Iñigo Idiakez
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Iñigo Idiakez Barkaiztegui | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Southampton | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
Iñigo Idiakez Barkaiztegui (born 8 November 1973 in San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa) is a Spanish football midfielder who is currently with Southampton.
Playing career
Spain
In 1992 he joined Real Sociedad, starting in the youth team before moving up to the B team, where he joined his older brother, Imanol Idiakez. He made his first team debut on 8 November 1992, on his 19th birthday, against Cadiz CF in La Liga. Despite that early debut, he did not become a regular member of the first team squad until the 1994-95 season. Between 1992 and 1994 he played two seasons in the B team, operating in the the third division.
From 1994-95 on, Idiakez amassed a further 8 league seasons, making 233 league appearances with 33 goals. During most of these seasons he was a regular substitute, coming in to games to replace a forward or midfield player. In 1998-99 and 2000-01, he scored a career-best 7 league goals.
At the end of the 2001-02 season, he was sent on loan to Real Oviedo, who had just been relegated to the Spanish second division, and were in a deep financial crisis. He only spent one season with the Asturias side, playing 33 games with 4 goals, as Oviedo finished the season penultimate, being relegated to the third division. They were then demoted one stage further because of financial ireegularities.
Idiakez returned to Sociedad, but was forced out by new signings. He then moved to another Spanish second division side, Rayo Vallecano where in 14 matches he scored five goals. Again, his new club finished second from the bottom and were relegated. After two unsuccessful seasons in the Spanish second-tier, his future appeared quite uncertain in the summer of 2004.
England
George Burley (then Derby County manager) snapped him up on a free transfer. Idiakez immediately adapted to the Football League Championship, notching up 89 games and 22 goals by the end of the 2005-06 season. He quickly became one of the idols of the Derby fans and, in his debut season, was named player of the season, as Derby finished in 4th place, but failed to win promotion through the play-offs.
At Derby, he played in an advanced position and took most throw-ins and corners. At the end of the 2005-06 season, under managers Phil Brown (until January) and Terry Westley, the tem only finished in 20th position, narrowly avoiding relegation.
On 31 August 2006, Idiakez was once again signed by Burley, moving to Southampton for £275,000. After only a handful of appearances for the Saints, in March 2007 he moved to QPR on loan for a month, returning on 17 April.[1]
In the 2006-07 season Championship playoff semi-final on 15 May, Southampton played Derby County. After the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate after extra time, the match went to a penalty shoot-out and Idiakez missed the crucial penalty helping send his former club through to the final.[2]
International career
He has never been selected for the Spanish national team, although he did play at under-21 level, and participated in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
He has also played in 4 friendly games for the Basque representative side Euskadi, scoring 2 goals.