Javier Iturriaga Arrillaga (born 3 November 1983) is a Spanish former

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

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 ...

Early life

Unlike most of the players brought up 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 ...

, Iturriaga was not born in the Basque Country, or even in Spain. He was born and grew up in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, his family having moved to Mexico in the early 1980s from their native city of

Zarautz Zarautz (, ) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián, Donostia/San Sebastián. It ha ...

after his father was relocated for business purposes to that

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n country. Iturriaga went to elementary school in Mexico, but at the age of 13 his family returned to Europe where he attended St Edmund's College in

Ware, Hertfordshire Ware is a town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is close to the county town of Hertford. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the parish had a population of 19,622. Hist ...

. He showed his natural sporting talents there, quickly learning to play

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and gaining a place in the Hertfordshire under-14

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

county team, having played the game for only a few weeks; after high school he finally went back to Spain, where he became a regional junior champion in the racquet sport padel and began to play football with local

CD Getxo Club Deportivo Getxo is a Spanish football team based in Getxo, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1927 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Campo Municipal de Fadura'', with a 3,500-seat capacity. Season to s ...

while planning to study

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

Club career

In 2002, aged 18, Iturriaga joined

following in the footsteps of his brother Iñigo, and meeting the criteria of the club's philosophy despite his birthplace by having developed as a footballer in the Basque region. He first appeared for the

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

CD Basconia Club Deportivo Basconia is a Spanish football club based in Basauri, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded on 14 March 1913, it currently plays in , holding home games at the ''Artunduaga Sports Centre'', in the town o ...

followed by the reserves, spending two seasons playing regularly with each squad. Iturriaga was definitely promoted to the main squad for the 2006–07 campaign, but only appeared in four

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 ...

games as the side finished one place above relegation (17th). His debut came on 15 October 2006, as he came on as a substitute for

Pablo Orbaiz Pablo Orbaiz Lesaka (born 6 February 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. After starting out at Osasuna, he went on to play 11 years in La Liga with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 318 competiti ...

in the 58th minute of the 3–2 away win against

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

; during his spell at the San Mamés Stadium, he was mainly restricted to

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

matches. In the following summer, Iturriaga was released by Athletic and signed with

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 ...

team

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

where he was also highly unsuccessful, going on to serve two loans in

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 ...

, including one at

SD Lemona Sociedad Deportiva Lemona was a Spanish football team based in Lemoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1923, it last played in Segunda División B – Group 2, holding home matches at '' Estadio Arlonagusia'', with a c ...

. In 2009, he left but stayed in the

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

area, moving to amateurs

Club Portugalete Club Portugalete is a List of football clubs in Spain, Basque football team based in Portugalete, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it plays in , holding its home games in the '' ...

. After three seasons in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

, Iturriaga signed for Getxo where he had already spent his formative years.

International career

Iturriaga declared he wished to represent

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

internationally.

Hugo Sánchez Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who played as a Forward (association football), forward. A prolific goalscorer known for ...

, the legendary striker who played in Spain for twelve years and was then in charge of the national team, stated that he would have him in consideration and follow his progress. However, the manager left his post to work with a club, and the player did not receive any call-ups.

Personal life

Away from football, Iturriaga gained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

from the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

and became a professional in the field.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iturriaga, Javier 1983 births Living people Mexican people of Basque descent Mexican people of Spanish descent Spanish men's footballers Mexican men's footballers Footballers from Mexico City Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Getxo players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers UD Salamanca players Lorca Deportiva CF footballers SD Lemona footballers Club Portugalete players People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware 21st-century Mexican sportsmen 21st-century Spanish sportsmen