 Izaguirre withCeltic in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Girón[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1986-05-10)10 May 1986 (age 39) | ||
| Place of birth | Tegucigalpa, Honduras | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2010 | Motagua | 143 | (4) |
| 2010–2017 | Celtic | 175 | (4) |
| 2017–2018 | Al-Fayha | 24 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Celtic | 14 | (0) |
| 2019–2021 | Motagua | 31 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | Marathón | 26 | (0) |
| Total | 413 | (9) | |
| International career | |||
| 2005 | Honduras U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2007 | Honduras U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 2007–2020 | Honduras | 111 | (5) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Girón (Spanish pronunciation:[eˈmiljojθaˈɣire]; born 10 May 1986) is a Honduran former professionalfootballer who played as aleft-back. He is currently thesporting director ofMotagua.
Izaguirre started his career at Motagua, where he played for seven years. In 2010, Scottish clubCeltic spent £650,000 to sign him. Izaguirre won three awards in his first season in Scotland, being awarded theSPFA Players' Player of the Year,SFWA Footballer of the Year and the Scottish Premier League Player of the Year. He played over 250 games across all competitions for Celtic, winning six consecutive league titles in his first spell at the club, and a further league title when he rejoined for a second spell.
He made his debut forHonduras in 2007, and made111 appearances. Izaguirre also played in twoFIFA World Cups and fourCONCACAF Gold Cups.
Izaguirre began his career atF.C. Motagua in theHonduran League. He made his league debut on 20 March 2004 in the 3–0 victory overUniversidad inDanlí.[2]
On 22 July 2008, he had a 17-day trial with EnglishChampionship outfitIpswich Town, but was unable to play in any matches,[3] having not received international clearance from Motagua. He therefore failed to win a contract and the move fell through.[4] The following April, he was close to a move to Belgium'sRSC Anderlecht.[5]
In July 2010, it was reported thatToronto FC ofMajor League Soccer were interested in signing Izaguirre to adesignated player contract, after two stand out performances in theCONCACAF Champions League against the Canadian side,[6] but this move did not happen either.
Izaguirre agreed a four-year contract withScottish Premier League sideCeltic on 18 August 2010, subject to receiving awork permit.[7] He signed for a £650,000 fee[4][8] and was given the number 3 shirt.[3] He made his SPL debut in a 1–0 victory atMotherwell on 29 August,[9] giving a solid performance that drew plaudits from Celtic managerNeil Lennon[10] and Motherwell counterpartCraig Brown.[11] On 19 September, Izaguirre set upAnthony Stokes for the winning goal in a 2–1 victory overKilmarnock atRugby Park.[12] On 30 October, he scored his first Celtic goal againstSt Johnstone, where he intercepted a back pass then flicked the ball over St Johnstone centre backDave MacKay,[13][14] before slotting a goal under the goalkeeper. The game ended 3–0 to Celtic, with Izaguirre awardedman of the match for his performance.[15] In Celtic's 3–0 victory over Rangers on 20 February 2011, he set upGary Hooper's second goal.[16]
In the2011 League Cup Final defeat toOld Firm rivalsRangers, Izaguirre was sent off in extra time for a foul onVladimír Weiss.[17][18] On 6 April 2011, he had another man of the match performance againstHibernian in a 3–1 victory,[19] setting up Stokes for the first goal of the game.[20] In the 2010–11 SPL season, Izaguirre achieved a clean sweep of available senior player awards as chosen by players, organisations and the Celtic supporters. Izaguirre won both theSPFA Players' Player of the Year[21] and Scottish Premier League Player of the Year[22] awards for 2010–11. The judging panel for the latter award described Izaguirre as a "class act",[22] while Celtic assistant managerJohan Mjallby commented that Izaguirre could become one of the best players in his position in world football.[21] On 8 May, at Celtic's award ceremony, Izaguirre picked up the Players' Player of the Year Award.[23] Finally, he was votedScottish Football Writers player of the year.[24]
Izaguirre suffered a broken ankle in the second match of Celtic's season on 7 August againstAberdeen,[25] requiring surgery which ruled out for between four and six months.[26] On 27 August, he signed a new contract with Celtic, due to run until 2015.[27] Izaguirre returned to training, after recovering from his ankle injury, in December.[28] He made his long-awaited return as a substitute on 2 January 2012 in Celtic's 3–0 win overDunfermline Athletic atEast End Park.[29]
Izaguirre played 32 league games as he won a second consecutive Scottish league title, and also featured in the 2013 Cup final, a 3–0 win over Hibernian on 26 May.[30]
On 30 May 2014, Izaguirre signed a new contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2017.[31] In the2015–16 season, he was displaced as first-choice left back by 18-year-oldKieran Tierney.[32] Despite what looked like an emotional farewell after the final game of the season against Motherwell on 15 May 2016, Izaguirre told Honduras websiteLa Prensa that he still had a contract to see out and had not had any discussions with the Celtic board.[33] He returned to Celtic for the 2016–17 season and played 12 games, covering for Tierney when the latter was injured.[34]
Despite being offered a contract extension, Izaguirre left Celtic at the end of the 2016–17 season[35] and joinedSaudi Pro League clubAl-Fayha on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[36] His stay inAl Majma'ah lasted just 11 months, however, as he opted to end his contract early. He stated: "My family has found the culture [of Saudi Arabia] to be very difficult. I have a meeting with [the club] to discuss my exit."[37]
On 10 August 2018, Izaguirre rejoinedCeltic on a one-year deal.[38] At the end of the season, after 19 appearances in all competitions, he turned down a further one-year deal and left Celtic for the second time.[39]
Izaguirre signed a one-year contract withMotagua in August 2019.[40] Later that month he suffered an eye injury during a fan riot at a derby match with Olimpia.[41]
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Izaguirre was part of thenational team in the2005 FIFA World Youth Championship inthe Netherlands.[42]
He made his senior debut forHonduras in a January 2007friendly match againstDenmark. He has represented his country in 17FIFA World Cup qualification matches[43] and played at the2007[44] and2009 UNCAF Nations Cups[45] as well as at the2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[46]
He was named in the Honduras squad for the2010 FIFA World Cup, playing two games againstChile andSpain.[8] He also played at the2014 World Cup and the2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Izaguirre is known to live a modest lifestyle and is aChristian.[47][48]
Emilio had a good 20-year relationship with the late renowned Honduran pastorMario Tomas Barahona, whom he considered a mentor and who in life was pastor of the Mi Viña Church inTegucigalpa. Church that Emilio has attended since he was a 15-year-old boy and has remained faithful toChristianity ever since.[49]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Motagua | 2004–05 | Liga Nacional | 19 | 0 | – | 19 | 0 | |||||
| 2005–06 | 30 | 0 | – | 30 | 0 | |||||||
| 2006–07 | 28 | 1 | – | 28 | 1 | |||||||
| 2007–08 | 25 | 1 | – | 25 | 1 | |||||||
| 2008–09 | 16 | 1 | – | 16 | 1 | |||||||
| 2009–10 | 25 | 1 | – | 28 | 1 | |||||||
| Total | 143 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | 147 | 4 | |||
| Celtic | 2010–11 | Scottish Premier League | 33 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 1 |
| 2011–12 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10[a] | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Scottish Premiership | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10[a] | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | 35 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 14[b] | 0 | 58 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7[c] | 0 | 25 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Total | 175 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 45 | 0 | 252 | 5 | ||
| Al-Fayha | 2017–18 | Saudi Pro League | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 27 | 0 | |
| Celtic | 2018–19 | Scottish Premiership | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Motagua | 2019-20 | Liga Nacional | 16 | 1 | – | – | 7[e] | 0 | 23 | 1 | ||
| 2020-21 | 15 | 0 | – | – | 4[f] | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 42 | 1 | ||
| Marathón | 2020-21 | Liga Nacional | 14 | 0 | – | – | 2[g] | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2021-22 | 12 | 0 | – | – | 5[f] | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 413 | 9 | 20 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 67 | 0 | 517 | 10 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honduras | 2007 | 17 | 1 |
| 2008 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 111 | 5 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 June 2007 | Estadio Francisco Morazán,San Pedro Sula, Honduras |  Trinidad and Tobago | 1–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 4 September 2015 | Polideportivo Cachamay,Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela |  Venezuela | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 15 November 2016 | Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras | Trinidad and Tobago | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 25 June 2019 | Banc of California Stadium,Los Angeles, United States |  El Salvador | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 5 | 5 September 2019 | Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino,Tegucigalpa, Honduras |  Puerto Rico | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
Celtic
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