Iñaki Bea Jauregi (born 27 June 1978) is a Spanish retired

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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Playing career

Bea was born in

Amurrio Amurrio is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the northwest part of the province of Álava, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. It has over 10,000 inhabitants. It is between Vitori ...

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

. After starting out with modest clubs in his native Basque Country, and having a stint in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

with

Ciudad de Murcia Club de Fútbol Ciudad de Murcia, usually abbreviated to Ciudad de Murcia, was a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the namesake autonomous community. They played at the 16,000-seater ''Estadio de La Condomina''. Ciudad Murcia was reloc ...

, he had his first taste of professional football at

Lorca Deportiva CF Lorca Deportiva Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. was a Spanish football club in Lorca, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 2002 it was dissolved ten years later, they held their home matches at ''Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco'', which ...

in the 2005–06 season, helping the side retain their

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

status under

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa. He is widely regarded as o ...

. Subsequently, Bea joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

, scoring three goals in 35 games as the

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

team returned to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

in 2007 after a three-year absenceIñaki Bea: "El trabajo de Sergio es bestial" (Iñaki Bea: "Sergio is doing one hell of a job")
Marca, 9 November 2018 (in Spanish) but being less used in the following years – only seven matches in the 2007–08 campaign. He made his debut in the Spanish top flight on 28 October 2007, featuring 45 minutes in the 2–2 away draw against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. Bea left in July 2009, moving to the second tier with

Real Murcia CF Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

, being relegated in his only season and being subsequently released. Aged 32, he had his first experience abroad, signing a 1+1 contract with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n club

FC Wacker Innsbruck FC Wacker Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol. History The ''Fußball-Club Wacker'' ("Valiant") ''Innsbruck'' was established in 1915 by Jakob Hanspeter, Benedikt Hosp, Josef Leitner, Josef Albrecht and o ...

. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut on 18 July 2010, playing the entire 4–0 home win over

SK Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English language, English, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian cham ...

. His only goal in the competition arrived on 22 September of that year, when he helped to a 4–2 away defeat of

Kapfenberger SV Kapfenberger SV is an Austrian association football club from Kapfenberg, Styria. They won the 2007–08 Austrian Football First League and were promoted to the Austrian Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1919 as ''Kapfenberger SC''. The nam ...

Coaching career

After retiring, Bea worked as assistant manager at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

and

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

under José Luis Mendilibar, his former coach at Valladolid. On 24 February 2022, he was appointed head coach of the Dominican Republic national side. Bea signed with

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

in the same capacity in November 2022. The following 1 May, he was dismissed.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bea, Inaki 1978 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Álava Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players SD Amorebieta footballers Amurrio Club footballers Ciudad de Murcia footballers Lorca Deportiva CF footballers Real Valladolid players Real Murcia CF players Austrian Football Bundesliga players FC Wacker Innsbruck (2002) players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Spanish football managers Primera Federación managers Segunda Federación managers CD Numancia managers Dominican Republic national football team managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Dominican Republic Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Dominican Republic Spanish trade union leaders