Andoni Zubizarreta

Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta (Basque pronunciation: [andoni s̻uβis̻areta ureta], Spanish: [anˈdoni θuβiˈθareta wˈreta]; born 23 October 1961) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

The most capped player for the Spain national team for several years, he played with individual and team success for Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona (eight years with the latter, he would later work with the club in directorial capacities), appearing in more than 950 official professional matches during his club career and holding the records for most appearances and clean sheets in La Liga for several years.

Zubizarreta represented Spain in seven major international tournaments, four World Cups and three European Championships, starting in six of those. He won the European Cup with Barcelona in 1992 and six La Liga titles, two with Athletic and four with Barcelona.

Born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Zubizarreta spent his childhood in Aretxabaleta in Gipuzkoa, where he began his football career. After a brief passage at another Basque club, Alavés, he joined Athletic Bilbao, where he would spend the following six seasons.

Zubizarreta's debut in La Liga occurred on 19 September 1981 as manager Javier Clemente handed him a start in a 2–0 away loss against Atlético Madrid, one month shy of his 20th birthday. He went on to be an undisputed starter for the remainder of his spell, being an instrumental part in the team's conquests, most notably the back-to-back national championships.

In 1986, Zubizarreta signed with Barcelona for a record for a player in the position €1.7 million, quickly removing established Urruti from the starting lineup and rarely missing a match afterwards – for example, only four over the Catalans' four consecutive league wins. He added their first ever European Cup in 1992, following a 1–0 win over Sampdoria.

After the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, where Barça lost 4–0 to AC Milan in the final, Zubizarreta was deemed surplus to requirements and finished his career at Valencia, still playing at a high level. He retired after the 1997–98 campaign at nearly 37, having played in over 1,000 competitive games (622 in the league alone – the all-time record – conceding 626 goals).

Zubizarreta was named Barcelona's director of football by president Sandro Rosell on 2 July 2010, taking over from former club and national teammate Txiki Begiristain. Over the previous decade he had served Athletic Bilbao in the same capacity (being involved in the establishment of the club's women's team in 2002), while also working as a radio and television commentator.