen by players, organisations and the Celtic supporters. Izaguirre won both the

and Scottish Premier League Player of the Year awards for 2010–11. The judging panel for the latter award described Izaguirre as a "class act", while Celtic assistant manager Johan Mjallby commented that Izaguirre could become one of the best players in his position in world football. On 8 May, at Celtic's award ceremony, Izaguirre picked up the Players' Player of the Year Award. Finally, he was voted Scottish Football Writers player of the year. Izaguirre suffered a broken ankle in the second match of Celtic's season on 7 August against

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, requiring surgery which ruled out for between four and six months. On 27 August, he signed a new contract with Celtic, due to run until 2015. Izaguirre returned to training, after recovering from his ankle injury, in December. He made his long-awaited return as a substitute on 2 January 2012 in Celtic's 3–0 win over

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of side, Dunfermline Athle ...

. Izaguirre played 32 league games as he won a second consecutive Scottish league title, and also featured in the 2013 Cup final, a 3–0 win over Hibernian on 26 May. On 30 May 2014, Izaguirre signed a new contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2017. In the 2015–16 season, he was displaced as first-choice left back by 18-year-old Kieran Tierney. Despite what looked like an emotional farewell after the final game of the season against Motherwell on 15 May 2016, Izaguirre told Honduras website ''La Prensa'' that he still had a contract to see out and had not had any discussions with the Celtic board. He returned to Celtic for the 2016–17 season and played 12 games, covering for Tierney when the latter was injured.

Al-Fayha

Despite being offered a contract extension, Izaguirre left Celtic at the end of the 2016–17 season and joined

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al-Fayha on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. His stay in

Al Majma'ah Al Majma'ah () is a city and a governorate in Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia. It is located at around , and it is the capital of the Sudair region. The city has an area of 30,000 square kilometres. The population of the town is around 70,000, while ...

lasted just 11 months, however, as he opted to end his contract early. He stated: "My family has found the culture f Saudi Arabiato be very difficult. I have a meeting with he clubto discuss my exit."

Return to Celtic

On 10 August 2018, Izaguirre rejoined

on a one-year deal. At the end of the season, after 19 appearances in all competitions, he turned down a further one-year deal and left Celtic for the second time.

Return to Motagua

Izaguirre signed a one-year contract with Motagua in August 2019. Later that month he suffered an eye injury during a fan riot at a derby match with Olimpia.

International career

Izaguirre was part of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He made his senior debut for

in a January 2007

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He has represented his country in 17

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches and played at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2009 UNCAF Nations Cup The UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 was the tenth edition of the UNCAF Nations Cup, the biennial football (soccer) tournament for the CONCACAF-affiliated national teams of Central America. The first five places qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The ...

s as well as at the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States from J ...

. He was named in the Honduras squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, playing two games 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 ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He also played at the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was p ...

Personal life

Izaguirre is known to live a modest lifestyle and is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Emilio had a good 20-year relationship with the late renowned Honduran pastor Mario Tomas Barahona, whom he considered a mentor and who in life was pastor of the Mi Viña Church in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...

. Church that Emilio has attended since he was a 15-year-old boy and has remained faithful to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

ever since.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Honduras's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Izaguirre goal.''

Honours

Celtic *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

(7): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2012–13, 2018–19 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

(2): 2014–15, 2016–17 Individual *

: 2010–11 *

: 2010–11 * Scottish Premier League Player of the Year: 2010–11

References

External links

* * *
Honduras - Emilio Izaguirre
Sky Sports, May 2010 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Izaguirre, Emilio 1986 births Living people Honduran Christians Honduran people of Basque descent Footballers from Tegucigalpa Honduran men's footballers 21st-century Honduran sportsmen Men's association football fullbacks Honduras men's international footballers FIFA Men's Century Club 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Saudi Pro League players F.C. Motagua players Celtic F.C. players Al-Fayha FC players C.D. Marathón players Honduran expatriate men's footballers Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia