Xabier "Xabi" Prieto Argarate (born 29 August 1983) is a Spanish retired 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 ...

who played mainly as a

right midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. A player of good dribbling skills, he was also a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

specialist. He spent his entire career with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

, playing 530 competitive matches for the club.

Club career

Born in San Sebastián,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French de ...

, Prieto was a graduate of the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

at his hometown club

, having joined from school aged 16 and spent time on loan with local amateurs

CD Hernani Club Deportivo Hernani is a Spanish football club based in Hernani, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1940, it plays in ''División de Honor'' – Group 1, holding home games at '' Campo de Fútbol Zubipe'', with ...

. He made his senior debut in 2002 with the reserves, helping them to achieve promotion to the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Fo ...

in his first season. After starting the next campaign with the B side, Prieto made his made his first-team debut on 8 October 2003, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win against

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

. His

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

bow took place 18 days later, coming off the bench in the 1–0 home victory over

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

se neighbours

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

; he would go on to collect a further eight substitute appearances – seven of them late in the game – during that season. However, on 23 May of the following year, with the league's outcome already decided, he profited from his second start to score twice at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in a 4–1 win, one of the goals coming from the

penalty spot The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. With ...

. Subsequently, Prieto was definitely promoted to the first squad and, in 2005–06, participated in all 38 games and netted nine times, six of them being penalties. He was also ever-present the following campaign, but the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

dropped down to the Segunda División. Prieto played 35 matches in 2009–10, totalling exactly 3,000 minutes and contributing seven goals as Real Sociedad returned to the top flight after three years. In the first fixture of the following season, at home against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

, he scored the only goal after a backheel pass from newly-signed

Joseba Llorente Joseba Llorente Etxarri (born 24 November 1979) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. He amassed La Liga totals of 179 games and 50 goals over ten seasons, representing in the competition Real Sociedad, Va ...

. On 6 January 2013, Prieto netted the first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

of his professional career, albeit in a 4–3 loss at Real Madrid: he scored once through a penalty and twice after one-on-one situations against

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce specta ...

. He added a brace on 22 February 2015 in another seven-goal thriller, but now in a 4–3 home defeat of

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Eu ...

; in the interim, he made seven appearances for the ''Txuriurdin'' in the 2013–14 edition of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. On 25 August 2017, Prieto played his 500th game for the Real Sociedad first team (only the fifth player to reach that milestone after Juan Antonio Larrañaga, Alberto Górriz,

Jesús María Zamora Jesús María Zamora Ansorena (born 1 January 1955) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Errenteria, Rentería, Gipuzkoa, Zamora played his entire professional career ...

and

Luis Arconada Luis Miguel Arconada Etxarri (born 26 June 1954) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played only for Real Sociedad for nearly 20 years, and helped the club to four titles including two La Liga championships. Arconada ...

) a few days prior to his 34th birthday, and marked the occasion with a goal in a 3–0 victory against Villarreal at the

Anoeta Stadium Anoeta Stadium ( es, Estadio de Anoeta), currently known as the Reale Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain that was inaugurated in 1993. The stadium lies at the Anoeta Sports Complex ...

. He also received an ovation from supporters in the tenth minute, his shirt number, and a few weeks later he broke the club record for most league appearances (including matches he played in the lower division, unlike the players he overtook). In April 2018, Prieto confirmed he would be retiring at the end of the season. To honour his contributions, Real Sociedad arranged for the club crest to be replaced with his portrait on the players' shirts for the final match of the campaign against

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

where, on May 12, he played his last game at

Anoeta :'' Anoeta is also a neighborhood in San Sebastián/Donostia, Spain, home to a namesake football stadium and cycle track.'' Anoeta is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the north of ...

in a 3-2 victory (which would also be the

swan song The swan song ( grc, κύκνειον ᾆσμα; la, carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful so ...

for long-serving defender Carlos Martínez).

International career

Prieto was selected for the Spain under-21 team on several occasions, but never received a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the full side. He did feature in several

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

with the unofficial Basque Country regional XI, and as of 2017 was the team's most-capped player with 14 appearances.

Personal life

Prieto married Amaya Magaña in 2011.

Career statistics

Honours

Real Sociedad * Segunda División: 2009–10

References

External links

Real Sociedad official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prieto, Xabi 1983 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from San Sebastián Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Hernani players Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Basque Country international footballers