Elisabeth Ibarra

Elisabeth "Eli" Ibarra Rabancho (born 29 June 1981) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder or defender. She played club football for Eibartarrak FT from 1995 to 2002 and for Superliga/Primera División club Athletic Bilbao from 2002 to 2017.[3] She made 44 appearances for the Spain national team, scoring two goals.[3][1]

Eli Ibarra
Personal information
Full name Elisabeth Ibarra Rabancho[1]
Date of birth (1981-06-29) 29 June 1981[1]
Place of birth Azkoitia, Basque Country, Spain[2]
Height 1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Left midfielder, Left wing-back
Team information
Current team
 Athletic Bilbao
Number 17
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2002 Eibartarrak FT
2002–2017 Athletic Bilbao 367 (104)
International career‡
2002–2015 Spain 44 (2)
2006–2014 Basque Country 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 May 2017
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:29, 18 June 2015 (UTC)[1]
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ibarra and the second or maternal family name is Rabancho.

Ibarra held the record for most appearances for the women's first-team of Athletic Bilbao (413)[3] until overtaken by former teammate Erika Vázquez in 2022.[4] Her 111 goals across all competitions made her their third-highest goalscorer of all time.[3] She is also the only player to have taken part in all five league championships that the club has won.[3]

Club career

Ibarra started playing football at the age of 13.[5] She played for Eibartarrak FT (now SD Eibar) for seven seasons, from 1995 to 2002,[6] before joining the newly-founded women's team of Athletic Bilbao in the summer of 2002, ahead of the 2002–03 Superliga Femenina season.[7][3] When she first arrived at the club, she chose the number 17 shirt, in homage to former Athletic footballer Joseba Etxeberria.[6] She made her debut in a 7–1 win over Torrejón at the Lezama Facilities, in what was the first ever match played by Athletic's women's team.[6]

Ibarra scored in Athletic's first two appearances in the UEFA Women's Cup. In December 2012, she played her 300th match for Athletic.[7] In 2016, she won her fifth league title with Athletic and agreed to remain with the club for another year.[8]

In May 2017, at the age of 35, she announced her retirement from football.[9][10] She made a total of 413 appearances for Athletic Bilbao – 367 in the league, 32 in the Copa de la Reina, and 14 in the Champions League.[3] She is the club's third highest goalscorer of all-time, behind Erika Vázquez and Nekane Díez, with 111 goals; of those, 104 came in the league, five in the Copa de la Reina, and two in the Champions League.[10][3]

International career

Ibarra was a member of the Spanish national team,[11] where she was deployed by Ignacio Quereda as a left wing-back.[12] She was part of Spain's squads for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden[13] and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.[1]

Career statistics

International goals
List of international goals scored by Elisabeth Ibarra
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 24 June 2010 Estadio Municipal de La Albuera, Segovia, Spain  Malta 3–0 9–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [14]
2 7–0

Honours

Club
Athletic Bilbao

References
  1. "Squad lists" (PDF). FIFA. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. "Ibarra profile". Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  3. "Eli Ibarra, a queen in the history of the Red and Whites". Athletic Club. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  4. Erika Vázquez, una leyenda del Athletic que cuelga las botas [Erika Vázquez, an Athletic legend who hangs up her boots], Diario AS, 10 May 2022 (in Spanish)
  5. Menayo, David (14 January 2009). "Eli Ibarra: "Lucharemos por el título hasta el final"" (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  6. Menayo, David (10 November 2014). "Una rojiblanca incombustible" (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  7. "Eli Ibarra alcanza la cifra de 300 partidos con el Athletic" (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  8. Zaballa, Carlos (23 June 2016). "Eli Ibarra y Vanesa Gimbert siguen un año más" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  9. Rubio, Eidan (15 June 2017). "La mundialista Leire Landa anuncia su retirada". sefutbol.com. Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  10. Menayo, David (17 May 2017). "Tres leyendas del Athletic cuelgan las botas: Iraia Iturregi, Eli Ibarra e Irune Murua" (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. "Noticias - Real Federación Española de Fútbol". rfef.es (in Spanish). 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  12. Roldán, Isabel (21 July 2013). "Eli: "Cogí una excedencia para poder venir a la Selección"". AS.com (in Spanish). Diario AS. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  13. "Spain stick with tried and trusted". UEFA.com. UEFA. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  14. "Spain-Malta". UEFA.com. UEFA. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
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