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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 lea ...
who played mainly as a
right midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
. 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, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...
, playing 530 competitive matches for the club.


Club career

Born in
San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...
,
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) 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 department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
, 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 if they show en ...
at his hometown club
Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...
, having joined from school aged 16 and spent time on loan with local amateurs CD Hernani. He made his senior debut in 2002 with the reserves, helping them to achieve promotion to
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 ...
in his first season. After starting the next campaign with the B side, Prieto 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 ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...
in the
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 ...
. His
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 ...
bow took place 18 days later, coming off the bench in the 1–0 home victory over
Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
se neighbours
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 ...
; 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 (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
in a 4–1 win, one of the goals coming from the penalty spot. 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 ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...
dropped down to the
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 ...
. 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, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...
, he scored the only goal after a backheel pass from newly-signed
Joseba Llorente Joseba Llorente Etxarri (born 24 November 1979) is a Spanish former 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, Val ...
. 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 Wick ...
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 miracu ...
. 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 association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...
; in the interim, he made seven appearances for the ''Txuriurdin'' in the 2013–14 edition of the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
. 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 Juan Antonio Larrañaga Gurruchaga (alt.spelling Ion Andoni; born 3 July 1958) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Larrañaga was born in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country. He started playing as ...
, Alberto Górriz,
Jesús María Zamora Jesús María Zamora Ansorena (born 1 January 1955) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Errenteria, Gipuzkoa, Zamora spent his entire career with local club Real Sociedad. After a slow 19 ...
and
Luis Arconada Luis Miguel Arconada Etxarri (born 26 June 1954) is a Spanish former professional 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 championship ...
) 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 (), 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, and is mostly used for ...
. 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 professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...
(which would also be the
swan song The swan song (; ) 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 song just before their death while they have been ...
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. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
for the full side. He did feature in several friendlies 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 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 ...
: 2009–10


See also

* List of one-club men


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prieto, Xabi 1983 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from San Sebastián Men's 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 men's under-21 international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers