Txiki Begiristain

Aitor "Txiki" Begiristain Mujika (born 12 August 1964) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger but also as a forward, currently director of football of English club Manchester City.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Begiristain and the second or maternal family name is Mujika.
Txiki Begiristain
Begiristain in 2016
Personal information
Full name Aitor Begiristain Mujika[1]
Date of birth (1964-08-12) 12 August 1964[1]
Place of birth Olaberria, Spain
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger, forward
Youth career
Segura
Easo
1980–1982 Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982 San Sebastián 9 (2)
1982–1988 Real Sociedad 187 (23)
1988–1995 Barcelona 223 (63)
1995–1997 Deportivo La Coruña 43 (4)
1997–1999 Urawa Red Diamonds 61 (16)
Total 523 (108)
International career
1984–1988 Spain U21 19 (4)
1988 Spain U23 1 (0)
1988–1994 Spain 22 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He was best known for his spells at Real Sociedad and Barcelona, winning eight major titles with the latter, including four La Liga championships and the 1992 European Cup.

Begiristain represented the Spain national team in one World Cup and one European Championship. He worked as a director of football after retiring, including with Barcelona and also at Manchester City.

Club career

Real Sociedad

Born in Olaberria, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country,[2] Begiristain began his professional career with Real Sociedad in 1982 at the age of 18, being immediately cast into the first-team's setup. After 16 La Liga games in his first season, he became an essential member of the side that was coached by John Toshack, also including Luis Arconada, Roberto López Ufarte, José Mari Bakero and Luis López Rekarte; the highlights of his career at Real included scoring the second goal in the 1987 Copa del Rey final against Atlético Madrid, which was eventually won on penalties after the 2–2 draw.[3]

In the 1987–88 campaign, Begiristain helped his team finish runners-up in both league and cup, losing in both competitions to FC Barcelona. Within a month of the latter he, along with Bakero and López Rekarte, signed for the Catalan club.[4]

Barcelona

Begiristain scored in his league debut for Barcelona, a 2–0 home win over RCD Español,[5] and finished his first year at the Camp Nou with 38 games and 12 goals, adding two in nine matches in the victorious campaign in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Alongside fellow Basque players Bakero, Andoni Zubizarreta, Julio Salinas and Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, he was part of the side dubbed Dream Team, winning numerous honours.[2]

During seven seasons at the club, Begiristain played more than 300 official matches and scored 63 goals in the league, with a career-best 15 in 1992–93 as Barça won the third of four successive titles. Among his best moments were hat-tricks against Real Valladolid in 1991[6] and Real Zaragoza two years later.[7]

Later years

In 1995, after gradually losing his importance with Barcelona (although he still registered 44 games and 13 goals over the last two seasons), Begiristain signed for Deportivo de La Coruña, where he linked up with two past acquaintances, Toshack and López Rekarte. He helped his new team win the Supercopa de España, scoring in the away leg for a 2–1 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.[8]

During the last season in Galicia, Begiristain only appeared ten times, but scored against CF Extremadura on the final round, granting Depor a third-place finish with the 1–0 win.[9] By this time, he had played in more than 500 competitive matches in his country and surpassed the 100-goal mark.

Begiristain closed out his career in 1999 at 35, after three years with the Urawa Red Diamonds in the Japanese J1 League.[10]

Director

After retiring as a player, Begiristain worked as a commentator for Televisió de Catalunya before becoming director of football at former club Barcelona in 2003.[11][12] On 28 June 2010, he declared that, with president Joan Laporta leaving, it was the right time for him to part ways with the organisation as well.[13]

Begiristain joined Manchester City of the Premier League on 28 October 2012 in the same capacity.[14] During his tenure, the team won the national championship six times – and the treble in the 2022–23 season – and several of his compatriots were also brought in as well as former teammate Pep Guardiola as manager.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

International career

Begiristain earned 22 caps with six goals for Spain,[22] making his debut in a 1–2 defeat to Czechoslovakia on 24 February 1988 in a friendly held in Málaga.[23] He represented the nation at UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup, playing his last game in the latter competition, a 3–0 round-of-16 win over Switzerland where he closed the score from a penalty.[24]

Career statistics

Club
Club performance[25][26] League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Club Season Division AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total
Real Sociedad 1982–83 La Liga 160203000210
1983–84 3337041–444
1984–85 3159120–426
1985–86 29161–352
1986–87 429–429
1987–88 36540405
Total 187231811524022426
Barcelona 1988–89 La Liga 381250–925214
1989–90 371070–615011
1990–91 33670–82488
1991–92 34740–82469
1992–93 371575–725122
1993–94 20740–102349
1994–95 24622–60328
Total 22363367–541131381
Deportivo 1995–96 La Liga 33220–71423
1996–97 10230–00132
Total 43450–71555
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Asia Total
Urawa Red Diamonds 1997 J1 League 1542020–194
1998 3093042–3711
1999 1630041–204
Total 611650103–7619
Career total 5141066482556512668131

International
Spain[27]
YearAppsGoals
198860
198921
199010
199110
199233
199341
199451
Total226

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition[27]
1.22 January 1989Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Malta0–20–21990 World Cup qualification
2.11 March 1992José Zorrilla, Valladolid, Spain United States1–02–0Friendly
3.16 December 1992Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain Latvia4–05–01994 World Cup qualification
4.16 December 1992Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain Latvia5–05–01994 World Cup qualification
5.24 February 1993Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain Lithuania3–05–01994 World Cup qualification
6.2 July 1994Robert F. Kennedy, Washington, D.C., United States  Switzerland3–03–01994 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Real Sociedad

Barcelona

Deportivo

  • Supercopa de España: 1995

Spain U21

See also

References
  1. "Aitor Begiristain Mújika" (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  2. Martín, Luis (28 May 2006). ""Estaba hasta las narices de oír hablar del 'dream team"" ["I had had it up to here with the dream team"]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  3. Gil, Ricardo (28 June 1987). "2–2: La Real entonó el alirón" [2–2: Real sang victory song]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  4. Piñol, Àngels (30 October 2005). "Del 'Dream Team' a los despachos" [From the Dream Team to the offices]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  5. Astruells, Andrés (4 September 1988). "El Barça volvió a explotar en la segunda parte" [Barça fired up in second half again]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  6. Barceló, Carme (25 February 1991). "Del susto... a la apisonadora" [From scare... to steamroll]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  7. Astruells, Andrés (27 September 1993). "El Barça ensaya la euro-remontada" [Barça rehearse euro-comeback]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  8. Carlos E., Carbajosa (28 August 1995). "Otro golpe" [Another blow]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  9. Ríos, Xoan (23 June 1997). "Riazor no cree en milagros" [Riazor does not believe in miracles]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  10. "La J-League habla español" [The J-League speaks Spanish]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 21 March 1998. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  11. "Riquelme leaves Barça for good". UEFA. 21 June 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  12. "Rome ready to welcome European superpowers". UEFA. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  13. "Begiristain deja el cargo de secretario técnico" [Begiristain leaves post of technical secretary] (in Spanish). RTVE. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  14. "Manchester City appoint Txiki Begiristain as director of football". BBC Sport. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  15. Lewis, Daniel (8 June 2019). "Guardiola hails 'incredible' Begiristain". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  16. Wilson, Paul; Jackson, Jamie (4 July 2019). "City's new £62.8m signing Rodri says Manchester may be getting 'more blue'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  17. Smith, Jonathan (11 May 2021). "Champions again! How Guardiola dragged Man City from despair to even more glory". Goal. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  18. Jackson, Jamie (22 May 2022). "Trust, stability and breakfast chats: how Guardiola delivered another title". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  19. Bajkowski, Simon (3 June 2022). "Txiki Begiristain and Pep Guardiola shape Man City U23 thinking more than ever". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  20. Herman, Martyn (3 June 2023). "Now let's make it a treble, Guardiola urges Manchester City players". Reuters. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  21. McNulty, Phil (10 June 2023). "Manchester City 1–0 Inter Milan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  22. "Beguiristain" (in Spanish). El Sitio de Mis Cromos. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  23. Díez Serrat, Javier (25 February 1988). "Ensayo fatal y derrota inquietante" [Fatal rehearsal and troubling defeat] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  24. Astruells, Andrés (3 July 1994). "La selección aplasta a Suiza y está en cuartos" [National team crush Switzerland and reach last eight]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  25. Txiki Begiristain at BDFutbol
  26. "Begiristain". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  27. "Txiki Begiristain". European Football. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  28. Perearnau, Francesc (30 October 1986). "¡¡¡Campeones!!!" [Champions!!!]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 April 2022.
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