Andoni Iraola

Athletic Bilbao

Iraola was born in Usurbil, Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country. He played as a youth for Antiguoko, alongside teammates such as Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso, Mikel Alonso and Aritz Aduriz. A product of Athletic Bilbao's youth system at Lezama, he made his debut with the first team in the 2003–04 season, becoming first-choice while often taking penalties and free kicks. On 30 August 2003, he made his first La Liga appearance, starting in a 1–0 home loss against Barcelona, and his five goals in 30 appearances helped the team to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

During his 12 seasons, Iraola never played fewer than 30 league matches, scoring in all but one league campaign – like former club legend Aitor Larrazábal, who played as a left-back– while also helping the Basque side to finish second in three Copa del Rey tournaments and the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. On 28 January 2007, he netted twice in a 2–0 away win over neighbours Real Sociedad, who were finally relegated; Athletic narrowly avoided the drop, ranking in 17th position. He played his first cup final in 2009, a 4–1 loss to Barcelona at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, and three years later helped them to finish runners-up in both the domestic cup and the Europa League.

2012–13 marked the first year where Iraola failed to find the net in the league, but he continued to be the side's first-choice in his position as he featured in 35 games. His only goal of the season came on 24 August 2012 in a 6–0 home rout of HJK in the Europa League playoff round (9–3 on aggregate).

Iraola renewed his contract with the club on 4 December 2013, keeping him at the San Mamés until 30 June 2015. In the 24th minute of his last league appearance against Villarreal in May 2015, Aritz Aduriz offered him the taking of a penalty kick but he declined, so the former converted it instead; the two players then combined for Iraola to score from open play four minutes later. He captained the team in his last match, the 2015 Copa del Rey final which was lost 3–1 to Barcelona.