Joseba Etxeberria facts for kids
Etxeberria in 2009
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseba Andoni Etxeberria Lizardi | ||
| Date of birth | 5 September 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Elgoibar, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger, forward | ||
| Team information | |||
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Current team
|
Murcia (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987–1990 | Elgoibar | ||
| 1990–1994 | Real Sociedad | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1995 | Real Sociedad B | 29 | (9) |
| 1995 | Real Sociedad | 7 | (2) |
| 1995–2010 | Athletic Bilbao | 445 | (88) |
| Total | 481 | (99) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–1994 | Spain U16 | 17 | (11) |
| 1994–1995 | Spain U18 | 7 | (5) |
| 1995 | Spain U20 | 6 | (7) |
| 1996–1997 | Spain U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 1997–2004 | Spain | 53 | (12) |
| 1998–2007 | Basque Country | 11 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012–2015 | Athletic Bilbao (youth) | ||
| 2016–2017 | Basconia | ||
| 2017–2018 | Amorebieta | ||
| 2018 | Tenerife | ||
| 2019–2021 | Bilbao Athletic | ||
| 2022–2023 | Mirandés | ||
| 2023–2025 | Eibar | ||
| 2025– | Murcia | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Joseba Andoni Etxeberria Lizardi (born on September 5, 1977) is a Spanish former professional footballer. He mostly played as a winger. After retiring as a player, he became a manager. As of July 2025, he is the manager of Real Murcia.
Joseba started his football journey at just 17 years old with Real Sociedad. Soon after, he moved to Athletic Bilbao, where he spent the rest of his long playing career. He also played 53 games for the Spanish national team. He represented Spain in the 1998 World Cup and two European Championships.
Contents
Playing Career Highlights
Joseba Etxeberria was born in Elgoibar, Gipuzkoa, Spain. He began his career at Real Sociedad. He played his first top-league game in La Liga when he was only 17. This happened on January 29, 1995.
Moving to Athletic Bilbao
In the summer of 1995, Joseba made a big move to Athletic Bilbao. This transfer was quite talked about because it cost a lot of money for a player under 18. It also caused some tension between the two clubs. When he played against Real Sociedad later, some fans were not happy.
Success at Athletic Bilbao
In the 1997–98 season, Joseba scored 11 goals. Athletic Bilbao finished second in the league that year. Five seasons later, he scored his career-best of 14 goals. He helped his team reach the UEFA Champions League group stage. He played in at least 28 league games every year for his first 12 seasons. He also became the team captain.
In October 2008, Joseba made a special agreement with Athletic Bilbao. He decided to play his last season, 2009–10, for free. His contract had ended in June 2009.
Final Years as a Player
Joseba's last year as a professional player was not his busiest. He played in only seven league matches. However, he scored two goals in the UEFA Europa League that season. One of these was a late penalty goal against Nacional.
On May 15, 2010, Joseba played his final game for Athletic Bilbao. He was replaced during the match and received a standing ovation from the fans. He played a total of 514 official matches for the club, scoring 104 goals. This makes him the third player with the most appearances for Athletic Bilbao. Only José Ángel Iribar and Txetxu Rojo played more games.
Joseba's special farewell match was played at the San Mamés Stadium. He played against 200 children and scored two goals in a 5–3 win.
International Football Career
Joseba Etxeberria was a top scorer in the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship. After this, he was called up to the Spanish national team. He played his first game for Spain on November 19, 1997, in a friendly match against Romania. He even scored a goal in that game, which ended in a 1–1 draw.
He played 53 games for Spain and scored 12 goals. He represented his country in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000, and Euro 2004. In Euro 2000, he scored the winning goal against Slovenia, making the score 2–1.
Joseba also played 11 matches for the unofficial Basque Country team. This was a record number of appearances at the time.
Coaching Career
After retiring as a player, Joseba Etxeberria started a coaching career. His first coaching job was with the youth teams of the Basque Country. In 2012, he returned to Athletic Bilbao to work in their youth academy. He often called the Lezama training center his "second home."
In 2015, Joseba joined the first team staff under manager Ernesto Valverde. The next year, he became the manager of Basconia, a team linked to Athletic Bilbao. He coached many players he had worked with before in the youth teams.
In 2017, Joseba left Athletic Bilbao's internal structure but remained connected to the club. He became the manager of Amorebieta, a team in the third division. In February 2018, he took over as manager of Tenerife.
In May 2018, Athletic Bilbao confirmed that Joseba had fully left the club to continue his coaching career on his own. However, on September 17, he was fired by Tenerife. The team had not won any of their first five league matches that season.
Joseba returned to Athletic Bilbao in May 2019. This time, he became the head coach of the reserve team, Bilbao Athletic. He signed a two-year contract. On February 14, 2022, he became the manager of Mirandés in the Segunda División.
On May 24, 2023, Joseba announced he would leave Mirandés at the end of the season. On June 14, he replaced Gaizka Garitano as manager of Eibar, another team in the second division.
On February 16, 2025, Joseba was dismissed from Eibar. This happened after five games without a win, and the team was in 17th place in the league. He was the first coach to be fired by the club in 15 years. On July 3, 2025, he was appointed manager of Murcia in the Primera Federación league.
Personal Life
Joseba Etxeberria was not related to his former Athletic Bilbao teammate Imanol Etxeberria. It was a coincidence that they were both from towns just a few miles apart.
See also
In Spanish: Joseba Etxeberria para niños
- List of Athletic Bilbao players (+200 appearances)
- List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)
