Andoni Iraola

Andoni Iraola Sagarna is a Spanish right flank defender who plays for Athletic Bilbao.

He started his career at Athletic Bilbao youth system and made his debut in the season 2003/04. That season he was also chosen the first man to take free kicks and penalties.

Iraola always managed to gain over 30 appearances per season. He was one of those who reached the UEFA Cup final in 2005. The footballer is often compared with Aitor Larrazábal. Regardless of the position on the field Andoni always scored at least one goal per season.

On January 28, 2007 Iraola scored twice thus bringing a victory over Real Sociedad. That was a very emotional moment. Nevertheless Athletic Bilbao barely managed to escape a historic first relegation in the last tour.

As for his international career he played in two games for the national squad. The first game was against Denmark on August 20, 2008. Vicente del Bosque let him play only the closing 15 minutes of a game that was eventually won 3-0 by the Spaniards. Iraola received his next call-up having spent almost 1.5 years out of the squad. That was a game in the UEFA European Championship 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania. The Pyreneans gained a comfortable 3-0 victory in that game. Unfortunately he was driven out of the squad for the Championship in favour of Atlético’s Juanfran.