 Etxeberria in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseba Andoni Etxeberria Lizardi[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-09-05)5 September 1977 (age 48)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Elgoibar, Spain[2] | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger,forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987–1990 | Elgoibar | ||
| 1990–1994 | Real Sociedad | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1995 | Real Sociedad B | 29 | (9) |
| 1995 | Real Sociedad | 7 | (2) |
| 1995–2010 | Athletic Bilbao | 445 | (88) |
| Total | 481 | (99) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–1994 | Spain U16 | 17 | (11) |
| 1994–1995 | Spain U18 | 7 | (5) |
| 1995 | Spain U20 | 6 | (7) |
| 1996–1997 | Spain U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 1997–2004 | Spain | 53 | (12) |
| 1998–2007 | Basque Country | 11 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012–2015 | Athletic Bilbao (youth) | ||
| 2016–2017 | Basconia | ||
| 2017–2018 | Amorebieta | ||
| 2018 | Tenerife | ||
| 2019–2021 | Bilbao Athletic | ||
| 2022–2023 | Mirandés | ||
| 2023–2025 | Eibar | ||
| 2025 | Murcia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Joseba Andoni Etxeberria Lizardi (born 5 September 1977) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played mostly as awinger, currently amanager.
After starting his career at the age of 17 withReal Sociedad, he quickly switched toAthletic Bilbao, going on to spend the rest of his extensive career there.[3]
Exteberria earned 53caps forSpain, representing the nation at the1998 World Cup and twoEuropean Championships.
Born inElgoibar,Gipuzkoa, Etxeberria began his career withReal Sociedad, making hisLa Liga debut at only 17 in a 2–0 home win againstEspañol on 29 January 1995. That summer, he moved to neighbouringAthletic Bilbao in a controversial transfer that cost over€3 million[4] and caused the clubs to break off formal relations[5]– at the time, it was the highest transfer fee paid for an under-18 player inSpanish football.[6] When he returned toAnoeta Stadium in 2001, the Real Sociedad supporters prepared banners of his face onbanknotes denoting him as a 'mercenary', and when he scored they responded with a hail of bottles and verbal abuse which earned the organization a fine from theRoyal Spanish Football Federation.[5]
In1997–98, Etxeberria scored 11 league goals as Athletic finished second, achieving a career-best 14five seasons later. He netted the goal that took his team intothe group stage of theUEFA Champions League as they overcameDinamo Tbilisi on theaway goals rule,[7] and repeated the feat in that phase of the competition againstRosenborg (1–1 home draw);[8] in his first 12 years he never appeared in less than 28 league games, his lowest scoring output being three in the2004–05 and2006–07 campaigns, while he was also eventually awardedteam captaincy.[9]
On 1 October 2008, already playing second-fiddle, Etxeberria agreed a deal with theBasque side according to which he effectively played2009–10, his last season as a professional, for free, after his contract expired in June 2009.[10][11]
Etxeberria's last year was not a successful one individually as he only appeared in seven league matches, adding another seven with two goals inthe season'sUEFA Europa League, including his final for the club (a latepenalty equaliser) againstNacional in thegroup phase of theUEFA Europa League on 5 November 2009.[12] On 15 May 2010, he wasreplaced to astanding ovation in Athletic's 2–0 home victory overDeportivo de La Coruña, and represented his main club in 514 official matches (104 goals), third-best inits history only behindJosé Ángel Iribar andTxetxu Rojo.[13][14]
Etxeberria'stestimonial match at theSan Mamés Stadium was played against 200 children, and he scored twice in a 5–3 win.[15]
After leading the1995 FIFA World Youth Championship scoring charts and winning fourth place,[6] Etxeberria was called up to theSpain full national team, making his debut on 19 November 1997 in afriendly againstRomania inPalma de Mallorca and scoring in the 1–1 draw.[16] He wascapped 53 times and netted 12 goals,[17] representing his country at the1998 FIFA World Cup,UEFA Euro 2000[18] andEuro 2004.[19] On 18 June, in the second tournament, he scored the 2–1 winner in the group stage match to defeatSlovenia.[20]
Etxeberria also featured for the unofficialBasque Country side in 11 matches, a record number of appearances at the time which was honoured by the territorial federation upon his retirement.[21]
Etxeberria began acoaching career after retiring, his first job being with the Basque Country representative youth teams.[22] In 2012 he returned to Athletic, starting out at theyouth academy;[23] having spent so many years at the club as a player, he described theLezama training centre as a "second home".[22]
In 2015, Etxeberria moved to the first team under managerErnesto Valverde.[24] The following year he was appointed at affiliateBasconia, controlling a group of players he had previously managed at theJuvenil age group level.[23][25]
In summer 2017, Etxberria departed from the Athletic internal structure whilst remaining contracted to the club and moved within the same region to become manager of third-tier sideAmorebieta, replacing the departedAitor Larrazábal (a former Athletic teammate and coaching colleague).[23][26] On 5 February of the following year, he replaced firedJosé Luis Martí atTenerife.[27]
In May 2018, Athletic Bilbao confirmed that Etxeberria had cut all ties with the club to continue his coaching career independently.[28] On 17 September, he was fired by Tenerife after the team failed to record a victory in the first five league matches ofthe season.[29]
Etxeberria returned to the Athletic Bilbao staff in late May 2019, now as head coach of the reserve teamBilbao Athletic, on a two-year contract.[30] On 14 February 2022, he took over fromLolo Escobar at the helm ofMirandés in theSegunda División.[31]
On 24 May 2023, Etxeberria announced that he would leave theJabatos at the end ofthe campaign.[32] On 14 June, he replacedGaizka Garitano as manager of fellow second division sideEibar.[33]
On 16 February 2025, Etxeberria was dismissed after five games without a win and a17th place in the league; in the process, he became the first coach to be shown the door by the club in 15 years.[34][35] On 3 July, he was appointed atPrimera Federación'sReal Murcia CF on a one-year deal,[36] but was relieved of his duties on 28 October with his team inlast position of their group.[37][38]
Etxeberria was not related to former Athletic teammateImanol Etxeberria. Coincidentally, they were raised just a few miles from one another (Imanol hailed fromBergara).
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other[a] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Real Sociedad B | 1993–94 | Segunda División B | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| 1994–95 | 28 | 9 | – | – | – | 28 | 9 | |||||
| Total | 29 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 9 | ||
| Real Sociedad | 1994–95 | La Liga | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 2 | ||
| Athletic Bilbao | 1995–96 | La Liga | 33 | 7 | 6 | 3 | – | – | 39 | 10 | ||
| 1996–97 | 35 | 6 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 6 | ||||
| 1997–98 | 36 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | 43 | 13 | |||
| 1998–99 | 36 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 2 | – | 46 | 8 | |||
| 1999–00 | 35 | 10 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 37 | 12 | ||||
| 2000–01 | 28 | 5 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 5 | ||||
| 2001–02 | 31 | 8 | 6 | 1 | – | – | 37 | 9 | ||||
| 2002–03 | 33 | 14 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 14 | ||||
| 2003–04 | 34 | 6 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 6 | ||||
| 2004–05 | 33 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | – | 48 | 6 | |||
| 2005–06 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 4 | ||||
| 2006–07 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 3 | ||||
| 2007–08 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 4 | ||||
| 2008–09 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 2 | ||||
| 2009–10 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 2 | ||
| Total | 445 | 88 | 41 | 10 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 514 | 104 | ||
| Career total | 481 | 99 | 42 | 10 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 551 | 115 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain[17] | 1997 | 1 | 1 |
| 1998 | 10 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 10 | 3 | |
| 2000 | 11 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 10 | 3 | |
| 2004 | 6 | 1 | |
| Total | 53 | 12 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 November 1997 | Lluís Sitjar,Palma, Spain |  Romania | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 25 March 1998 | Balaídos,Vigo, Spain |  Sweden | 4–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 14 October 1998 | Ramat Gan Stadium,Ramat Gan, Israel |  Israel | 2–1 | 2–1 | Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 4 | 31 March 1999 | Olimpico,Serravalle, San Marino |  San Marino | 6–0 | 6–0 | Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 5 | 5 June 1999 | El Madrigal,Villarreal, Spain | San Marino | 3–0 | 9–0 | Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 6 | 4–0 | |||||
| 7 | 18 June 2000 | Amsterdam Arena,Amsterdam, Netherlands |  Slovenia | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2000 |
| 8 | 2 September 2000 | Koševo,Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 29 March 2003 | Olimpiyskyi,Kyiv, Ukraine |  Ukraine | 2–1 | 2–2 | Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 10 | 6 November 2003 | D. Afonso Henriques,Guimarães, Portugal |  Portugal | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 11 | 19 November 2003 | Ullevaal,Oslo, Norway |  Norway | 3–0 | 3–0 | Euro 2004 qualifying |
| 12 | 18 February 2004 | Lluís Companys,Barcelona, Spain |  Peru | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Basconia |  | 29 June 2016 | 5 June 2017 | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 50 | 55 | −5 | 031.58 | [41] |
| Amorebieta | | 5 June 2017 | 5 February 2018 | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 29 | 25 | +4 | 029.17 | [42] |
| Tenerife | | 5 February 2018 | 17 September 2018 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 034.78 | [43] |
| Bilbao Athletic | | 28 May 2019 | 26 May 2021 | 57 | 30 | 14 | 13 | 104 | 63 | +41 | 052.63 | [44] |
| Mirandés | | 14 February 2022 | 27 May 2023 | 59 | 21 | 14 | 24 | 74 | 75 | −1 | 035.59 | [45] |
| Eibar | | 14 June 2023 | 16 February 2025 | 75 | 31 | 16 | 28 | 101 | 84 | +17 | 041.33 | [46] |
| Murcia | | 3 July 2025 | 28 October 2025 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 011.11 | [47] |
| Career total | 285 | 110 | 77 | 98 | 397 | 340 | +57 | 038.60 | — | |||
Spain squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
