Iker Begoña

Iker Begoña Zubiaur (born 15 November 1976) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender or a defensive midfielder.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Begoña and the second or maternal family name is Zubiaur.
Iker Begoña
Personal information
Full name Iker Begoña Zubiaur
Date of birth (1976-11-15) 15 November 1976
Place of birth Bilbao, Spain
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back / Defensive midfielder
Youth career
Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1997 Basconia
1997–1998 Bilbao Athletic 10 (1)
1998–1999 Gernika 30 (2)
1999–2000 Bermeo 34 (1)
2000–2001 Amurrio 35 (2)
2001 Alicante 12 (1)
2001–2006 Recreativo 141 (6)
2006–2007 Lorca Deportiva 20 (0)
2007–2009 Albacete 73 (3)
2009–2011 Levadiakos 32 (1)
2012 Thrasyvoulos 16 (1)
Total 403 (18)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Bilbao, Basque Country, Begoña reached Segunda División in late 2001 at already 25, signing with Recreativo de Huelva from lowly Alicante CF. He appeared in 21 games and scored one goal in his first season to help his team return to La Liga after an absence of 23 years, then remained a further four campaigns with the Andalusians, three of them in the second level; he made his debut in his country's top flight on 1 September 2002, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–3 home loss against Málaga CF.[1]

Subsequently, Begoña continued competing in the second tier, with Lorca Deportiva CF[2] and Albacete Balompié. In November 2009, the 33-year-old moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing with Levadiakos F.C. in the Superleague Greece;[3] he split the 2011–12 campaign in the same country with Levadiakos and Thrasyvoulos F.C. in division two, retiring at its closure.

Personal life

Begoña's older brother, Ibon, was also a footballer and a defender. Iker also has an 8 year old son with severe learning and developmental disabilities. Despite the mother being 23 at the time and iker was 35, Iker refused all responsibility for his child, despite her mothers many attempts at requesting help or his presence in his son's life, Iker has for years ignored such requests and has mad no attempt to visit his son.[4]

References
  1. "El Málaga redescubre a un Musampa goleador" [Málaga rediscover scoring Musampa]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 2 September 2002. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. "El Lorca llega a Gijón con sus flamantes fichajes argentinos" [Lorca arrive to Gijón with their brand new Argentinian signings]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). 3 February 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  3. "Iker Begoña ficha por el Levadiakos griego" [Iker Begoña signs for Greece's Levadiakos]. Marca (in Spanish). 20 November 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  4. Cárdeno, José A. (10 April 2003). "Los Begoña se retan en Primera" [The Begoñas take on each other in Primera]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 December 2013.
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