| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Francisco Javier González Urruticoechea | ||
| Date of birth | (1952-02-17)17 February 1952 | ||
| Place of birth | San Sebastián,Spain | ||
| Date of death | 24 May 2001(2001-05-24) (aged 49) | ||
| Place of death | Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1967–1969 | Lengokoak | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1969–1972 | San Sebastián | ||
| 1972–1977 | Real Sociedad | 66 | (0) |
| 1977–1981 | Espanyol | 121 | (0) |
| 1981–1988 | Barcelona | 120 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1979 | Spain U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 1974 | Spain amateur | 2 | (0) |
| 1980–1981 | Spain B | 5 | (0) |
| 1978–1980 | Spain | 5 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | Euskadi XI | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Francisco Javier González Urruticoechea (17 February 1952 – 24 May 2001), known asUrruti, was a Spanish professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
AtFC Barcelona, a club known for goalkeepers likeFerenc Plattkó,Antoni Ramallets,Juan Velasco andRicardo Zamora, he became an important player, playing 307La Liga games over the course of 16 seasons and also representing in the competitionReal Sociedad andEspanyol.[1] Urruti representedSpain in threeWorld Cups.
In 2001, he died in a road accident near Barcelona.[2][3]
Born inSan Sebastián,Gipuzkoa, Urruti played as a junior with Lengokoak before joiningReal Sociedad in 1969, spending three full years withthe reserve team. Following the departure ofJosé Ramón Esnaola, he maintained a battle for first-choice status withLuis Arconada[4] with a third talented goalkeeperPedro Artola also in contention for the place.
After Arconada finally became the established starter, Urruti moved toRCD Espanyol,[4] where he won theDon Balón award in 1981 (Spanish Footballer of the Year),[5] moving acrossthe city afterthat campaign to joinFC Barcelona.
Inhis third year, Urruti won theRicardo Zamora Trophy while playing in all the matches safe one. He was a prominent member of theCatalonia team coached byTerry Venables that won the league in1985 and then reachedthe final of theEuropean Cup inthe following year; on 25 March 1985, in a game againstReal Valladolid, hispenalty save againstMágico González effectively clinched the title.[6]
During the second leg of the European Cup semi-final againstIFK Göteborg, Urruti successfully protested to thereferee about a conceded goal after he spotted the ball had gone out of play – Barcelona were trailing 3–0 from the first leg and the decision kept them in the game. They eventually drew level, and in the subsequentpenalty shootout he saved a crucial penalty and then scored one;[7] the final withFC Steaua București, however, was to end in disappointment as, although he saved two shots in the shootout (after 0–0 in regulation), his Romanian counterpart,Helmut Duckadam, stopped all four.[8]
AfterAndoni Zubizarreta, anotherBasque, arrived fromAthletic Bilbao in 1986, Urruti was pushed tothe bench and only appeared in one league match in his final two seasons combined, later being the club's goalkeeper coach. On 24 May 2001, he died after his car hit the central barrier of a ring road inEsplugues de Llobregat,Barcelona, at just 49;[9] an annualgolf tournament, theMemorial Javier Urruti, was subsequently played in his honour.[10]
Urruti played five times forSpain in a two-year span, and was a member of the Spanish squads for the1978,1982 and1986FIFA World Cups,[11] also being picked forUEFA Euro 1980. His debut came in a friendly withNorway on 29 March 1978, inGijón; however, his struggles at the club level translated to the international front, as he was never able to replace fellow Basques Arconada and Zubizarreta.
Urruti also earned twocaps for theBasque Country national team.
Barcelona
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