Aitor López Rekarte
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Aitor López Rekarte[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 18 August 1975||
Place of birth | Mondragón, Spain[1] | ||
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Right-back | ||
Youth career | |||
1989–1994 | Real Sociedad | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1994–1997 | Real Sociedad B | 98 | (2) |
1997–2007 | Real Sociedad | 316 | (4) |
2007–2008 | Almería | 10 | (0) |
2009 | Eibar | 11 | (0) |
Total | 435 | (6) | |
International career | |||
1991 | Spain U16 | 7 | (0) |
1993 | Spain U17 | 3 | (0) |
1994 | Spain U18 | 6 | (0) |
1997–1998 | Spain U21 | 6 | (0) |
1997 | Spain U23 | 3 | (0) |
2004 | Spain | 1 | (0) |
2000–2007 | Basque Country | 9 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Aitor López Rekarte (born 18 August 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer. He played as a defender on the right side, and sporadically on the other flank.
His professional career was closely connected to Real Sociedad, where he spent 13 of 15 total seasons, appearing in 338 competitive games.
Club career
Born in Mondragón, Basque Country, López Rekarte played a decade with local club Real Sociedad, with nearly 350 overall appearances with the first team. After being promoted to the main squad for 1997–98 he immediately became the starter, his worst output consisting of 26 games in his second professional season.
López Rekarte featured mostly at left back in that campaign as Real finished third, as habitual starter Agustín Aranzábal suffered a long injury lay-off. Eventually, he also became team captain,[2] only missing one La Liga match in 2002–03 for the runners-up.
In July 2007, López Rekarte switched to newly promoted UD Almería, but appeared scarcely throughout the season as the Andalusians overachieved, being subsequently released.[3] On 18 March 2009, he joined second division side SD Eibar in a deal until the end of the campaign.[4] After the latter's relegation, he chose to retire from football at nearly 34.[5]
International career
López Rekarte earned one cap for Spain, in a friendly against Scotland on 3 September 2004 (1–1, in Valencia).[6] Previously, he helped the nation's under-21s to win the 1998 UEFA European Championship.
Personal life
López Rekarte was the younger brother of another professional footballer, Luis, who also played for Real Sociedad, also being a right back and an international.[7][8] His niece, Maitane López, was also involved in the sport.[9]
Honours
Spain U21
References
- ^ a b c d "Aitor LÓPEZ REKARTE". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ "Rekarte: "Es muy difícil jugar tantos partidos con la Real Sociedad, tiene el ADN del compromiso"" [Rekarte: "It's very hard to play this many matches with Real Sociedad, their DNA is commitment"]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 12 April 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ Folqué, J. (27 August 2008). "López Rekarte se desvincula del Almería" [López Rekarte cuts ties with Almería]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ "El Eibar ficha a López Rekarte" [Eibar sign López Rekarte]. Marca (in Spanish). 18 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
- ^ U. Lasagabaster, Amaia (3 June 2009). "Una regeneración completa, o casi, para una nueva etapa" [Complete regeneration, or nearly, for a new spell]. Gara (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ Ramírez Orsikowsky, Jorge (4 September 2004). "Apagón y caos en el España-Escocia" [Blackout and chaos in Spain-Scotland]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
- ^ Viñarás de Blas, Vidal (1 February 2017). "Hermanos de Primera" [Top-class brothers] (in Spanish). Cuadernos de Fútbol. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ Zabala, Jon (22 September 2017). "Mondragón, una 'fábrica' de defensas txuriurdines" [Mondragón, a 'factory' of txuriurdin defenders]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ Griñán, Marta (27 January 2021). "Maitane, otra 'López Rekarte' que triunfa en la Real Sociedad" [Maitane, another 'López Rekarte' making it big at Real Sociedad]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
- ^ "Príncipes" [Princes]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 1 June 1998. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
External links
- Aitor López Rekarte at BDFutbol
- Aitor López Rekarte at National-Football-Teams.com
- 1975 births
- Living people
- People from Mondragón
- Spanish men's footballers
- Men's association football defenders
- La Liga players
- Segunda División players
- Segunda División B players
- Real Sociedad B footballers
- Real Sociedad footballers
- UD Almería players
- SD Eibar footballers
- Spain men's youth international footballers
- Spain men's under-21 international footballers
- Spain men's under-23 international footballers
- Spain men's international footballers
- Basque Country men's international footballers
- Footballers from Gipuzkoa