Txiki Beguiristain
Encyclopedia
Aitor 'Txiki' Begiristain Mújica (born 12 August 1964 in Olaberria
, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country
) is a retired Spanish
footballer who played professionally during the 1980s and 1990s.
Mainly a left winger who could also operate as a forward with equal success, he is best known for his spells at Real Sociedad
and FC Barcelona
.
Begiristain represented the Spanish national team
in one World Cup
and one European Championship
.
in 1982, at just 18, and subsequently played 187 games and scored 23 goals in La Liga
for the club. After a slow start, with 16 matches in his first season, he became an essential member of the side that was then 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 Spanish Cup
final against Atlético Madrid, which was eventually won on penalties after the 2–2 draw.
In 1987–88, Begiristain helped Real 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 Catalonia
n club.
Begiristain scored on his debut for Barcelona, a 2–0 win over RCD Espanyol
; alongside fellow Basque
players Bakero, Andoni Zubizarreta
, Julio Salinas
and Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, he became a prominent member of the side dubbed Dream Team, winning numerous honours. During seven seasons at the club he played 223 games 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 personal highlights were hat-trick
s against Real Valladolid
in 1991, and Real Zaragoza
two years later.
In 1995, after gradually losing his importance with Barcelona (although he still registered 44 games and 13 goals in the last two seasons), Begiristain signed for Deportivo de La Coruña
, where he linked up with two past acquaintances, Toshack and López Rekarte. He subsequently helped his new club win the Spanish Supercup
, scoring in the away leg, a 2–1 win against Real Madrid
, at the Bernabéu
.
During the last season in Galicia, Begiristain only appeared 10 times, but scored against CF Extremadura
on the final round, granting Depor a third-place finish with the 1–0 win. He closed out his career in 1999, with Urawa Red Diamonds
of Japan
, having played in more than 500 official matches in his country, surpassing the 100-goal mark.
After retiring as a player, Begiristain worked for Televisió de Catalunya
, before becoming director of football
at former club Barcelona, occupying that position from 2003 until 29 June 2010: on that day, it was announced by the club's general manager
Joan Oliver, he declared that, with president Joan Laporta
leaving, it was the right time for him to leave the club as well.
, making his debut in a 2–1 defeat against Czechoslovakia
, in a friendly match in 1988.
He represented Spain 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 against Switzerland
, where he scored the closer from a penalty
.
|1982/83||rowspan="6"|Real Sociedad
||rowspan="6"|La Liga
||16||0||2||0||2||0||0||0||20||0
|-
|1983/84||33||3||7||0||4||0||-||-||44||3
|-
|1984/85||31||5||9||1||2||0||-||-||42||6
|-
|1985/86||29||1||||||2||0||-||-||29||1
|-
|1986/87||42||9||||||||||-||-||42||9
|-
|1987/88||36||5||||||||||4||0||40||5
|-
|1988/89||rowspan="7"|Barcelona
||rowspan="7"|La Liga
||38||12||5||0||-||-||9||2||52||14
|-
|1989/90||37||10||6||0||-||-||6||1||49||11
|-
|1990/91||33||6||7||0||-||-||8||2||48||8
|-
|1991/92||34||7||4||0||-||-||8||2||46||9
|-
|1992/93||27||15||7||5||-||-||4||2||38||22
|-
|1993/94||20||7||4||0||-||-||10||2||34||9
|-
|1994/95||24||6||2||2||-||-||6||0||32||8
|-
|1995/96||rowspan="2"|Deportivo
||rowspan="2"|La Liga
||33||2||2||0||-||-||7||1||42||3
|-
|1996/97||10||2||3||0||-||-||0||0||13||2
|-
|1997||rowspan="3"|Urawa Red Diamonds
||rowspan="3"|J. League 1||15||4||2||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||19||4
|-
|1998||30||9||3||0||4||2||colspan="2"|-||37||11
|-
|1999||16||3||0||0||4||1||colspan="2"|-||20||4
453||100||||||||||||||453||100
61||16||5||0||10||3||colspan="2"|-||76||19
514||116||5||0||10||3||0||0||529||119
|}
|1988||6||0
|-
|1989||2||1
|-
|1990||1||0
|-
|1991||1||0
|-
|1992||3||3
|-
|1993||4||1
|-
|1994||5||1
|-
!Total||22||6
|}
Olaberria
Olaberria is a town and municipality located in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, northern Spain.-External links:* *...
, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
) is a retired Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
footballer who played professionally during the 1980s and 1990s.
Mainly a left winger who could also operate as a forward with equal success, he is best known for his spells at Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...
and FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
.
Begiristain represented the Spanish national team
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
in one World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
and one European Championship
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...
.
Club career
Begiristain began his professional career with Real SociedadReal Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...
in 1982, at just 18, and subsequently played 187 games and scored 23 goals in La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
for the club. After a slow start, with 16 matches in his first season, he became an essential member of the side that was then coached by John Toshack
John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack OBE is a Welsh former footballer and manager. He is currently the manager of Macedonia. He has also managed several others clubs including Swansea City, who he took from the Fourth Division to the First in four seasons.As a player, he is remembered for being part of the...
, also including Luis Arconada
Luis Arconada
Luis Miguel Arconada Etxarri is a retired Spanish footballer, who played as a goalkeeper.Having played solely for Real Sociedad for nearly 20 professional years, helping the team to two La Liga titles, amongst other domestic accolades, he also collected 68 national team caps.-Club career:Arconada...
, Roberto López Ufarte
Roberto López Ufarte
Roberto López Ufarte is a former Spanish footballer, who played as a forward.Nicknamed The little devil, most of his career was spent at Real Sociedad...
, José Mari Bakero
José Mari Bakero
José María Bakero Escudero is a retired Spanish footballer, and the current coach of Lech Poznań in Poland.Having played mainly for Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona, he began his career as a forward but was converted into an attacking midfielder, who possessed passing and netting ability José María...
and Luis López Rekarte
Luis López Rekarte
Luis María López Rekarte is a retired Spanish footballer who played mainly as a right defender.-Club career:...
. The highlights of his career at Real included scoring the second goal in the 1987 Spanish Cup
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
final against Atlético Madrid, which was eventually won on penalties after the 2–2 draw.
In 1987–88, Begiristain helped Real finish runners-up in both league and cup, losing in both competitions to FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
; within a month of the latter he, along with Bakero and López Rekarte, signed for the Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
n club.
Begiristain scored on his debut for Barcelona, a 2–0 win over RCD Espanyol
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team. Espanyol currently play in the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with seats for 40,500 spectators. It was inaugurated on 2 August 2009...
; alongside fellow Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
players Bakero, Andoni Zubizarreta
Andoni Zubizarreta
Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.The all-time most capped player for the Spanish national team for several years, he played with individual and team success for Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona , appearing in more than 950...
, Julio Salinas
Julio Salinas
Julio Salinas Fernández is a retired Spanish footballer who played during the 1980s and 1990s....
and Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, he became a prominent member of the side dubbed Dream Team, winning numerous honours. During seven seasons at the club he played 223 games 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 personal highlights were hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
s against Real Valladolid
Real Valladolid
Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, from where the nickname Pucela is derived....
in 1991, and Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...
two years later.
In 1995, after gradually losing his importance with Barcelona (although he still registered 44 games and 13 goals in the last two seasons), Begiristain signed for Deportivo de La Coruña
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia; founded in 1906 and currently playing in Segunda División...
, where he linked up with two past acquaintances, Toshack and López Rekarte. He subsequently helped his new club win the Spanish Supercup
Supercopa de España
The Supercopa de España is a Spanish football championship contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey...
, scoring in the away leg, a 2–1 win against Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
, at the Bernabéu
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators....
.
During the last season in Galicia, Begiristain only appeared 10 times, but scored against CF Extremadura
CF Extremadura
Club de Fútbol Extremadura was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1924, it played two seasons in La Liga, and held home games at Estadio Francisco de la Hera, with a capacity of 11,580 seats.-History:Extremadura was founded in 1924,...
on the final round, granting Depor a third-place finish with the 1–0 win. He closed out his career in 1999, with Urawa Red Diamonds
Urawa Red Diamonds
are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J. League Division 1. One of Japan and Asia's best supported teams, the club has been able to boast the highest average crowds for thirteen of the J-League's twenty season history...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, having played in more than 500 official matches in his country, surpassing the 100-goal mark.
After retiring as a player, Begiristain worked for Televisió de Catalunya
Televisió de Catalunya
Televisió de Catalunya is Catalonia's public broadcasting network, officially composed by eight channels: TV3, 33, Super3, 3/24, 3XL, Esport 3, TV3 HD and TV3CAT. K3 was replaced by Super3 in 2009 and 300 was replaced by 3XL in 2010...
, before becoming director of football
Director of football
"Director of football" is a term describing a senior management figure at a football club, most commonly used in Europe. The exact nature of the role is often unclear and extremely variable and causes much debate in the sports media...
at former club Barcelona, occupying that position from 2003 until 29 June 2010: on that day, it was announced by the club's general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
Joan Oliver, he declared that, with president Joan Laporta
Joan Laporta
Joan Laporta i Estruch is a Spanish politician and former president of Futbol Club Barcelona between 2003 and 2010.Laporta is a lawyer with his own firm, Laporta & Arbós, which has important firms as clients. Laporta was married to Constanza Echevarría and has three sons, Pol, Guillem and Jan...
leaving, it was the right time for him to leave the club as well.
International career
Begiristain played 22 times and scored six goals for SpainSpain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
, making his debut in a 2–1 defeat against Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia national football team
The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...
, in a friendly match in 1988.
He represented Spain at UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
, playing his last game in the latter competition, a 3–0 Round of 16 win against Switzerland
Switzerland national football team
The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...
, where he scored the closer from a penalty
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...
.
Club
|-|1982/83||rowspan="6"|Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...
||rowspan="6"|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||16||0||2||0||2||0||0||0||20||0
|-
|1983/84||33||3||7||0||4||0||-||-||44||3
|-
|1984/85||31||5||9||1||2||0||-||-||42||6
|-
|1985/86||29||1||||||2||0||-||-||29||1
|-
|1986/87||42||9||||||||||-||-||42||9
|-
|1987/88||36||5||||||||||4||0||40||5
|-
|1988/89||rowspan="7"|Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
||rowspan="7"|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||38||12||5||0||-||-||9||2||52||14
|-
|1989/90||37||10||6||0||-||-||6||1||49||11
|-
|1990/91||33||6||7||0||-||-||8||2||48||8
|-
|1991/92||34||7||4||0||-||-||8||2||46||9
|-
|1992/93||27||15||7||5||-||-||4||2||38||22
|-
|1993/94||20||7||4||0||-||-||10||2||34||9
|-
|1994/95||24||6||2||2||-||-||6||0||32||8
|-
|1995/96||rowspan="2"|Deportivo
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia; founded in 1906 and currently playing in Segunda División...
||rowspan="2"|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||33||2||2||0||-||-||7||1||42||3
|-
|1996/97||10||2||3||0||-||-||0||0||13||2
|-
|1997||rowspan="3"|Urawa Red Diamonds
Urawa Red Diamonds
are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J. League Division 1. One of Japan and Asia's best supported teams, the club has been able to boast the highest average crowds for thirteen of the J-League's twenty season history...
||rowspan="3"|J. League 1||15||4||2||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||19||4
|-
|1998||30||9||3||0||4||2||colspan="2"|-||37||11
|-
|1999||16||3||0||0||4||1||colspan="2"|-||20||4
453||100||||||||||||||453||100
61||16||5||0||10||3||colspan="2"|-||76||19
514||116||5||0||10||3||0||0||529||119
|}
International
|-|1988||6||0
|-
|1989||2||1
|-
|1990||1||0
|-
|1991||1||0
|-
|1992||3||3
|-
|1993||4||1
|-
|1994||5||1
|-
!Total||22||6
|}
Honours
- Real Sociedad:
- Spanish SupercupSupercopa de EspañaThe Supercopa de España is a Spanish football championship contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey...
: 1982 - Spanish CupCopa del ReyThe Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
: 1986–87
- Spanish Supercup
- Barcelona:
- European CupUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
: 1991–92 - Spanish LeagueLa LigaThe Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94 - UEFA Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
: 1988–89 - UEFA Super Cup: 1992
- Spanish CupCopa del ReyThe Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
: 1989–90
- European Cup
- Deportivo:
- Spanish SupercupSupercopa de EspañaThe Supercopa de España is a Spanish football championship contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey...
: 1995
- Spanish Supercup