 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rafael Alkorta Martínez | ||
| Date of birth | (1968-09-16)16 September 1968 (age 56) | ||
| Place of birth | Bilbao, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1978–1985 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1987 | Bilbao Athletic | 44 | (2) |
| 1987–1993 | Athletic Bilbao | 172 | (2) |
| 1993–1997 | Real Madrid | 107 | (2) |
| 1997–2002 | Athletic Bilbao | 91 | (4) |
| Total | 414 | (10) | |
| International career | |||
| 1985 | Spain U16 | 7 | (0) |
| 1985–1986 | Spain U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 1987–1990 | Spain U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 1990–1998 | Spain | 54 | (0) |
| 1990–1999 | Basque Country | 5 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2014–2015 | Olympiacos (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2016 | Marseille (assistant) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rafael Alkorta Martínez (born 16 September 1968) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played mainly as acentral defender. He is the currentsporting director ofAthletic Bilbao.
Having represented Athletic Bilbao andReal Madrid during a 17-year professional career, he amassedLa Liga totals of 370 matches and eight goals, winning three trophies with the latter club.
Alkorta appeared in threeWorld Cups with theSpain national team during the 1990s.
Born inBilbao,Biscay, Alkorta began playing as a child with localAthletic Club in 1978, and made his senior debut with thesecond team seven years later, making 44Segunda División appearances before being promoted byHoward Kendall to the senior side for the1987–88 season.[1] His firstLa Liga match was a 1–0 away defeat againstReal Valladolid on 24 October 1987, and he went on to feature in a further 171 while establishing himself as an outstandingman marker.
Alkorta attracted the attention ofReal Madrid, for whom he signed in the1993–94 campaign (he was reluctant to make the move, but was persuaded due to Athletic's poor financial situation which was improved by the 350 millionpesetas transfer fee).[2] During his spell at theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium he formed a notable partnership withFernando Hierro[3] for club and country, and accumulated more than 150 official appearances and two league titles.
Alkorta returned to Athletic in1997–98, swapping teams with fellow defenderAitor Karanka.[4] He helped theBasque side to finish second in the first campaign upon his return and went on to play regularly the following years but, after only six games in2001–02, was released and decided to retire aged nearly 34.[5]
An international since 26 May 1990 (a 1–0friendly away win overYugoslavia),[6] Alkorta earned 54caps forSpain over the next eight years. He played in threeFIFA World Cups –1990,1994 and1998 – andUEFA Euro 1996, also representing the country atunder-16,under-18 andunder-21 levels.
In the first competition, in Italy, Alkorta played ten minutes in a 2–1 group stage victory againstBelgium,[7] starting in a further 11 matches (ten complete) in the other senior tournaments.[8]
Alkorta worked as an assistant manager to former Real Madrid teammateMíchel atOlympiacos F.C. andOlympique de Marseille.[9] In December 2018, following the election ofAitor Elizegi as the president of Athletic Bilbao, he was installed as the club's newsporting director, working withAndoni Ayarza[10][11] and replacing the long-servingJosé María Amorrortu.[12]
Alkorta's younger brother, Óscar, was also a footballer who was amidfielder. A fellow Athletic Bilbao youth graduate[13] (alongsideJosé Félix Guerrero who also had amore famous sibling in the first team),[14] the younger Alkorta never made it past the reserves and played out his career in theSegunda División B. The brothers were on the staff at Athletic together for a few months in 1997, between Rafael's return from Madrid and Óscar's move toCD Aurrerá de Vitoria.[15] Óscar later worked as a youth coach at Athletic Bilbao,[16] working under his older sibling from 2019.
Rafael's son Iker received some media attention for modelling work in 2017.[17]
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