Ismael Urzaiz

Ismael Urzaiz Aranda (Spanish pronunciation: [ismaˈel uɾˈθajθ aˈɾanda]; born 7 October 1971) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a centre-forward.[2]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Urzaiz and the second or maternal family name is Aranda.

Ismael Urzaiz
Urzaiz in 2007
Personal information
Full name Ismael Urzaiz Aranda[1]
Date of birth (1971-10-07) 7 October 1971[1]
Place of birth Tudela, Spain[1]
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-forward
Youth career
Tudelano
1985–1989 Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1993 Real Madrid B 50 (13)
1990–1993 Real Madrid 0 (0)
1991–1992 → Albacete (loan) 11 (1)
1993 → Celta (loan) 6 (1)
1993–1994 Rayo Vallecano 20 (1)
1994–1995 Salamanca 21 (3)
1995–1996 Espanyol 41 (13)
1996–2007 Athletic Bilbao 367 (115)
2007–2008 Ajax 3 (0)
Total 519 (147)
International career
1987–1988 Spain U16 11 (5)
1988 Spain U17 1 (2)
1988–1990 Spain U18 7 (6)
1988–1991 Spain U19 9 (3)
1989–1991 Spain U20 5 (4)
1990–1992 Spain U21 6 (1)
1991–1992 Spain U23 2 (0)
1996–2001 Spain 25 (8)
1997–2006 Basque Country 8 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Best known for his physical strength and aerial ability,[3] the unsuccessful youth graduate at Real Madrid went on to represent seven other teams during his extensive professional career, mainly Athletic Bilbao where he spent 11 years. Over 16 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 445 matches and 131 goals (61 headers, record of the competition).[4]

Urzaiz appeared 25 times for Spain, representing the national team at Euro 2000.

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in Tudela, Navarre, Urzaiz began his professional career at Real Madrid's reserves, joining the youth system from local CD Tudelano in 1985[5] and making his debut in Segunda División four years later. Despite being a successful youth international, he did not make any La Liga appearances for the first team (however, he did play one game against Danish club Odense Boldklub, in the 1990–91 European Cup).[6]

Urzaiz spent the 1991–92 season on loan at Albacete Balompié, making his top-flight debut when he came on as a substitute in a 4–0 home win against Athletic Bilbao on 20 October 1991.[7] In early 1993, he was loaned to Celta de Vigo in the same league.[8]

Professional journeyman

Urzaiz left Real Madrid permanently in 1993, and in the following three seasons he played for Rayo Vallecano, UD Salamanca and RCD Espanyol – with a very modest scoring rate in the first two sides. He helped Salamanca win promotion to the top tier in 1995, scoring twice as they beat Albacete 5–0 in the play-offs.[9]

The following campaign, Urzaiz joined Espanyol for 35 million pesetas[5] and exploded as a first-rate attacking player, netting 13 league goals for a side that eventually finished fourth, including a hat-trick against former club Rayo Vallecano for a 4–2 home victory on 14 April 1996.[10]

Athletic Bilbao

The form of a revived Urzaiz attracted interest and in the summer of 1996 he joined Athletic Bilbao for a 500 million pesetas fee,[5] being eligible for the all-Basque team having been born in Navarre. In 11 seasons, he scored 115 goals in 367 league appearances.[3] In 1997–98, his eight successful strikes in 32 matches helped to a runner-up finish, which led to direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League, where he scored once in seven games.[6]

Urzaiz scored in double figures in six of his campaigns at the San Mamés Stadium,[11] but the emergence of youth graduate Fernando Llorente (even taller at 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)) prompted his exit from the club in July 2007;[12] he still featured in 35 competitive matches in his final year, coincidentally also his age by its end, but only completed the 90 minutes in six of them.[13][14]

As well as being only the 14th player (at that point) to pass 400 appearances for Athletic, Urzaiz's total of 419 games set a club record for a player from Navarre which stood until 2020 when overtaken by Iker Muniain.[15]

Ajax

On 19 July 2007, Urzaiz signed a one-year contract with AFC Ajax, joining fellow Spaniards Gabri and Albert Luque.[16] He made his official debut on 15 August, in the Champions League qualifier against Slavia Prague (1–0 home loss, 18 minutes played).[17][18]

Urzaiz was released by the Amsterdam club after just three Eredivisie appearances, announcing his retirement at nearly 37 shortly afterwards.[19]

International career

Urzaiz represented Spain at the 1988 UEFA European Under-16 Championship in Denmark, helping his country to win the tournament.[20] He also scored four goals for the under-20 team at the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship, held in Portugal.[21]

On 10 October 1996, Urzaiz made his debut for the senior side, a 0–0 away draw with the Czech Republic for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Over the next three years he made only three more appearances and failed to score, but emerged as the hero as Spain qualified for UEFA Euro 2000, netting six times in three games – this included two against Austria and a hat-trick against Cyprus.[22] After a further two in a friendly with Poland,[23] he was subsequently picked for the final stages in Belgium and the Netherlands.

After 25 caps and eight goals,[24] Urzaiz made his last international appearance in a 3–0 friendly loss to England, in Birmingham in 2001.[25] Between 1997 and 2005 he also played seven times for the Basque Country representative team, scoring twice in a 3–2 win over Morocco in 2000.[26]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[27][28]
Club Season League National Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Madrid B1989–90Segunda División10500––105
1990–91Segunda División B13000––130
1992–93Segunda División278–––278
Total 50130000005013
Real Madrid1990–91La Liga00001[lower-alpha 1]0–10
1991–92000000–00
1992–93001000–10
Total 0010100020
Albacete (loan)1991–92La Liga11110––121
Celta (loan)1992–93La Liga6100––61
Rayo Vallecano1993–94La Liga20133–3[lower-alpha 2]1265
Salamanca1994–95Segunda División21351–2[lower-alpha 2]2286
Espanyol1995–96La Liga411310200–5115
Athletic Bilbao1996–97La Liga381642––4218
1997–98328323[lower-alpha 3]0–3810
1998–993616207[lower-alpha 4]1–4517
1999–0033542––377
2000–01341043––3813
2001–02361662––4218
2002–03311321––3314
2003–0437810––388
2004–053112508[lower-alpha 3]0–4412
2005–062631000–273
2006–0733820––358
Total 367115341218100419128
Ajax2007–08Eredivisie30003[lower-alpha 5]00060
Career total 519147541822153600169
  1. Appearance in the European Cup.
  2. Appearances in the promotion/relegation play-offs.
  3. Appearances in the UEFA Cup.
  4. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League.
  5. 2 appearances in Champions League, 1 appearance in UEFA Cup.

International goals
Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Urzaiz goal.[24][29]
List of international goals scored by Ismael Urzaiz
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
127 March 1999Mestalla, Valencia, Spain Austria3–09–0Euro 2000 qualifying
25–0
331 March 1999Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino San Marino3–06–0Euro 2000 qualifying
48 September 1999Vivero, Badajoz, Spain Cyprus1–08–0Euro 2000 qualifying
52–0
64–0
726 January 2000Cartagonova, Cartagena, Spain Poland2–03–0Friendly
83–0

Honours

Spain U16

Individual

See also

References
  1. "Ismael URZAIZ Aranda". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  2. Doodeman, Michel (21 March 2018). "Van Real Madrid tot Ajax: de bijzondere carrière van Ismael "De Tank" Urzaiz" [From Real Madrid to Ajax: the special career of Ismael "Tank" Urzaiz] (in Dutch). Vice. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  3. "Urzaiz supera a Uriarte en la lista de máximos goleadores del Athletic" [Urzaiz passes Uriarte in Athletic's all-time scoring chart]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 11 December 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  4. "La cabeza de Fernando Llorente" [Fernando Llorente's head] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  5. "Urzaiz, doctorado en goles mágicos" [Urzaiz, doctorate in magical goals]. Sport (in Spanish). 12 December 2006. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  6. Pla Díaz, Emilio. "Ismael Urzáiz Aranda – Matches in European Cups". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 August 2006.
  7. Líbero, Pedro (21 October 1991). "El Albacete abusa del Athletic" [Albacete abuse Athletic]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  8. Mínguez, A. (31 March 1993). "Urzaiz, cedido ayer al Celta de Vigo" [Urzaiz, loaned to Celta de Vigo yesterday]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  9. Líbero, Pedro (28 June 1995). "El Salamanca, a lo grande" [Salamanca, in style] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  10. Cruz, Carlos (15 April 1996). "4–2: Urzaiz acaba con un Rayo que puso muchas dificultades al Español" [4–2: Urzaiz ended with Rayo that posed many problems to Español]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  11. "Leyendas del Athletic Club de Bilbao – Urzaiz" [Athletic Club de Bilbao legends – Urzaiz]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  12. Cuenca, Nika (22 January 2008). "Mané y Caparrós pidieron a Llorente" [Mané and Caparrós asked for Llorente]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  13. "Urzaiz no seguirá en el Athletic" [Urzaiz will not continue in Athletic]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 20 June 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  14. "Urzaiz". Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  15. Río, Endika (12 July 2020). "Muniain entra en el olimpo navarro del Athletic" [Muniain enters the Navarrese Olympus of Athletic]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  16. "Spits Urzaiz (35) naar Ajax" [Forward Urzaiz (35) to Ajax]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 19 July 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  17. "Ajax verliest van Slavia Praag" [Ajax loses with Slavia Prague]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 15 August 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  18. Scholten, Berend (15 August 2007). "Slavia make Ajax pay the penalty". UEFA. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  19. "Ismael Urzaiz será homenajeado en San Mamés con el saque de honor del Athletic-Almería" [Ismael Urzaiz will be honoured at San Mamés with Athletic-Almería honour kick-off]. El Correo (in Spanish). 25 August 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  20. Crespo, Juan Carlos (22 May 1988). "España ganó el Europeo sub 16" [Spain won under 16 European Championship]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  21. Mazet, François. "World Youth Cup (U-20) 1991 (Portugal, June 14-30)". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  22. "España golea 8–0 a Chipre y pasa a la fase final de la Eurocopa" [Spain rout Cyprus 8–0 and qualify to Eurocup finals]. El País (in Spanish). 9 September 1999. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  23. "España dota de argumentos a Camacho con otra goleada" [Spain give reasons to Camacho with another rout]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 26 January 2000. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  24. Pla Díaz, Emilio. "Ismael Urzáiz Aranda – International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 August 2006.
  25. Segurola, Santiago (1 March 2001). "Inglaterra golea (3–0) a España" [England rout (3–0) Spain]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  26. Suso, Ramón (30 December 2000). "Se hizo justicia" [Justice was done]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  27. Ismael Urzaiz at BDFutbol
  28. "Ismael Urzaiz". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  29. "Ismael Urzaiz". European Football. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
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